Catalan Company

The Catalan Company or the Great Catalan Company (Catalan: Gran Companyia Catalana; Societas exercitus catalanorum, Societas cathalanorum, or Magna Societas Catalanorum) was a company of mercenaries led by Roger de Flor in the early 14th century and hired by Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos to combat the increasing power of the Anatolian beyliks. It was formed by almogavar veterans of the War of the Sicilian Vespers, who had remained unemployed after the signing in 1302 of the Peace of Caltabellotta between the Crown of Aragon and the French dynasty of the Angevins.

The military demands of the Reconquista stimulated the formation of the elite light infantry known as the almogavars on the Iberian peninsula during the 13th century. These troops were used quite effectively by the Crown of Aragon for other imperial ventures in the Mediterranean, particularly the War of the Sicilian Vespers. They were typically organised in companies (societates) of 20 to 50 men, following a chief of recognized military skill. The signing of the Peace of Caltabellotta in 1302 terminated that struggle in Sicily, leaving the almogavars without immediate employment.

James II of Aragon and his brother Frederick III of Sicily saw the threat posed to civil order. While Frederick would have liked to retain some of them for the defence of Sicily, they could not, by custom, be forced to do so. Instead, many of the almogavars were recruited into a "company of companies", led by the mercenary Roger de Flor, to be paid in Byzantine service.

The organisation was referred to by the (hostile) Angevin and papal chancelleries as the [Magna] Societas [exercitus] Catalanorum, the [Great] Catalan [military] Company. The Sicilian chancellery referred to them as Francorum, "Frankish", as Western Europeans were called in Byzantium, However, the written letters produced by the Company were mainly in Catalan.

The Great Catalan Company departed from Messina with 36 ships (including 18 galleys) transporting about 8,000 men (1,500 cavalry, 4,000 almogavar foot soldiers and an indeterminate number of servants and auxiliary personnel). The exact figures are a matter of dispute, for although the numbers provided by Ramon Muntaner are trusted by later historians Francisco de Moncada and George Pachymeres, the contemporary Byzantine historian Nicephorus Gregoras gives a total number of only 1,000 men.

After a brief stop at Monemvasia, the Company arrived at Constantinople in January 1303, where it was received by the Emperor and housed in the district of Blachernae. Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos arranged the wedding of Roger de Flor to his niece, the 15 year old princess Maria Asanina, daughter of the Tsar of Bulgaria Ivan Asen III and Irene Palaiologina. De Flor was named Megas Doux (Great Dux, i.e. Commander of the Imperial forces).

The arrival of the new mercenary contingent upset the balance of power that supported the Byzantine Empire. It especially irritated the Genoese, who saw the arrival of the Catalan Company as an intrusion by the House of Barcelona into the area of influence of the Republic of Genoa: the Eastern Mediterranean and the Byzantine Empire. Armed conflict was not long in breaking out, with 3,000 Genoese killed (including their leader Rosso del Finar) in what was called the Genoese massacre [ca] in September 1303.

After those incidents and the recent defeat of the Byzantines in the Battle of Bafeus, the Emperor ordered Roger de Flor to move his almogavars as soon as possible to the battle front in Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Transported there in the fleet commanded by the Catalan Admiral Ferran d'Aunés, Roger de Flor's troops disembarked at Cape Artake, near the ruins of ancient Cyzicus. They soon achieved a great victory against the Karasid Turks in the Battle of the Cyzicus in October 1303. The almogavars made a surprise attack on the Oghuz Turkish camp located at Cape Artake, killing about 3,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry and capturing many women and children.