Peter IV of Aragon — called "el Ceremoniós" for his obsessive attention to court protocol, which he personally codified — ruled during one of the most turbulent stretches of Aragonese history, encompassing the Black Death, repeated conflicts with the Union of Aragon, and the annexation of Sardinia. His Catalan groats were struck under the monetary ordinances he issued to stabilize exchange rates disrupted by mid-century plague depopulation, which gutted tax revenues and trade volumes across the Crown of Aragon. The .958 fineness held deliberately close to sterling as a signal to Genoese and Venetian merchants.
Peter IV of Aragon — called "el Ceremoniós" for his obsessive attention to court protocol, which he personally codified — ruled during one of the most turbulent stretches of Aragonese history, encompassing the Black Death, repeated conflicts with the Union of Aragon, and the annexation of Sardinia. His Catalan groats were struck under the monetary ordinances he issued to stabilize exchange rates disrupted by mid-century plague depopulation, which gutted tax revenues and trade volumes across the Crown of Aragon. The .958 fineness held deliberately close to sterling as a signal to Genoese and Venetian merchants.