Dating from 1080, Greuges de Guitard Isarn, senyor de Caboet (Grievances of Guitart Isarn, Lord of Cabó) is believed to be the oldest surviving document in Catalan. The rancures were grievances that were written acts by means of which a lord asked for the restitution of damages caused by the breach of the feudal contract. In this document, Guitart Isarn, Lord of Cabó, recounts the humiliation he has suffered at the hands of his vassals, the castellans of Cabó, Guillem Arnall and his sons. Guitart Isarn repeatedly uses the terms son rancures and rancur-me’n (the opening phrase of the lawsuit, meaning “I complain”), reeling off the list of breaches by his vassals and their insults and thefts. The result is a text that is almost literary, while at the same time reflective of the changes that transformed Catalonia at the end of the 11th century. The document, very well preserved, was purchased by Joaquim Miret i Sans (1858−1919), a Catalan historian, archivist, and scholar, who gave it to the Biblioteca de Catalunya in the first decade of the 20th century.
Dating from 1080, Greuges de Guitard Isarn, senyor de Caboet (Grievances of Guitart Isarn, Lord of Cabó) is believed to be the oldest surviving document in Catalan. The rancures were grievances that were written acts by means of which a lord asked for the restitution of damages caused by the breach of the feudal contract. In this document, Guitart Isarn, Lord of Cabó, recounts the humiliation he has suffered at the hands of his vassals, the castellans of Cabó, Guillem Arnall and his sons. Guitart Isarn repeatedly uses the terms son rancures and rancur-me’n (the opening phrase of the lawsuit, meaning “I complain”), reeling off the list of breaches by his vassals and their insults and thefts. The result is a text that is almost literary, while at the same time reflective of the changes that transformed Catalonia at the end of the 11th century. The document, very well preserved, was purchased by Joaquim Miret i Sans (1858−1919), a Catalan historian, archivist, and scholar, who gave it to the Biblioteca de Catalunya in the first decade of the 20th century.