kitarist -> Gypsy XVth century migration throughout Western Europe (Feb. 26 2022 18:15:20)
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The travelling gypsy groups possess letters of safe passage obtained from Emperors/Kings or the Pope which also state their story that: • To atone for their previous pagan ways before converting to Christianity, they have been sentenced to roam the lands for seven (or five) years like refugees or pilgrims, and to visit the holy sites; • Whoever meets them has to take them in as guests and offer them food and shelter; • They are led by Chiefs who call themselves Dukes or Counts or Princes or Earls; • They are exempt from the laws of the land; instead, any infractions would be dealt with within their own tribal laws by their chiefs; The first set of such letters was obtained from Emperor Sigismund of Hungary and Germany in 1417, valid until 1424. (Scholarship pinpoints that the meeting must have happened in Lindau on lake Constance, some 40 km across the lake from the town of Constance where the Emperor was from Jan 27, 1417 till the end of the Council of Constance in Apr 1418.) The second set of letters (as the first one neared expiry) was obtained in 1422 from the Pope, for further five years, valid until 1427. We can follow the journey of the original group of some 400-500 gypsies through surviving documents describing the encounters, from 1417 to the 1440s. The group was led by Dukes Michael and Andrew; later on Count/Earl Thomas gets named. In the second half of the century other groups with their chiefs or descendants of the first group show up in the records. From 1417 to 1422 we see the original group with Michael and Andrew or it split into two groups, travelling through Germany, Flanders, the Nether lands, France, then merging again into one group in Rome in 1422 where they are granted a second set of letters of safe conduct/passage by the Pope. In Jan 1425 the first group recorded to enter Spain, from France, is that of ‘Don Johan’, followed four months later by a second group led by Count Thomas; both to Saragossa. Don Johan is recorded back on the Peloponnese peninsula by 1444. Between 1425 and 1435 groups led by Thomas and/or Andrew show up generally north of Spain, in what is now France, Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany, but in 1435 Count Thomas is back in Spain, received in Olite. July 9, 1447 is a notable date on which a very large group of gypsies arrive in Barcelona. They are led by the aforementioned Duke Andrew and Count Thomas as well as by Counts Martin and Paul. 1462 marks the first recorded visit to Andalusia, to Jaen, with a group led by Counts Thomas and Martin. All in all, from 1425 to 1491 there are about 30 letters of safe passage issued to the travelling gypsies in Spain by Spanish nobles/kings, the last one being in 1491, granted by Ferdinand the Catholic and mentioned in a record from Sevilla receiving a group led by Counts Jacob and Luis. In the timeline below, yellow highlights are Spanish cities. Other highlights or font colours follow specific chiefs. Just to clarify, after about 1450 I've included only Spanish encounters as this is our focus here. There are other encounters all over Europe in the late 15th century and beyond which I have not included.
Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px
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