Andronikos roles the dice and hires the Catalan Grand Company to fight the Turks. Those who advised the Emperor not to hire them could never have imagined just how badly things would go. Meanwhile Latin forces continue to take Aegean islands for themselves.
Period: 1303-1310
Pic: Roger de Flor parades the Catalan Company before Andronikos and the court (Painting by José Moreno Carbonero)
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The History of Byzantium 
I don’t understand how almogavars were effective against horse archers. Aren’t lightly armored infantry especially vulnerable to horse archers?
Great question. The circumstances of combat have now changed though. The plains of Western Anatolia were more limited than those of the plateau. So there was more scope for a regular army to manoeuvre to favourable ground. Also these tribes had something to protect. On the plateau they could retreat anywhere they liked. Now they had a home base and families to protect. So their options were, again, limited. So if the Catalans could force them to fight in reasonably close quarters they could gain the upper hand. As the Byzantines had done in the previous decade.
Oh, Andronikos. That name just seems to bode ill for the Empire in general.
🙂
I’ve been waiting for this podcast! Years ago I read the chronicles by Ramón Muntaner and mentioned Richard De Flor back at the first podcast of the Crusades. I knew the Catalan side of the story but wanted to hear more about the Roman side of the story.
Roger De Flor!