Captives and Their Saviors in the Medieval Crown of Aragon

6. The Finances of Ransoming

149 C h a p t e r 6 The Fina nc es of Ra nsom ing A certain worthy lady had a husband whom she greatly loved, and he had been in captivity, and with a large sum of money had been redeemed. This lady sold all her possessions and those of her husband that she might pay the ransom, and, since this sufficed not, she went through the chief squares begging....... As she begged she wept, and related to a great company of notable citizens the story of the captivity of her husband and the torment which he suffered in prison. Together with her she led four small children. All the citizens had pity upon this lady, giving her money, and consoling her in her tribulation.1 The image depicted by Ramond Llull in Blanquerna repeated itself many times over in the cities of the Crown of Aragon: captives and their families begging to pay off a ransoming debt or to secure the liberation of a loved one. Their pleas were augmented by the begging work of the ransoming orders, the church, and individual municipalities . Their combined efforts collected the huge sums of money that ransoms demanded from a Christian populace 1. Llull, Blanquerna, 71:3. y 150 that was well inclined to give alms to the needy. In this way, captivity afflicted not only the captive and his family. Nor was it solely the duty of kings, bishops, and friars to help captives in need. Instead, captivity provoked and received a response from the entire Christian community, bound as it was by charity to its most disadvantaged members. This chapter will explore the money-raising efforts conducted on behalf of captives and argue that it is through these efforts that the full extent of Aragon as a ransoming society becomes evident, offering a clear indication of just how widespread a response captivity generated. Medieval Christian Charity Captives depended on the good intentions and charitable donations of other Christians to gain their freedom. The alms they received were predicated on a calculus of salvation that promised enormous returns for relatively small investments.2 Biblical stories provided the basis for this spiritual arithmetic.3 Jesus had promised his followers that “every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”4 The hundredfold return was, not coincidentally, one of the promises made by the begging licenses in an opening clause where they encouraged Christians to help captives.5 The parable of the Last JudgSAVIORS 2. For an introduction, see Rosenthal, Purchase of Paradise, esp. ch. 2. 3. For more on the metaphor of the “arithmetic of salvation,” see Chiffoleau , La comptabilité, esp. part 2, “La mathématique du salut.” 4. Matthew 19:29; see also Luke 18:29–30: “Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children from the kingdom of God’s sake who shall not receive manifold more in the present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.” 5. “Vobisque dictis officialibus et subdtis nostris dicimus et mandamus de certa sciencia et expresse quatenus ob Dei reverenciam, caritativis erogacionibus misericorditer renumeracionem in centumplum tribuentis,” in ACA, C, reg. 2205:140r–v (Apr. 10, 1408); published in Ferrer i Mallol, La frontera amb l’Islam, doc. 238. This, moreover, was not an isolated example but part of a formulaic opening exultation; see also ACA, C, reg. 2206:11v–12r (June 6, 1408) and 49v–50r (Sept. 18, 1408). 151 ment in the Gospel of Matthew (25:36–41) clarified the ways in which Christians could help their own salvation by helping those less fortunate: a group that included captives or prisoners . The Beatitudes further defined the hierarchy of salvation by giving privileged positions to those in the direst need of charity and promising them everlasting rewards.6 Christian theologians from Caesarius of Arles to Thomas Aquinas recognized the central role that charity played in the Christian worldview. Caesarius called it the vinculum societatis, or the “bond of society,” adding that without it other virtues were insufficient.7 Aquinas defined it in similar terms: “Charity is likened to a foundation or root because it sustains and nourishes all other virtues.”8 Many of the most popular medieval saints...