Pere Tomich or Tomic (fl.

Floruit

Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...

 1431–1438) was a Catalan knight and historian.

He wrote a monumental general history of Catalonia from Creation

Creation according to Genesis

The Genesis creation narrative describes the divine creation of the world including the first man and woman...

, through the "primers pobladors d'Espanya" (first populators of Spain), to the reign of Ferdinand I of Aragon

Ferdinand I of Aragon

Ferdinand I called of Antequera and also the Just or the Honest) was king of Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia and Corsica and king of Sicily, duke of Athens and Neopatria, and count of Barcelona, Roussillon and Cerdanya...

. His Histories e Conquestes del reyalme Darago e principat de Cathalunya he finished at Bagà

Bagà

Bagà is a municipality located in the comarca of Berguedà, in Catalonia.Traditionally, Bagà is considered the capital of Alt Berguedà, the mountainous northern half of the comarca.-Location:...

 in 1438. One of its distinguishing marks is Pere's uncritical acceptance of legend

Legend

A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...

 and incorporation of folklore

Folklore

Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...

 into his otherwise accurate account. Besides legend, Pere especially revels in listing the names of the major noble families of Aragon

Kingdom of Aragon

The Kingdom of Aragon was a medieval and early modern kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain...

, Catalonia

Principality of Catalonia

The Principality of Catalonia , is a historic territory in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula, mostly in Spain and with an adjoining portion in southern France....

, and Valencia

Kingdom of Valencia

The Kingdom of Valencia , located in the eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon. When the Crown of Aragon merged by dynastic union with the Crown of Castile to form the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Valencia became a component realm of the...

. The events (especially military, with a taste for naval expeditions) in which they were actors accompany their names, and the names of the lords of Pinós and Bagà are heavily favoured. Pere is the sole source for several historical events. He adds to the so-called "Legend of the Cowardly Peasants", in which the cowardice of the peasantry in the face of the Moors

Moors

The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

 is led to explain their servitude, the fact that the Christian leader whose summons to arms they refused to obey was Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...

 and that the summons took place in 814. Pere also asserts that Huguet de Mataplana

Huguet de Mataplana

Huguet de Mataplana was a Catalan nobleman and poet. His name is also spelled Hug, Huc, Uc, or Uget....

, the troubadour

Troubadour

A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....

, was present at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa

Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa

The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, known in Arab history as the Battle of Al-Uqab , took place on 16 July 1212 and was an important turning point in the Reconquista and in the medieval history of Spain...

. He provides a detailed explanation of how Raymond Berengar I

Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona

Ramon Berenguer I the Old was Count of Barcelona in 1035–1076. He promulgated the earliest versions of a written code of Catalan law, the Usages of Barcelona....

 and Almodis codified the Catalan system of rank in their Usatges

Usages of Barcelona

The Usages of Barcelona were the customs that form the basis for the Catalan Constitutions. They are the fundamental laws, furs , and basic rights of the Catalonia, dating back to their codification in the twelfth century....

. Pere also wrote that Martin of Aragon died of the plague, which has been disproved.

In 1431, a lawyer representing the guild of bitmakers

Bit (horse)

A bit is a type of horse tack used in equestrian activities, usually made of metal or a synthetic material, and is placed in the mouth of a horse or other equid and assists a rider in communicating with the animal. It rests on the bars of the mouth in an interdental region where there are no teeth...

 of Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

 arrived in Bagà to obtain a copy of a document authenticating a miracle supposedly performed by Saint Stephen

Saint Stephen

Saint Stephen The Protomartyr , the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches....

 on Galceran de Pinós. Finding the rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

 of the city away on business, the lawyer obtained the testimony of the oldest and most trustworthy men of Bagà in a public information-gathering session held in front of a notary public

Notary public

A notary public in the common law world is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with estates, deeds, powers-of-attorney, and foreign and international business...

. The first sworn testimony recorded was that of Pere Tomich. His recollection is detailed and he adds the story of one hundred young ladies who were rescued through the saint's intervention. All subsequent witnesses simply affirmed Pere's testimony, adding that so had they heard from their fathers and grandfathers.