REMARQUES SOBRE L’INFORME DEL COMITÈ D’EXPERTS DEL CONSELL D’EUROPA
In response to the European Council Committee of Experts’ Report on Application of
the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in Spain (forthwith, ‘the
Report’), published on September 21st, the Catalan Language Observatory1 would
like to express its consternation regarding some of the points made on the Catalan
language. It specifically wishes to address issues concerning Valencian and to state that
the Report contains serious discrepancies and, in some cases, alarming gaps in the
documented information.
The Catalan Language Observatory is therefore compelled to object to:
1. The incoherent manner in which the Valencian language variety is dealt with in
relation to Catalan, expressed in four different ways:
1.1 As the same language with two official names (paragraph 166:
“Valencian/Catalan”, expressed in the same way as the official bilingual names of
cities such as “Pamplona/Iruña, Vitoria/Gasteiz, Bilbao/Bilbo”) and with a
relationship that is likened to that of the Portuguese and Brazilians (paragraph 36:
“the Valencian Academy [...] compares the situation to the relationship existing
for example between the Portuguese and the Brazilians”).
1.2. As one language that allows for single referencing of “Catalan-speakers” and
“Valencian-speakers” in the practical terms of the “appropriate types of
transnational exchanges in the fields covered by the Charter”, despite the language
having different names (paragraphs 136 and 174).
1.3. As a language that bears little difference to Catalan (paragraph 36: “The
lexical and grammatical characteristics of the Valencian language do not
significantly differ from the Catalan language”).
1.4. And, finally, in outright contradiction of the previous points, and
unfortunately this is the most common treatment it is given in the Report, as two
different languages that are dealt with in separate sections.
2. Furthermore, the Report is in part a biased reiteration of the report published on
February 9 2005 by the Valencian Academy of Language, in which it is clearly stated
that Valencian is part of the Catalan language and that the two terms – Catalan and
Valencian have historically been and are currently used to designate it. Moreover, this
institution, whose official name is the ‘Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua’ (Valencian
Academy of Language), is repeatedly referred to falsely as the “Academy of the
Valencian Language” (paragraphs 754 and 760), suggesting that there is such a thing as
a ‘Valencian language’.
3. The lack of rigour revealed in vague, imprecise statements, such as that which closes
1
The Catalan Language Observatory is an independent body encompassing prestigious and
academically acclaimed organisations and institutions to research and promote the Catalan
language. It is backed by universities located in areas where Catalan culture is alive and the
language is spoken, which are grouped together as the Joan Lluís Vives Institute Universities
Network and which include the five Valencian public universities (Universitat de València Estudi
General, Universitat Jaume I de Castelló, Universitat d’Alacant, Universitat Miguel Hernández
d’Elx and the Universitat Politècnica de València).
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REMARQUES SOBRE L’INFORME DEL COMITÈ D’EXPERTS DEL CONSELL D’EUROPA
paragraph 747 (“It also appears that some universities offer a degree in Valencian.”).
The Spanish government passed a law in 1984 (Royal Decree 1888/1984 of September
26) under which recognition was only accorded to a degree in Catalan Language, including
subjects such as ‘Valencian Language and Culture’ and ‘Valencian Linguistics’.
It therefore seems unarguable that the European Council Committee of Experts did not
come up with reliable, documented sources of information but let itself be swayed by
certain stances that are founded merely on politically vested interests, specifically linked
to a longstanding opposition to standardisation of the language, and that are far removed
from academic accuracy.
A revealing instance of such undocumented information can be found in paragraph 36
of the Report in which it is claimed that “The lexical and grammatical characteristics of
the Valencian language do not significantly differ from the Catalan language. The
Valencian Academy of the Language recognises that Valencian formed part of the same
linguistic system in use in the following territories once they had been placed under the
Crown of Aragon: Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, the Principality of Andorra, Eastern
Aragon (‘Franja oriental Aragonesa’), the Sardinian city of Alghero and today’s French
department of ‘Pyrénées-Orientales’”. A literal reading of this passage leads one to
believe that Valencian and Catalan are two similar but differing languages, although
they did belong to the same linguistic system at some point in the past. It is important to
note that the extract has been taken from Act 7/1998 of September 16 on the Creation of
the Valencian Academy of Language, the preamble of which quotes part of a report
written by the Valencian Culture Board on July 13, 1998: “Valencian, the historical
language belonging to the Comunitat Valenciana (Valencian Community), forms part of
the same linguistic system that the autonomous regions of the Hispanic territories at the
time of the Crown of Aragon recognise as their native language”. However, as is
evident, the verb used here is in the present tense – “forms”, rather than the past tense
used in the Report (“formed part of the same linguistic system”), which completely
changes the meaning. The same slant is often put on the issue by far-right and even
violent collectives in the Valencian Country.
