's depiction of the deliberations The parties had agreed to a parliamentary process to resolve the issue, but coordinating deliberations between the
cortes (parliaments) of Aragon, Valencia and Catalonia was made difficult by their diverging interests. Thus, a general
cortes was demanded by the governor of
Catalonia to meet in
Montblanc, but the meeting was delayed and ended up in
Barcelona, starting in October 1410 and only being
Cortes of the Principality of Catalonia. As the
Cortes dragged on, the situation became violent.
Antón de Luna, an Aragonese supporter of Count James II of Urgell, assassinated the Archbishop of Zaragoza,
García Fernández de Heredía (supporter of Louis of Anjou). This event damaged the candidacy of James of Urgell and gave strength to the candidacy of
Ferdinand of Castile (regent of Castile and therefore commanding a nearby army with which he protected his allies). There was fighting in the streets, especially between partisans of Aragon and Valencia. The conflict divided the Kingdom of Aragon, with two rival
Cortes meeting: one favorable to
Ferdinand of Castile in
Alcañiz, and another favorable to
James II, Count of Urgell in
Mequinenza (but this one was not recognized by the Catalan parliament at Tortosa). The same occurred in Valencia, with
Cortes in
Traiguera and
Vinaròs. Furthermore, in 1410-1412 Ferdinand's troops entered Aragon and Valencia to fight the Urgellists. The Trastamarist victory at the
Battle of Morvedre on 27 February 1412 finally left Valencia in their hands.
Conflicts and deliberations Pope Benedict XIII (Avignon) intervened and proposed a smaller group of nine
compromisarios (negotiators). The Trastamarist parliament of Alcañiz agreed with the proposition, which was finally accepted by a Catalan-Aragonese board of fourteen Aragonese Trastamarists and five varied Catalan emissaries: the agreement known as the Alcañiz Concord of 15 February 1412. But a few days later, the Alcañiz parliament chose not only the three
compromisarios from Aragon but also the three Catalan and the three Valencian
compromisarios too. The angry complaints among the Catalan and Valencian parliamentarians for this abuse were ignored, targeting the peaceful discussions sought since 1410; and equally the complaints of
James of Urgell and
Louis of Anjou. The appointed
compromisarios met in
Caspe to choose the next king. The majority of historians have agreed with the account of the election by historian
Jerónimo Zurita. Zurita wrote his
Anales de la Corona de Aragón from the original records, which he bequeathed to the house of the
General Deputation of Aragon in 1576 (they were lost or burned during political disorders in the 19th century). According to Zurita, the
compromisarios had conflicting views about the succession to the deceased King Martin, and they voted differently as well. The votes were cast on Friday, 24 June 1412, and recorded on 25 June. Vincent Ferrer was the first one to speak; in a long speech, he voted for Ferdinand, and then Ram, his brother Bonifaci, Gualbes, Bardaixí, and Aranda simply joined him. Sagarriga, Vallseca, and Bertran voted differently, giving their own reasons.
Kingdom of Aragon delegates: •
Domènec Ram (bishop of
Huesca): voted for Ferdinand of Castile •
Francesc de Aranda (ancient royal councillor as well as envoy of
Benedict XIII): voted for Ferdinand of Castile •
Berenguer de Bardaixí (jurist and official general of the Cortes of Aragon): voted for Ferdinand of Castile
Kingdom of Valencia delegates: •
Vicent Ferrer (Dominican friar, later canonized): voted for Ferdinand of Castile •
Bonifaci Ferrer (brother of Vincent and prior of the monastery of Portaceli): voted for Ferdinand of Castile •
Pere Bertran (substitute for
Gener Rabassa, citizen of
Valencia and legal expert): abstained
Principality of Catalonia delegates: •
Pere de Sagarriga i de Pau (archbishop of
Tarragona): voted for James of Urgell and also for Alphonse of Gandia, but finally the vote have to be got by the most voted of both. •
Bernat de Gualbes (syndicus and councillor of
Barcelona): voted for Ferdinand of Castile •
Guillem de Vallseca (officer general of the
Corts Reials Catalanes): voted for James of Urgell On 28 June 28,
Ferdinand of Castile was proclaimed king by Vicent Ferrer in a public speech also recorded. The knights Guillem Ramon Alemany de Cervelló and
Íñigo de Alfaro, who were present for the proclamation, brought the news of his election to Ferdinand.
Revisionism In recent years, three Aragonese historians (José Ángel Sesma Muñoz, Carlos Laliena, and Cristina Monterde) rejected Zurita's account, arguing that no contemporary sources confirm the existence of any secret ballot. Sesma claimed in 2011 that all nine
compromisarios, despite their different preferences, agreed unanimously to select Ferdinand. He repeated this view in 2012 with Laliena and Monterde. Their main argument is that the official notarized deed of proclamation, issued on 25 June 1412, does not mention any results of the supposed election. Furthermore, they quoted testimonies (but not the full statements) from those who were present at the ceremony of proclamation on 28 June, such as Melchor de Gualbes, saying that the three Catalan
compromisarios had declared that "
they had acted freely and had not been under any pressure" and that at the end "
everybody would be of one opinion". As of 2013, there are no new published works that support this new theory. Already in 2012, this point of view had been refuted by historian Ernest Belenguer, who called attention to the point that in this kind of election (as with
papal conclaves), the results of the ballots are not published, therefore one cannot infer a unanimous election only from this kind of deed. He also mentioned that even Trastamara's official chronicler
Lorenzo Valla said in the 15th century that there were very different opinions among the
compromisarios. Furthermore, Belenguer cited other authors who in the 17th century had seen the same documents as Zurita, such as Uztarroz and Dormer, and reported the same account as Zurita of the preferences stated by every one of the nine
compromisarios. ==Aftermath==