Luys d'Averçó

Who is Luys d'Averçó?

Luys d'Averçó or Luis de Aversó was a Catalan politician, naval financier, and man of letters. His magnum opus, the Torcimany, is one of the most important medieval Catalan-language grammars to modern historians. His name is spelled Lluís d'Averçó or d'Aversó in modern orthography.

Averçó was born to a family of naval shipowners in Barcelona in the middle of the fourteenth century. He continued in the family business and profited from it financially all his life. He appears to be well-trained in law, for he participated in the municipal government of Barcelona throughout his life, being a councillor in 1395 and again in 1403. During the interregnum of 1410–12 he was charged by the Parliament of Catalonia with arbitrating some disputes amongst the citizens of Lleida. He later represented Barcelona on a diplomatic mission to Majorca. His diverse interests economic, literary, military, and political brought him favour with the monarchs John I and Martin.

No poems by Averçó survive, though his reputation in the poetic world of his time is undeniable. He and Jaume March II persuaded John I to inaugurate the jocs florals at Barcelona and establish a Consistori de la Gaya Sciènça there. On 20 February 1393 John named Jaume and Averçó the first judges of the Consistori's contests. On 12 August 1399 their position was reaffirmed by king Martin. Averçó's poetic reputation is further established by his Torcimany, which contain a wealth of information for composing poetry in Catalan.