It is an unarguable fact in linguistic science, specifically that relating to Romance
language studies, that Valencian is and has always been part of the Catalan language.
Scholars of Romance language studies and of all universities unanimously agree on this,
as can be seen in a huge wealth of documents (treaties, manuals, studies, specialists
articles and so on) (see Appendix 1).
This same unitary consideration of Catalan can be found in the reference dictionaries for
the official languages of the autonomous community of Valencia (Appendix 2).
Moreover, it is legally recognised that although the Catalan language has two names
(Catalan and Valencian), this does not imply the existence of two languages and that
the term Catalan or Catalan language can be used in the Valencian Country because it
is the scientific and academic name given to the language and does not run counter to
any law, statute or constitution. This was sealed in sentence 75/1997 of April 21, passed
by the Constitutional Court, later applied to a plethora of sentences passed by the
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REMARQUES SOBRE L’INFORME DEL COMITÈ D’EXPERTS DEL CONSELL D’EUROPA
Valencian Community High Court of Justice (including sentences 330/2004, 393/2004,
518/2004, 677/2004 and 158/2005)2. In addition, the double, equivalent names of
Catalan and Valencian are currently used in the statutes of various Valencian
universities (Universitat d’Alacant, Universitat Jaume I de Castelló, Universitat de
València).
Finally, we wish to note that the Valencian Academy of Language, the institution
responsible for language standardisation and for “safeguarding Valencian” within
Valencia, very recently issued a report with the explicit purpose of “clearing up these
and other ambiguities which do little more than generate controversy that is damaging
to the standard use and prestige of our language”. It therefore sought to clarify
ambiguous name references used in the Statute of Autonomy, Act 4/1983 of November
23 on the Use and Teaching of Valencian and even Act 7/1998 of September 16 on the
Creation of the Valencian Academy of Language (AVL). The report, passed by the
AVL on February 9 2005 and published in the Official Gazette of the Valencian
Regional Government on April 12 2005, is mandatory and therefore must be observed
by all Valencian institutions. The report states that Romance language scholars are in
unanimous agreement that Valencian is part of the language referred to as Catalan in
other regions, that Valencians have also used the term Catalan throughout history and
that it is legally and jurisprudentially recognised in Spain (Appendix 3).
Secessionist theories are founded on biased and bizarre readings of history that are
completely bereft of credibility or academic rigour. Thus, when it is claimed in section
1.3, paragraph 33 of the Report that “In the context of the overthrow of the Arab
domination, in the 13th century, James I of Aragon annexed the Kingdom of Valencia to
the enlarged Kingdom of Aragon, comprising also Catalonia and the Balearic Islands”,
it seems to suggest that a Kingdom of Valencia existed prior to the conquest of James I
(Appendix 4).
The Report goes on to state in paragraph 34 that “The Kingdom of Valencia
nevertheless kept its own language, which was named Valencian”, thereby implying
that not only did the Kingdom of Valencia exist prior to the conquest, but that Valencia
also had its own language before that time, known as Valencian (Appendix 5).
Two 15th-century writers are quoted in the Report (Joan Esteve and Jerónimo Amiguet;
paragraph 34) who declared that Valencian was the native language of Valencia.
Besides the remarks that have already been made to the effect that using the term
Valencian does not entail a differentiation from the Catalan language in general, no
reference whatsoever is made in the Report to other far more prolific and acclaimed
authors, or to the legal and official texts of the period in which the language spoken in
the Kingdom of Valencia is referred to as Catalan. The fact is that Valencians
throughout history have referred to their native language as both Valencian (along with
other names) and Catalan (Appendix 6), and that these terms are synonymous has been
made evident in their simultaneous use as equivalents (Appendix 7).
