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496 Antonio Mursia

hinterland . Moreover, Matthew had already manifested an ongoing
67
commitment in the Iberian domains of the Trastámara to convert Jews
to the Christian faith. His ideas had even influenced some of Alfonso’s
dispositions, through which Jewish communities first and Muslim com-
munities later were forced to intervene in sermons given by the Fran-
ciscan . The remonstrances of the Jew Moise de la Bonavoglia, Al-
68
fonso’s personal physician, however, had to convince the Aragonese
ruler, in June 1428, to order the viceroys of Sicily to limit the actions of
the friar from Agrigento toward Jews and Muslims .
69
Meanwhile, in Spain, interstate relations had become very tense.
In June 1429, Alfonso V and his brother John of Navarre had invaded
Castile. The interventions of the papal legate Pierre de Foix and
Queen Mary, who was forced to witness her husband’s occupation of
her brother’s territories, had been to no avail. Therefore, the sover-
eign thought of relying on Matthew, aware of the prestige the Fran-
ciscan enjoyed with Alfonso. The Agrigentine was only able, however,
to arrive in Spain in January 1430, taking advantage of the truce
between the parties, which had been obtained thanks to the media-
tions carried out by the ambassador of Portugal . The role played by
70
Matthew in this affair is not at all clear. Apparently, the queen had
instructed him to travel to Castile together with her chaplain. But, it
is not known whether the Franciscan had succeeded in his task . A
71
letter sent by the Aragonese ruler on April 10 of that year makes the
matter even more problematic: in the missive Peter de Siscar was
ordered to travel to Teruel to arrest a friar of the Order of Minors .
72
Agostino Love had speculated that it might have been Matthew of

67 Cf. P. Evangelisti, Fede, mercato, comunità cit., pp. 629 and 643.
68 Aca, Real Cancilleria, Registros 2613, cc. 89r – 90v. (cf. A. Amore, La predi-
cazione del B. Matthew cit., pp. 298-299).
69 Asp, Protonotaro del Regno, Registro 31, cc. 154r-157v, and Real Cancelleria,
Registro 65, c. 277v. See, in this sense, B. and G. Lagumina, Codice diplomatico
dei Giudei in Sicilia, 1, Tipografia Michele Amenta, Palermo 1890, p. 498. On the
well-known Sicilian-born Jewish physician, see A. Milano, Bonavoglia (‘Hefes)
Mosè de’ Medici, in Dizionario biografico degli Italiani, vol. 11., Istituto per l’Enci-
clopedia Italiana, Roma 1969, pp. 654-656. Cf. also S. Fodale, Mosè Bonavoglia e
il contestato "iudicatus generalis" sugli ebrei siciliani, in N. Bucaria (a cura di), Gli
ebrei in Sicilia: dal tardoantico al Medioevo. Studi in onore di mons. Benedetto Rocco,
Flaccovio, Palermo 1998, pp. 99-109.
70 See N. Cortese, Alfonso d’Aragona, in Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani, Istituto
per l’Enciclopedia Italiana, Roma 1929, p. 399.
71 The queen issued Friar Matthew a safe-conduct to travel to the kingdom of
Castile. For this, see Aca, Real Cancilleria, Registros 3221, c. 4v-5r. (cf. A. Amore,
Nuovi documenti cit., pp. 31-32). Regarding the role played by Mary, cf. A.F.C. Ryde,
Alfonso the Magnanimous cit., pp. 158-174.
72 Aca, Real Cancilleria, Registros 2692, c. 51r. (cf. A. Amore, Nuovi documenti
cit., pp. 32-33).

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