Grand Catalan Company

Timeline

1. 1303–1305Constantinople · ByzantineRoger de Flor led some 6,500 Almogavar warriors and 1,500 cavalry into Byzantine service under Andronikos II, entering the empire under the name "Grand Catalan Company" and promising to fight the Ottomans and recover lost lands in Asia Minor.
2. 1305–1308Northwestern Anatolia · AnatoliaThe Company fought at Helios and Afyon, but relations with Byzantium deteriorated over discipline and pay; after Roger de Flor was assassinated in 1305, the Catalans turned to plundering Byzantine territory, with command passing to successors such as Berenguer de Rocafort.
3. 1311–1340Duchy of Athens · Duchy of AthensAfter the Battle of Halmyros in 1311, the Company defeated the Franks and occupied Athens; the remnants were ruled by Catalan nobles and became the military-administrative core of the "Catalan Duchy of Athens," continuing the Almogavar tradition of arms.
4. 1341–1350Aegean and Greece · AegeanIn the 1340s the Catalans still ruled Athens, and the Company as an organization had been absorbed into the duchy's military and political structure; its mercenary model and Almogavar tactics influenced the mercenary markets of contemporary Italian city-states and Byzantine frontier zones, becoming a typical case of 14th-century Mediterranean militarized commerce.
5. c. 1388Athens · AthensIn 1388 the Catalan Duchy of Athens was sold to Peter IV of Aragon, formally ending Catalan military rule; the former Company organization ceased to exist as an independent mercenary entity, and its remnants were absorbed into the Aragonese-Sicilian military system.