2
http://es.geocities.com/reialdecret/Cartes/cartaAVL.htm
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REMARQUES SOBRE L’INFORME DEL COMITÈ D’EXPERTS DEL CONSELL D’EUROPA
The Spanish government recently bolstered this in its memorandum of December 13
2004 requesting that all official languages in Spain be recognised in the European
Union which proposed that Regulation 1/1958 be modified by adding the following
paragraph to article 1: “Euskera (Basque), Galician and the language known as Catalan
in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands and as Valencian
in the Valencian Community will be official and working languages in the Union under
the conditions and to the sole effects established in the Appendix to this Regulation,
insofar as languages that are official in a member State and pursuant to the constitution
as such.”
Moreover, it is worth adding that the Catalan version of the Treaty under which a
European Constitution is established, accepted as their own by both the Regional
Government (Generalitat) of Catalonia and the Government of the Balearic Islands, is
that which was presented by the Regional Government of Valencia. Indeed, the
Regional Government of Valencia itself recognises the equivalence in education of the
subjects ‘Catalan Language and Literature’ and ‘Language and Literature: Valencian’
(resolutions passed by the Regional Government of Valencia Counsellor for Education
and Science on October 28, 1998 in relation to the Ministry of Education and Science
Order of October 21, 1998 and later Valencian orders on competitions for job transfers,
such as the recent orders of October, 18 2004 and this one, from October 17, 2005):
“Qualified teachers of the subjects Catalan and Valencian Language and Culture can
apply for vacant positions in secondary education in the Valencian Community under
the same conditions set out in the second and fourth of these conditions of entry”.
In light of all of this, therefore, changes should be made to the Committee of Experts’
Report which refers not to one language with two names, but to two similar languages
that were one at some time in the past but have now split, since it does not accurately
reflect the true situation of the Valencian language from either a historical, linguistic or
legal perspective.
It is our understanding that a Report such as that drawn up by the Committee of Experts
must be based on thoroughly documented sources and its claims underpinned by the
most serious, impartial scientific research.
One of the reasons we have endeavoured to clarify the origin, name and unity of the
Catalan language is because we believe it to have a bearing on core issues. The future of
Catalan, a language protected by the European Charter for Regional or Minority
Languages, hangs on being able to constitute a united language community that
surpasses the administrative barriers that break it up into various autonomous
communities within Spain and various states within Europe. Artificially severing the
language community on the basis of this double naming not only means going against
historical, linguistic and legal evidence, but will jeopardise the recovery and
standardisation of Catalan in all regions, in addition to running counter to the aims and
principles laid down in article 7.1.b (“the respect of the geographical area of each
regional or minority language in order to ensure that existing or new administrative
divisions do not constitute an obstacle to the promotion of the regional or minority
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REMARQUES SOBRE L’INFORME DEL COMITÈ D’EXPERTS DEL CONSELL D’EUROPA
language in question”); 7.1.e (“the maintenance and development of links, in the fields
covered by this Charter, between groups using a regional or minority language and other
groups in the State employing a language used in identical or similar form [...]”) and 7.1.i
“the promotion of appropriate types of transnational exchanges, in the fields covered by
this Charter, for regional or minority languages used in identical or similar form in two or
more States”).
To conclude, the Catalan Language Observatory feels compelled to make the following
remarks:
1. Throughout history both Catalan and Valencian have been used along with other
terms to refer to the native language of the Valencians.
2. Valencian is part of the Catalan language and is unanimously recognised as such by
international linguistic science.
3. The dual designation of the Catalan language has been recognised by Spanish law
(university qualifications and areas of expertise), by the Spanish government in its
request that the official languages of Spain be among the official and working languages
of the European Union under special conditions (memorandum of 12/12/2004), by
jurisprudence (Constitutional Court, Valencian Community High Court of Justice) and
also by the institution set up by the Valencian Court to ‘safeguard Valencian’ – the
Valencian Academy of Language.
4. Any analysis of the situation of the Catalan language that purports to be minimally
accurate must examine all regions in which it is spoken, regardless of the names given
to the language in each place, and ensure that it is dealt with in the same way as the
other languages with two official names in the Report: Castilian and Spanish, Euskera
and Basque (Vascuence), Bable and Asturian.
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REMARQUES SOBRE L’INFORME DEL COMITÈ D’EXPERTS DEL CONSELL D’EUROPA
(Appendix 1)
Statement made by the Joan Lluís Vives Institute:
(The Joan Lluís Vives Institute is a non-profit making legal association of 20
universities from Catalan-speaking regions including all public Valencian universities:
the Universitat d'Alacant, the Jaume I de Castelló, the Politècnica de València, the
Universitat de València and the Universitat Miguel Hernández d'Elx.)
http://www.vives.org/pdf/comuni-llen.php
“The Joan Lluís Vives Institute network of universities expresses its consternation
regarding the agreement reached by the Spanish Ministry of Education’s Academic
Regulation Committee to split current teaching of our language into two differing
classes and qualifications under the names of Catalan and Valencian in all Official
Language Schools in the country.
