Thomas Bisson and Catalonia
A beloved friend, Professor Thomas N. Bisson, has died at the age of 94. Mont-Saint-Michel, he stumbled upon Catalonia. And he soon understood that what he had in his hands was not a footnote in the history of Europe, but a pioneering, articulate, and profoundly relevant political experience in the evolution of medieval government and society. He stopped looking here. He was one of the first North American scholars to delve, with rigor and genuine admiration, into the institutional history of the Catalan county and the forms of governance that emerged between the 11th and 12th centuries. But his connection with our country went far beyond academic research. his life.
He learned Catalan, meticulously studied the Catalan ecclesiastical and civil archives, which he deeply admired for their richness, and constructed a lucid, respectful, and empathetic reading of the Catalan past that has become, and will continue to be, a source of inspiration for generations. One of his most relevant ideas was to demonstrate that the notion of public interest, traditionally attributed to British parliamentarism, was already present in medieval Catalan institutions, in primitive but substantial forms. For Bisson, the history of Catalonia was not peripheral, but foundational.
His crowning work, The crisis of the twelfth century: energy, lordship, and the origins of European government, examines the origin of governing structures in Europe, and is based on a legendary introductory medieval history course that Bisson taught at Harvard, in which the comparison between Catalan and British institutions occupied a central place. Another of his key contributions—this one translated into Catalan—is a book entitled Tormented Voices. Power, Crisis, and Humanity in Rural Catalonia, 1140–1200 An essential work for understanding the complexity of feudal power and the human condition in Catalonia at that time. It has also been translated as an exemplary work. History of the Crown of Aragon.
In 1987 he was appointed corresponding member of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans, in 1991 he was awarded the title of doctor honoris causa from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and in 2001 received the Cross of Saint George from the Generalitat of Catalonia. All of these distinctions were well-deserved, recognizing not only his contributions to research but also his intellectual and emotional commitment to the country.
But beyond the honors, those of us who had the privilege of knowing him know that he was, above all, a generous teacher and a profound humanist convinced of the value of institutions and the people who give them life. In the long conversations I had with him during our respective years at Harvard, a double concern always hovered: on the one hand, his concern for the future of democracy; on the other, his faith in history as a tool for understanding, responsibility, and civic engagement.
Bisson was not only a great European historian: he was also a profound friend of Catalonia. A man who, through his external perspective, helped us better understand ourselves. His work will continue to inspire medievalists and scholars.
Rest in peace, beloved Thomas. Your mastery and your friendship will remain forever in our memories.