Pere de Queralt

Who was Pere de Queralt?

Pere de Queralt was a Catalan nobleman, diplomat, and poet; "una destacada figura del seu temps". He was the nephew of Guerau de Queralt, husband of Clemença de Perellós, and lord of Santa Coloma. He is not to be confused with the knight Pere de Queralt of the thirteenth century, who reportedly fought a lion and won: an act commemorated in a carved vault keystone in the church of Santa Maria de Bell-lloc in Santa Coloma.

In 1389 Pere was one of the barons that revolted against John I at Calasanç after having signed the sentence against Carroça de Vilaragut. Pere joined the rebels in order to advance his stepmother and sister-in-law, Lionor de Perellós, who was subsequently raised to Carroça's former position.

In 1392 Pere participated in an expedition to Sicily. In 1397, after becoming a councillor and chamberlain of the king, he went on a diplomatic mission to Rome to participate in negotiations to resolve the Western Schism. There he probably first encountered Italian literature. In July that same year the king received a petition for aid from some Christian captives held at Tunis. When Pere returned to Valencia from Rome in January 1398 he was immediately sent, with one galley, to Tunis to negotiate their freedom. This he successfully did by promising to restore some sacred Muslim objects taken during the sack of Torreblanco. In 1398 he actively supported the Crusade waged by Martin of Aragon against the Berbers in Africa. In April 1399 and then in 1402–3 he was again ambassador to Tunis. This last embassy resulted in a peace treaty, but the rescue of only a select few captives. Pere died in 1408.