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Ch. VII THE CATALANS AND FLORENTINES IN GREECE, 13 80—1462 235 
brought also a good report of Dalmau's lieutenant in Athens, Ray mond de
Vilanova, to whom the king wrote in friendly fashion on December 11 (1382),
"we are confident that you will serve us well and loyally."25 As time passed,
Peter needed Vilanova's loyal ser vice, because for one reason or another
Dalmau did not get back to Greece, although on June 20, 1383, his majesty
assured the officials of Athens and Neopatras as well as Vilanova and countess
Helena that the vicar-general would in fact, Deo volente, soon be setting
out to resume command in the duchies.26 
 Although there is no dearth of documents for the years 1382— 1383,
we are still unable to determine who held Thebes and Livadia. On December
31, 1382, the king wrote pope Urban VI that after the union of the Athenian
duchy with the crown of Aragon, the intrigues of certain rebels had resulted
in a monstrous defection of loyalty from the crown. He implied that this
had been the reason for levying the papal interdict upon the duchy (which
was certainly not the case), but now that "all the inhabitants of the duchy
have of their own accord recognized the error of their ways and returned
to the Aragonese obedience," the long-standing interdict was unnecessary.
The king asked his holiness to remove the ban and restore his "faithful subjects"
to the loving embrace of the church. The bearer of the royal letter was to
be bishop John Boyl of Megara, who had returned to Catalonia and was now
setting out for Rome.27 His persistent majesty made a further attempt to
have the learned Simon Atumano removed from the archiepiscopal see of Thebes,
and again recommended John Boyl's nomination thereto,28 but the request was
no more successful this time than it had been two years be fore.29 Probably
John Boyl made a better impression on the Aragon ese court, where he could
speak Catalan, than on the curia, for he may never have learned the Italian
vernacular. In any event, Simon 
 25. Dipl., doc. DXXXIV, pp. 585—586. 
 26. Dipl., docs. DXLVI, DXLVIII—DL, pp. 595—597. The king asked
Vilanova to guard well lo castell e ciutat de Cetines. 
 27. Dipl., doc. DXXXVII, p. 587: ". . . omnes dicti ducatus tanquam nostri
fideles eorum recognoscentes errorem spontanei ad nostram obedienciam et
dominium redierunt     The statement is simple enough, but the meaning is
unclear. Loenertz, Arch. FF. Praed., XXVIII, no. 216, p. 75, says "le document
semble impliquer que Thebes et Livadia sont rentrees sous la domination catalane,
fait important ...," and the fact would indeed be important if it were true,
but a royal letter of April 10, 1383 (Dipl., doc. DXLIII, p. 592), certainly
shows that by that date the "city and district of Thebes" had not returned
to Catalan rule. In reference to this document Loenertz, loc. cit., speaks
of "l'interdit qui pèse sur les duchés grecs," but the text
specifies the duchy of Athens, and the interdict did not fall upon that of
Neopatras. 
 28. Dipl., doc. DXXX VIII, p. 588, dated December 31, 1382. 
 29. Cf. Dipl., docs. CCCXCVI, CDVI, CDXIII.