Catalan campaign in Asia Minor
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| Catalan Campaign in Asia Minor | |
|---|---|
Asia Minor )(modern-day Turkey | |
| Result | Indecisive |
Byzantine EmpireCatalan Company until 1305)[1]
Various
Anatolian Turkish Beyliks
Catalan Company (after 1305)[1]
In 1303, the
) were left dead, the work of the Catalans.However, the Byzantines got more than what they bargained for; the mercenaries were difficult to restrain and consequently much of the reconquered territory was laid to waste. When their leader Roger de Flor was assassinated in
Catalans,[2] the mercenaries began a two-year pillage in revenge and crossed over to Thrace and Macedonia under the command of their new leader, Berenguer d'Entença,[3] where further raiding occurred. As a result of this brutality, the Company was excommunicated by Pope Clement V.[3] Eventually the Catalan mercenaries claimed the Duchy of Athens for themselves in 1311 and would remain there until 1379,[3]
leaving behind a devastated Byzantium. After this, the Turks found much support amongst those who suffered and reoccupied land that had been lost.
Thus, the Catalans' campaign was a short-term Byzantine victory, but benefited the Turks in the long term.
Strength of forces
Initially the
Valencians from the Crown of Aragon.[2][4] These forces were later reinforced by 300 horsemen and 1,000 Almogavars[5] and later, they were joined by 300 horsemen and Berenguer d'Entença.[6] After the murder of Roger de Flor the Byzantines killed so many of the Company that only 3,307 men remained.[4] These numbers were further reduced to 206 horseman and 1,256 after an encounter with Genoese forces, according to Muntaner.[4] Before leaving Gallipoli the company was joined by a Turkish force consisting of 800 horseman and 2,000 footsoldiers.[4]
Ramon Muntaner who was a soldier from Catalonia and chronicler, wrote that during a battle in 1304 the Company fought against nearly 30,000 Turks (10,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry) of which 18,000 (6,000 cavalry and 12,000 infantry) supposedly lay dead.[7]
See also
- Great Catalan Company
- Ramon Muntaner
- Chronicle of Muntaner
- History of the sword
References
- ^ ISBN 9781438110257.
- ^ a b c Allison Peers (1937). Catalonia Infelix. Methuen. pp. 28–29.
- ^ ISBN 9780195334036.
- ^ ISBN 9780299066703.
- ^ Enigmas y misterios de los almogávares. Guillermo Rocafort. pp. 40–42.
- ISBN 9789004206663.
- ^ Alfonso Lowe (1972). The Catalan Vengeance. Routledge. pp. 47–48.
Bibliography
- Georg Ostrogorsky, Storia dell'Impero bizantino, Milano, Einaudi, 1968, ISBN 88-06-17362-6.
- John Julius Norwich, Bisanzio, Milano, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 2000, ISBN 88-04-48185-4.
- Alain Ducellier, Michel Kapla, Bisanzio (IV-XV secolo), Milano, San Paolo, 2005, ISBN 88-215-5366-3.
- A History of the Crusades: Volume III — The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, ed. Harry W. Hazard, University of Wisconsin Press: Madison, 1975.
- Setton, Kenneth M. Catalan Domination of Athens 1311–1380. Revised edition. Variorum: London, 1975.
- Jacques Heers, Chute et mort de Constantinople, 1204-1453, éditions Perrin ISBN 2-262-02098-1
- Donald M. Nicol, Les Derniers siècles de Byzance, 1261-1453, éditions Les Belles Lettres ISBN 2-251-38074-4