Llibre dels àngels

This book is a real treatise about angelology, but with several political thoughts. It was maybe the most successful Eiximenis' book, since it was translated into Latin (it is the only Eiximenis' book that was translated into that language), into Spanish, into French, and even into Flemish (maybe it was the only Medieval Catalan book that was translated into that language).

Furthermore, one of the French incunable editions was the first printed book in the Swiss city of Geneva.[1] We could say that this matter should have been treated in Eiximenis' Huitè (eighth volume) of his encyclopedic project Lo Crestià. This book should have dealt with the order of things and creatures according to medieval mentality. This order appears in what he calls "strata", and he considers that angels are one of these strata, according to the theological Medieval mentality. It appears in the famous Peter Lombard's Four Books of Sentences Quattuor libri sententiarum. The second book deals with angels. Eiximenis confirms that in the 43rd chapter of his Segon del Crestià (Second volume of Lo Crestià).[2]

Without exaggerating, it can be said that this book had a decisive influence in the spread of the cult and devotion of angels in the city of Valencia and the Kingdom of Valencia. The same year that the Llibre dels àngels was written (1392), the Consell General de València (General Council of Valencia. It was the city government authority) agreed on 9 August to decorate the Sala del Consell (Council Hall) with several figures, and one of these was the guardian angel. This cult and devotion was progressing and spreading years later. So in 1411 a service for the guardian angel of Valencia was composed, and it appears in some breviaries of those years. In 1446 in the Cathedral of Valencia the yearly festivity of the guardian angel began to be celebrated, according to a certain ritual.[3]