The Institute reasserts the opinion accepted throughout the entire scientific community
that regardless of whether it is refereed to as Catalan or Valencian, it is one and the
same language and must be taught from a syllabus that covers all of its regional
varieties.
The Institute believes that the aforementioned agreement amounts to unjustified
political intervention on an issue that is clear from the academic and scientific
perspectives, and that it is particularly counterproductive at the present time.
Lastly, the Institute fully backs all of the terms set out in the Interuniversity Institute of
Valencian Language Studies and calls upon the entire university and academic
community to express its agreement with these universally accepted criteria.
Following an agreement reached by the General Board, the Chair of the Joan Lluís
Vives Institute will ask the Spanish government to withdraw this proposal which has no
educational benefits, no scientific basis and which gives rise to artificial conflict.”
http://www.uv.es/~webuv/noticies/noticia.php?idnoticia=137
2
Various statements have also been published by the Interuniversity Institute of
Valencian Language Studies:
(Set up in 1978, the University Institute of Valencian Language Studies - a scientific
body that formed part of the University of Valencia (Ministerial Order of July 11,
Official State Gazette of 18/10/1978), became the Interuniversity Institute of Valencian
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REMARQUES SOBRE L’INFORME DEL COMITÈ D’EXPERTS DEL CONSELL D’EUROPA
Language Studies in 1987 under an order passed by the Regional Government of
Valencia on November 22, 1994 (DOGV 29/11/1994), following a mandatory report
written by the Universities Board. It includes the Universitat de València, the
Universitat d’Alacant and the Universitat Jaume I, de Castelló de la Plana – the three
Valencian universities that offer degrees in language studies.)
“A number of articles have appeared in the press today reporting that the Ministry of
Education and Science is putting together a Royal Decree that recognises a qualification
in Valencian, equating it to current qualifications in Catalan, Euskera and Galician. It
has also been stated that Official Language Schools in the autonomous regions ruled by
the Popular Party will be offering Valencian as a subject in the forthcoming academic
year.
In response to this, the Interuniversity Institute of Valencian Language Studies wishes
to make the following remarks in public:
— Onomastic diversity, which has its roots in entirely respectable historical traditions,
cannot be used as an excuse to justify linguistic secession. The work carried out by the
great European Romance language scholars of the 19th century, at a time when our
tongue was the subject of major studies, led to the term ‘Catalan’ being extended to
cover the entire language. The name itself has more than one explanation: a) the
language was first used in Old Catalonia from where it spread to the other regions
where it is still spoken today; b) the fact that Catalonia clearly became the nucleus out
of which the main literary and cultural movements in the language area were borne in
the 19th century. This term is under no circumstance incompatible with other traditional
and legal names such as ‘Valencian’.
— An agreement from the highest institutional realms to resolve this diversity of names
is urgently needed if we wish to ensure the shared future of this language. Other
comparable situations of onomastic diversity have been successfully resolved by
agreements of this nature, as is illustrated by the case of the Union agreement signed by
Belgium and Holland on the issue of Dutch.
— All official syllabuses for courses in ‘Valencian’ or ‘Catalan’ already include
information on the varieties that occur when a language is spoken in a large
geographical expanse which is not always defined by political borders. This is the case,
for instance, with the Spanish that is taught in the USA, where students learn the
differences between how it is spoken in Spain as compared to the Americas.
— Many Valencian graduates currently teach Catalan in Catalonia and the Balearic
Islands and the language variety they use has never been called into question. It would
be quite absurd to suggest that teachers should now split themselves in two in order to
teach the same material in two allegedly different subjects because of an administrative
decision.
The international scientific community unarguably recognises the unity of CatalanValencian-Balearic speakers, who academically identify themselves with the generic
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REMARQUES SOBRE L’INFORME DEL COMITÈ D’EXPERTS DEL CONSELL D’EUROPA
term ‘Catalan’. Any attempt to pass these off as different languages is an attack on
scientific authority, history and culture.”
