Due to his multifaceted profile, Joan Carles i Amat (Monistrol de Montserrat, 1572-1642) falls into the category of an archetypal «Renaissance man» because in his person the features of a whole humanist converge: the man of science (doctor and essayist, but also a scholar in other branches of knowledge), the man of letters (author of a major work of Catalan paremiology: the Four hundred Catalan aphorisms) and the managing man (member of the Municipal Council and mayor of the town at the end of his life).There is, however, one aspect of Carles i Amat's versatility that has projected him on a global scale despite being an amateur: that of a musician (specifically, a prodigious guitarist) and a theorist who at only 24 years old ventured into write what is considered the first guitar treatise in Europe.

1572: Joan Carles i Amat was born in Monistrol de Montserrat, Bages region in Central Catalonia

1596: He publishes in Barcelona the treatise “Guitarra Española de cinco órdenes” (Five-course Spanish Guitar. Later reprints: 1626/1627 Lleida, 1639 Girona, 1701 Barcelona, 1745 Girona, 176. Girona, 1758/1780/1819 Valencia)

1597: He graduated from the Estudi General de València (former name of the current University), where he had moved at a very young age to study Medicine (he had previously graduated in Arts)

1600: He marries Mònica Ubach i Casanovas from Vacarisses, with whom he will have no children, and settles in Esparreguera, where he works as a doctor.

1608: He goes to work as a doctor in the monastery of Montserrat

1618: He settles in Monistrol to work as a doctor, which he combines with practice in Montserrat (he is also said to have been practicing in Lleida, but this has not been proven)

1623: First edition in Lyon (France) of the “Fructus Medicinae ex variis galeni locis decerpti” (later reprints: 1627 Lyon, 1656 Geneva, 1693 Valencia)

1627: Fully enters the public life of Monistrol as a member of the Municipal Council (successive positions until 1642: winter garden worker, watchmaker, keyboardist, parish commissioner, auditor, town clerk, jury chief, creditor, notary and mayor)

1628: Publishes the “Warnings for the upcoming weather about the Font Gran de Monistrol de Montserrat” (this publication is considered an authentic hydrology manual)

1636: He publishes in Barcelona the “Quatre-cents aforismes catalans” (the Four Hundred Catalan Aphorisms) (later reprints: 1642, 1647, 1694, 1701, 1713, 1718, 1738, 1760, 1765, 1802, 1805, 1840, 1864, 1879, 1897, 1918, 1953, 1984 in several cities, plus other undated reissues)

1638: Signs the compendium of the “Ordinacions del Mostasaf de Monistrol de Montserrat” (Ordinances of the Mostassaf of the town of Monistrol de Montserrat)

1642: On February 10, he dies in Monistrol at the age of 70 and is buried, according to his will, under the altar of the chapel of Sant Joan in the Church of Sant Pere. Other works of dubious attribution: “Tractatus de Peste”, “Tratado de las heridas de la cabeza”, “Catalog of the plants that grow on the mountain of Montserrat”, “Entremés de la guitarra”.

The «Guitarra Española de cinco órdenes», first published in 1596 (missing edition) and subject of numerous reprints, has been fortunate enough to become a small cult object for guitarists and scholars from the five continents that have analyzed and disseminated it. They have also learned about the author's native town, located in one of the most emblematic places in Catalonia, at the foot of Montserrat. For all this to the title of Carles i Amat as Monistrol’s first son, we must add another one of much more flying: that of the «monistrolenc universal» par excellence.

Newberry Library Chicago

1. 1701 edition by Gabriel Brò, Barcelona:

2. 1745 edition by Gabriel Bro, Girona:

3. Edition of 17.. by Antonio Oliva, Girona:

4. Edition of 176.. by Joseph Bró, Girona:

5. 1758 edition of Agustín Laborda, València (in this case, the digitized one has the approximate date of 1800):

FRUCTUS MEDICINAE

From the medical point of view, Joan Carles i Amat published a treatise on medicine that became a great vademecum in its time: it is the “Fructus Medicinae” (first published in Lyon (France) in 1623 and reprinted in 1639, also in Lyon, and in 1656 in Geneva. Years later, in 1685 and 1693, the treaty would be reissued in Valencia, the city where he had worked as a young man to study medicine at the 'Estudi General', then the most prestigious university in the former Crown of Aragon (“Corona d’Aragó”).

The other great work of Carles i Amat, the one that has made it more popular, are the Quatre-cents aforismes catalans (Four Hundred Catalan Aphorisms), a collection of sentences and moral proverbs written, in the manner of the proverbs of Anselm Turmeda, with the intention that they served for the education of the citizenship, mainly of the children.

The Quatre-cents aforismes catalans, first published in 1636, with multiple reprints, and considered a major work of Catalan paremiology, were a must-read book in schools throughout Catalonia over two centuries, until the early nineteenth century.


Biblioteca de Girona
David Blasco Collection

Biblioteca de Catalunya
Google Books

The first steps in the definitive recovery of the character begin in 2014 with the publication of the book “L’empremta del monistrolenc Joan Carles Amat”, which gives way to the inauguration, in 2015, of the Espai Joan Carles Amat; projects, both promoted by Monistrol City Council. This culminated a long process that began in 1918 with the claim made by the town's archivist, Josep Vilar i Cots, and which continued in the third qarter of the 20th century with the work of various local scholars.

The drafting of the dossier ‘JCA450’ on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of Joan Carles i Amat ’, has allowed us to locate a significant number of reviews about the historical personality. Beyond those of the local or country level, the ones obtained from the Anglo-Saxon academic field stand out, all of them referring to the Guitar Treaty. 

Reviews on Joan Carles i Amat

Section I of the Dossier ‘JCA450’(Catalan)

It was not until Monistrol has been awakened after decades of indefiniteness, that it has been able to face its most ambitious challenge: the Festival in tribute to its illustrious great man, and in this revitalization of the town. Two events that have placed it in a prominent place in the festive activity of the region: the Fira de la Coca and the Mató  and Romeus  have decisively contibuted to this renewal. Both of them allowed the people of Monistrol to breathe a good dose of self-esteem. But the worldwide spread of his Guitar Treatise and the fact that Carles i Amat have helped to project the name of Monistrol far from their borders, forces us to think about the future event in terms, also, of a great flight: that is, at the Joan Carles i Amat International Guitar Festival, with all that entails in terms of demand, artistic excellence and convening power.