RAMON

MUNTANER (1265-1336?)  , Catalan historian, was born at Peralada (Catalonia) in 1265 . The chief events of his career are recorded in his chronicle . He accompanied Roger de Flor to Sicily in 1300, was present at the siege of Messina, served in the expedition of the Almogavares against Asia Minor, and became the first governor of Gallipoli . Later he was appointed governor of Jerba or Zerbi, an island in the Gulf of Gabes, and finally entered the service of the infante of Majorca . On the 15th of May 1325 (some editions give the year 1335) he began his Chronica, o descripcio dels Pets, e hazanas del inclyt sey Don laume Primer, in obedience, as he says, to the express command of God who appeared to him in a vision . Muntaner's book, which was first printed at Valencia in 1558, is the chief authority for the events of his period, and his narrative, though occasionally prolix, uncritical and egotistical, is faithful and vivid . He is said to have died in 1336 . His chronicle is most accessible in the edition published by Karl Lanz at Stuttgart in 1544 .