Valencia, December, 2003
http://www.ua.es/institutos/inst.filovalen/indexval.htm
INTERUNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF VALENCIAN LANGUAGE STUDIES
STATEMENT ON THE NEW STATUTE FOR VALENCIAN AUTONOMY BILL
In light of the current debate on the new Statute of Autonomy bill, which will become a
key law in terms of self-government for Valencians and will have a bearing on the
entire legal system beneath it, the Interuniversity Institute of Valencian Language
Studies (IIFV) wishes to make the following remarks in public:
1) Given that the Spanish Constitution of 1978 makes no explicit reference to
official languages in Spain other than Castilian or Spanish, the fact that the new
Statute bill systematically refers to the “Valencian language” without
clarifications or alternatives may give rise to a restrictive interpretation that
accords it independent status, in accordance with a nominalist reading in which a
different name determines the existence of a single entity. Moreover, it does not
provide for any kind of coordination with the major bodies responsible for
standardising other areas in the linguistic domain. This abstruse option would be
a dangerous step towards legitimising linguistic secessionism and would run
counter to the general practice throughout the history of Valencia to alternate a
specific name (Valencian) with the general name for the entire language domain
(the Catalan language) and which is currently backed by the parties, trade unions
and bodies that have subscribed to the Statute Pledge, signed by the IIFV.
2) The timing of this is particularly unfortunate as the conditions are now right to
use both terms – Valencian and Catalan. Such conditions were inexistent at the
time when our first Statute of Autonomy was passed, particularly with regard to
the legal basis: a) Constitutional Court sentence 75/1997; b) approval of
Valencian university statutes stating that the language has dual designation; c)
various sentences passed by the Valencian Community High Court of Justice to
the same effect; d) the legal existence of one sole academic qualification in
Catalan Language Studies including the study of Valencian and its literature
which has been recognised for an official qualification in Valencian; e) the
Valencian Academy of Language report of 9/11/2005 which gives recognition to
the unity of the language and its dual designation.
3) Although the text of this bill recognises Valencian as an official, native
language, it does not address the relevant legal and administrative consequences,
such as standard and preferential use of Valencian in all institutions in Valencian
territory and the duty to learn the native language. This perpetuates the inertia of
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REMARQUES SOBRE L’INFORME DEL COMITÈ D’EXPERTS DEL CONSELL D’EUROPA
insufficient promotion of the use and standardisation of Valencian in new
spheres, whilst sustaining the confusion surrounding the conflicts of identity and
name that have proven to be so unproductive in recent years.
For all of the above reasons, the IIFV appeals to the common sense of political
representatives and to the conscience of public opinion to make substantial
improvements to the bill on these issues, since this legal document will be instrumental
in the future of Valencian society and decisive for language standardisation therein.
Alicante, Castellon and Valencia, October 17, 2005
In order to focus on the Valencian universities that offer language studies, we shall only
mention here the reports that have been drawn up by these and taken to public
institutions, by way of example:
Report on language in the Valencian Country. Valencia: Universitat de València, 1978.
On the language of the Valencians: reports and documents. Valencia: Universitat de
València, 1998.
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REMARQUES SOBRE L’INFORME DEL COMITÈ D’EXPERTS DEL CONSELL D’EUROPA
Appendix 2:

Dictionary of Catalan language by the Institute of Catalan Studies (1st ed.
Barcelona: Palma de Mallorca: Valencia: Edicions 62, etc.,1995):
valencià -ana [...] m. Occidental dialect of Catalan spoken in the Valencian
Country. | adj. Of or relating to this dialect. | m. In the Valencian Country,
the Catalan language.

Dictionary of Spanish language by the Royal Spanish Academy (22nd ed.
Madrid: Espasa Calpe, 2002):
valenciano -na [...] 5. m. Variety of Catalan used in a large part of the
ancient kingdom of Valencia and commonly felt there to be the native
language.

Dictionary of Valencian by the Regional Government of Valencia (2nd ed.
Alzira: Generalitat Valenciana, 1996):
valencià -ana [...] 3. m ling Variety of Catalan spoken in the Valencian
Community.

Grand Larousse Universel. Paris: Larousse, 1995:
catalan, ENCYCL. Ling. Catalan has around 4,800,000 speakers in northeastern Spain (until Valencia, to the south) and approximately 200,000 in
France (Roussillonnais dialect). There are a further ten thousand speakers in
Andorra as well as in Sardinia (in the Alghero region). [...] There are two
main dialects: Oriental Catalan (used in Barcelona, the Balearics, Roussillon
and Alghero) and Occidental Catalan (Lerida, Tortosa, Valencia) [...]

