Who is Who: Translators, interpreters and cultural brokers in the diplomatic relations between the Crown of Aragon and the Mamluk Sultanate

The diplomatic contacts established between the Crown of Aragon and the Mamluk Sultanate are largely well known in factual terms, since they have historically attracted the attention of scholars. Nevertheless, the agents and actors involved in those encounters, their activities and the scope of their influence in the diplomatic and cultural exchange are still barely studied.
Through the simultaneous systematic survey of the documentation preserved in the Reial Cancelleria (Royal Chancery) and the Reial Patrimoni (Royal Heritage) of the Archive of the Crown of Aragon, this paper has aimed to unravel some of the most invisible yet essential agents involved in those cross-cultural mediations: the translating agents who intervened in the diplomatic encounters. This study has allowed us to carry out a systematic review of the terms, categories and occupations employed to designate these agents, as well as to be able to identify some of the hitherto anonymous agents, their identities, origins, social and occupational roles, and the activities in which their presence was crucial for the success of the diplomatic exchanges between the Crown of Aragon and the Mamluk Sultanate, in the context of the wider Mediterranean.