RAMON MUNTANER: CRONICA. BARCELONA 1886 Second completed scientific edition of the famous 14th century Catalan travel account of Montaner by Coroleu. Large in 8vo, contemporary full leather with light wear, complete 638p., text clean and bright, overall in very good condition. Ramon Muntaner (1265-1336) was a soldier and diplomat who wrote his Cronica between 1325 and 1328. It is the longest of the four Great Catalan Chronicles. It covers the history of the Crown of Aragon from 1208 to 1328. Muntaner provides a first-hand, eyewitness account of the Great Catalan Company's expedition to Byzantium. The account chronicles the late-medieval exploits of the Catalan Company, the Almogávares, a band of mercenaries led by Roger de Flor. It describes how they were hired by the Byzantine Emperor to fight the Turks, only to end up in a bloody conflict with the Byzantine Greeks themselves. While Moncada,writing in 1623, used this as a source for his account (see previous lot 23), Muntaner travelled himself in Greece in the early 14th century and his account is the primary source. It is famous for its lively, epic, and highly patriotic tone. This specific edition is significant for being a scholarly and monumental restoration of the text during the Renaixença, the 19th-century Catalan cultural rebirth. While Moncada wrote in Spanish, Muntaner account is in the original 14th century Catalan and it is one of the most historical text in Catalan. A big part of the Chronic deals with events in Greece from 1302 to 1320 when Muntaner was part of the Catalan expedition. An invaluable primary source for the situation in Greece in the early 14th century.