The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15th ed. Chicago: Encyclopaedia
Britannica, 1993:
Catalan language, Catalan CATALÀ, Romance language spoken in eastern
and northern Spain, chiefly in Catalonia and Valencia. It is also spoken in
the Roussillon region of France, in Andorra, and in the Balearic Isles. [...]
There are two main dialect groups in modern Catalan: Occidental,
subdivided into West Catalan and Valencian; and Oriental, subdivided into
East Catalan, Balearic, and Roussillonnais and including the dialect spoken
in Alghero, Sardinia, [...].

Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language.
Springfield, Massachusetts, EUA: Merriam-Webster, 1986:
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REMARQUES SOBRE L’INFORME DEL COMITÈ D’EXPERTS DEL CONSELL D’EUROPA
Catalan [...] 2 a a: the Romance language of Catalonia,
Valencia, and the Balearic islands.
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REMARQUES SOBRE L’INFORME DEL COMITÈ D’EXPERTS DEL CONSELL D’EUROPA
Appendix 3
Report approved by the Valencian Academy of Language on February 9, 2005 and
published in the Official Gazette of the Regional Government of Valencia on April 12,
2005:
Point 1:
In accordance with the most reliable research in Romance
language studies from the 19th century to the present (studies on
old grammar, dialectology, syntax, lexicography, etc.), the
Valencians’ native and historical language, from the linguistic
perspective, is that shared by the autonomous communities of
Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Principality of Andorra.
It is also the native and historical language of other regions that
once belonged to the Crown of Aragon (Eastern Aragon, the
Sardinian city of Alghero and the French department of the
Eastern Pyrenees).
Point 4:
Historically, the term ‘Valencian’ has coexisted along with
‘Catalan’, as documented in various Valencian sources
(appendix 5), and has been in widespread use in Romance
language studies and Valencian universities in recent decades.
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REMARQUES SOBRE L’INFORME DEL COMITÈ D’EXPERTS DEL CONSELL D’EUROPA
Appendix 4:
Once the Caliph of Cordoba had died, the Valencian territory was fractured into a
number of independent taifas (Tortosa, Alpont, Valencia, Denia and Murcia). In fact,
James I did not annex the Kingdom of Valencia to the Kingdom of Aragon but
conquered the Arabs to found and constitute this territory, a conquest that became
something of a crusade.
In effect, James I the Conqueror decided to expand his land into the south at the Tortosa
Court in 1225, thus sparking the process known as the Conquest during which CatalanAragonese troops took hold of the city of Borriana in 1233, the Puig de Santa Maria in
August 1237 and finally the city of Valencia on September 28, 1239. The victorious
King rode into the city on October 9.
Later, in a third phase stretching from 1243 to 1245, James I reached the boundaries
market by the conquest between the crowns of Aragon and Castile. The land to the
south of the line between Biar and Busot was reserved for Castile and that to the north
to the Crown of Aragon. James II would later add the land belonging to the Kingdom of
Murcia on the north bank of the Segura River to the Kingdom of Valencia.
In 1239 James I made Valencia a kingdom with its own political institution – the Furs
of Valencia, its own legal body – the Valencian Court, and, among other things, its own
currency. Nevertheless, it was still dynastically united to the Crown of Aragon.
The history of the background, the conquest and the constitution of the Kingdom of
Valencia has been studied by various acclaimed authors and has been the subject of
numerous books and papers. To name but a few:





GUINOT, Enric. Els fundadors del Regne de València: repoblament,
antroponímia i llengua a la València medieval. Ed. Tres i Quatre. València
1999. (‘The Founders of the Kingdom of Valencia: repopulation,
anthroponomy and language in medieval Valencia’.)
GUICHARD, Pierre. Les musulmans de Valence et la reconquête (XI-XII
siècles). Editions d’Amerique et d’Orient. Damas 1990. (‘The Muslims of
Valencia and the reconquest (11th—12th centuries)’.)
BURNS, Robert I. S.J. Muslims, Christians and Jews in the crusader
Kingdom of Valencia, Cambridge University Press, 1984.
BURNS, Robert I. S.J., Medieval Colonialism: Postcrusade Exploitation of
Islamic Valencia, Princeton, 1975
RUIZ TORRES, Pedro (Ed.), Historia del País Valenciano, 6 vols., Barcelona,
Cupsa-Planeta, 1981. (‘History of the Valencian Country’.)
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

GIL, M.; GLICK, T. F., FURIÓ, A.; ARDIT, M. and GARCÍA, C., Història del
País Valencià. Valencia, Eliseu Climent editor, 1992. (‘History of the
Valencian Country’.)
BELENGUER, E. (Coord.), Història del País Valencià, 5 vols., Barcelona,
Edicions 62, 1988-1990. (‘History of the Valencian Country’.)
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Appendix 5:
The historical truth, as historians and linguists unanimously agree, is that “there is no
scientific basis to suggest that Valencian Moors did not speak Arabic but Romance in
the 13th century before the conquest of James I” 3. We know that Valencian Moriscos
continued to speak Arabic up to the time they were expelled, in 1609. When the
Muslims first came to power, the vast majority of the population were native Visigoths
who preserved their primitive Romance tongue for several centuries. By the end,
however, as had already occurred with the process of Romanization, Arabic was the
dominant language and culture. The native Romance language and pre-Islamic way of
life was continued for longer by the Mozarab religious ethnic minority. In the 12th
century, however, the North-African Almoravid fanatics virtually destroyed the
Mozarabs in a fever of religious intolerance. Research shows that the language spoken
by the Valencian Mozarabs was considerably different to the Catalan language. Catalan,
and Aragonese, which was progressively swallowed by Castilian, was brought to the
Kingdom of Valencia with the conquest and repopulation4.
3
UNIVERSITAT DE VALÈNCIA. FACULTY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES. Report on tthe language of teh Valencian
Country, Universitat de València 1978.
4
Cf. Ibid.
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REMARQUES SOBRE L’INFORME DEL COMITÈ D’EXPERTS DEL CONSELL D’EUROPA
Appendix 6:
Below is a brief list of prestigious Valencians who have used the term ‘Catalan’ to refer
to the language of the Valencians (a few from each century are quoted here along with
the source and the year):
a) Chronicler and procurator of the city of Valencia, Ramon Muntaner (Crònica
(‘Chronicles’) ch. XVII; 1325-1329):
And as the said city [of Murcia] has been seized, populate it
with Catalans, likewise Oriola, and Elx, and Alicante, and
Guadamar, Cartegena and other places. Yes, be certain that all
those in the said city of Murcia and in the other places
mentioned speak the most beautiful Catalan in the world.
b) Saint Vicent Ferrer (Sermons: Reportationes sermonum Reverendissimi Magistri
Vicentii Ferrarii, predicatoris finis mundi; 1412-1418):
You in Serrania who are in between Castile and Catalonia, and
therefore speak some Castilian and some Catalan, our life lies in
the middle: above is glory and below hell.
c) Ecclesiastic (benefice of Valencia Cathedral) and writer, Bernat Fenollar (Regles
d’esquivar vocables o mots grossers o pagesívols (‘Rules for avoiding oaths and
peasant-like words’); 1492-1497):
words and terms that should be avoided by those who wish to
speak the Catalan language well, in the judgement of the
presbyter Mossen Renollar and my lord Hierònym Pau [and]
other well-spoken Catalans and Valencians and excellent
troubadours […] among persons of ingenuity or experience, it is
easy to recognise such words as being from the Empurdà, or
Urgell, or Majorcas, or Xàtiva, or from the Mountains, or
peasant-like, which courtesans and elegant speakers and
troubadours are not accustomed to using.
d) Historian Martí de Viciana (Crónica de la ínclita y coronada ciudad de Valencia, III,
(‘Chronicle of the illustrious and crowned city of Valencia, III’) p. 341; 1563):
The Catalan language has always been preserved in Orihuela
and its lands: because after the conquest the land was populated
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REMARQUES SOBRE L’INFORME DEL COMITÈ D’EXPERTS DEL CONSELL D’EUROPA
by more Catalans than anyone else, who passed on their
language, heart, hands and works.
e) Historian and ecclesiast Gaspar Escolano (Décadas de la historia de la insigne y
coronada Ciudad y Reyno de Valencia, llibre I, (‘Decades of history of the notable and
crowned City and Kingdom of Valencia, book I’) ch. XVI, c. 108; 1610):
Since upon being conquered it was populated almost entirely by
Catalans, and it took from them their language, and the two
provinces are so close, for over three hundred years the people
of this Kingdom [Valencia] have gone by the name of Catalans,
with foreign nations making no distinction between Catalans
and Valencians.
f) Writer and notary Carles Ros (Epítome del origen y grandezas del idioma valenciano
(‘Epitome of the origin and greatness of the Valencian language’); 1734):
that our predecessors were so skilled in mastering the Valencian
language, which being the same as Catalan, this has remained
crude, ill-sounding and vulgar, and Valencian has become
courtly, and gentile […]
g) The erudite Gregori Maians i Ciscar (letter to Bishop Ascensi Sales; 1763):
The books that thou sent me reached my hands in good
condition. The Gazofilazio is very much to my liking, not so
much for its great length […] but for the Catalan which I love as
my native language.
h) Jurist and historian Benvingut Oliver (Historia del derecho en Cataluña, Mallorca y
Valencia. Código de las costumbres de Tortosa, I (‘A history of law in Catalonia,
Majorca and Valencia. Code of the customs of Tortosa’); 1876):
[there is] a community of uses, customs, legislation and
traditions among the inhabitants of the lands known under the
ancient names of the Principality of Catalonia and Kingdoms of
Majorca and Valencia […]. Whilst we may not be the first to
discover this fact, nobody to date has declared it and it sheds
unexpected light on our whole history and on the true character
of the people whom we may call Catalan speakers […]
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REMARQUES SOBRE L’INFORME DEL COMITÈ D’EXPERTS DEL CONSELL D’EUROPA
i) Writer Vicent Venceslau Querol, who gave the title Rimas catalanas (‘Catalan
rhymes’) to those written in the language native to Valencia in his book Rimas
(‘Rhymes’), 1877.
j) Director-Dean of the Centre for Valencian Culture and editor of the daily Las
Provincias Teodor Llorente i Falcó (En defensa de la personalidad valenciana (‘In
defence of the Valencian personality’), pp. 71-73, 75-77; 1930):
It is irrefutable that the languages spoken in Catalonia, the
Balearic Islands and Valencia are one and the same […] But
there are others, whom we believe to be rather more poetic, who
claim that Valencian comes from here, as Catalan comes from
Catalonia and Balearic from Majorca. […] Those that hold this
view cling to the notion that our language is called ‘Valencian’
and are outraged every time the Catalans describe a medieval
Valencian writer as cultivating the ‘Catalan language’. We
strongly believe that this does not break our bones. Querol, one
of the most inspired poets and one of our greatest intellects of
modern times, did not hesitate to call his Valencian verses
“Catalan Rhymes”; and Teodoro Llorente himself was very
accommodating in this.
k) Archivist and erudite from Castellon Lluís Revest i Corzo, one of the first signatories
to the Rules of Castellon (La llengua valenciana (‘The Valencian Language’). Castelló
de la Plana: Societat Castellonenca de Cultura, 1930, p. 13):
WE believe that the Valencian language is no more than that
which the Catalan brought with them after the Conquest; it is
therefore known universally as Catalan since linguists named it
after the first people who spoke it.
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REMARQUES SOBRE L’INFORME DEL COMITÈ D’EXPERTS DEL CONSELL D’EUROPA
Appendix 7
Records of the canonization of saint Vicent Ferrer (1445-1455) (Germà Colón, La
llengua catalana en els seus textos (‘The Catalan language in texts’). Barcelona: Curial,
1978)
“[...] et loqueretur in vulgari catalanico sive valentino [...]”
Bernat Fenollar and Jeroni Pau, Regles d’esquivar vocables o mots grossers o
pagesívols (‘Rules for avoiding oaths and peasant-like words’) (“words and terms that
should be avoided by those who wish to speak the Catalan language well, in the
judgement of the presbyter Mossen Renollar and my lord Jeroni Pau [and] other wellspoken Catalans and Valencians and excellent troubadours”) (1492-1497). [Edició
d’Antoni M. Badia i Margarit, Barcelona, 1999]:
[rule 291]: “queen and regine may both be used, but in Catalan and Valencian it is
vulgar to say queen”
Onofre Pou, Thesaurus puerilis (1575)
“The vulgar Catalan, and Valencian, forms are first, followed by the Latin.”
Manuel Milà i Fontanals, Obres catalanes (‘Catalan works’). Barcelona, Gustau Gili,
1908:
“And if they wish to call us Catalans, they are not referring to us as Limousins, but
Catalan-Valencian-Balearic.”
19