The First Medieval Mercenary Company (that Defied the Byzantine Emperor and Conquered Athens)

This is the story of how a band of Catalan outlaws who lived on the frontier between the Muslim and Spanish kingdoms became some of the most sought-after mercenaries in history, defeating the Ottomans, the Byzantine Empire, and finally becoming the masters of Athens. Called the Grand Catalan Company, they were arguably one of the first-or even the first-mercenary companies in history. They usually hired themselves out to the highest bidder but only as long as they got paid. Many an emperor or duke who hired the Catalan Company learned this the hard way.
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Some must read mlitary history books:
Ambrose, S. E., Band of Brothers: E Company, 2001. amzn.to/438ltvZ
Baime, A. J., The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman, 2017. amzn.to/3TcDGUj
Beard, M., Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World, 2023. amzn.to/49L2olR
Bevoor, A., Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943, 1999. amzn.to/4a4rqwe
Beevor, A., The Second World War, 2013. amzn.to/3wNFITu
Brennan, P+D., Gettysburg in Color, 2022. amzn.to/48LGldG
Clausewitz, C., On War, 2010. amzn.to/3Vblf5
Kaushik, R., A Global History of Pre-Modern Warfare: 10,000 BCE-1500 CE, 2021. amzn.to/49Mtqt7
McPherson, J., Battle Cry of Freedom, The Civil War Era, 2021. amzn.to/3TseYAW
Tsu, S., The Art of War, 2007, amzn.to/3TuknHA
Sledge. E. B., With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, 2008. amzn.to/439olIK
Pomerantsev, P., How to Win an Information War, 2024. amzn.to/3Ts0YqQ
Bibliography :
Abulafia, D., Frederick II. A Medieval Emperor, 1988.
Ávila, J.A.A., Muntaner and the battle of the knights of death, Mediterranea: Ricerche Storiche, 2017, no. 14. 499-542.
DeVries, K., Infantry Warfare in the Early Fourteenth Century. Discipline, Tactics, and Technology (Warfare in History vol. 2) ,1996.
Fancy, H., The Mercenary Mediterranean: Sovereignty, Religion, and Violence in the Medieval Crown of Aragon, 2016.
Jacoby, D.: The Catalan Company in the East: The Evolution of an Itinerant Army (1303-1311), in: Gregory I. Halfond (eds.): The Medieval Way of War. Studies in Medieval Military History in Honor of Bernard S. Bachrach, Routledge, 2014, S. 153-182.
Lendering, J., Causes of the War of the Sicilian Vespers. Pope against king, in: Medieval Warfare (2016), vol. 6., No. 2, p. 6-9.
Paul D. H., „Of Arms and Men “: Siege and Battle Tactics in the Catalan Grand Chronicles (1208-1387). In: Military Affairs 49 (1985), S. 173-178.
Pergalias, V., The Catalan Company in the East, in: Medieval Warfare 2001, vol. 1, no 2, pp. 28-55.
Setton, Kenneth M.; in: Hazard, Harry W. (eds): A History of the Crusades, Volume III: The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, 1975.
Setton, K. M., Catalan Domination of Athens, 1311-1388, 1975.
#history #documentary #education

[@SandRhomanHistory]

The „first mercenary company“ means the first „Free Company“ which is a medieval phenomenon. Obviously, it does NOT mean „first mercenaries in history“ (which is an upcoming video that we‘ve already written and for which we’ve interviewed a historian specializing in defining types of military services.) This video was requested by our Patreons. If want to become part of our project too check out our Patreon here: www.patreon.com/sandrhomanhistory

[@amh9494]

Free, free, Catalan. 😂

[@cpt191021]

do you know why the borgias were being insulted as catalans? at least on the canal+ show. incredible show btw season 2-3 masterpiece

[@srinjoyroychoudhury7034]

Make a vedio on the Spanish Jenetes please

[@caniconcananas7687]

I guess now you need to make a video about the Navarrese company. Because, as they defeated the al mugawarim (their name was an Arab word), the Navarrese were greater warriors. 😜

[@caniconcananas7687]

@@srinjoyroychoudhury7034 It is "jinetes". But they were just light cavalry. In Spain nobody uses that word for any historic unit, corp or group, as most of the people fighting on horse during the Middle Ages was light cavalry. Nowadays "jinete" is the Spanish word for "horse rider". Any kid or grandma on horse during a weekend trip is a "jinete" because the word itself has no military implication. The word is from Arab origin, from the name of one of the Berber tribes that invaded Spain in 711, the Zenata, known for their horse riding ability. It's just one of the many thousands words that the Spanish and Portuguese languages borrowed from the Arab language which the Spanish people spoke during more than half a millennia, whether they were Spanish Muslims or Spanish Christians living in a Muslim Spanish kingdom or Spanish Christians in a Spanish Christian kingdom but having to trade with Muslim neighbouring customers and providers. Just remember that the famous "El Çid", whose name was Rodrigo Díaz, was called "al Sidi", in Arab "the Lord". And Madrid is the only town in Europe which was founded by a Moslim ruler (the Caliph of Córdoba) and has become the capital of a modern state. Its original Arab name was Magerit or Mayrit. The two highest mountains in Central and Southern Spain have Arab names for two Muslim Spanish persons: Almanzor in the Gredos mountain range from "al Mansur", the victorious, the vizier or prime minister of one of the last caliphs of Cordoba.The other is Mulhacén, for Muley Hassan, one of the kings of the last Muslim kingdoms in Spain, Granada, the city under that mountain.

[@kryzzan7039]

Already I can see from the comments that people didn't notice this is about the first Mercenary COMPANY, not the first Mercenaries.

[@williamchamberlain2263]

Xenophon and the ten thousand

[@geordiejones5618]

​​@@williamchamberlain2263that's not a mercenary company. That's several units paid under false pretenses to aid in a Persian rebellion. They stopped existing as units as soon as they were back in Greece. The Catalan Company maintained its banners for almost 90 years, long after their original fights were over and their original leader was killed.

[@LuisAldamiz]

Define "company".

[@historyrepeat402]

What about the Free Company?

[@BeedrillYanyan]

Oh God, you are right.

[@pedrodaguiar5865]

I read somewhere that the Catalan Grand Company was so vicious that Catalan citizens were banned from entering Mount Athos until the year 2000.

[@ElBandito]

Something to do with them sacking the monastery at the location.

[@skampisti3701]

In Albania, an oger or a humanoid big ruthless monste is called "katallani." they were so ruthless that they inbeded themselfe in our myths and legends...

[@CHex.]

Many people in the comments fail to understand a "mercenary company" is a very specific term. It doesn't mean any kind of mercenary band or army.

[@gg2fan]

One of history's greatest lessons that is still being learned today: Pay your damn mercenaries

[@joshuajimbun5877]

Company still tried to underpay their employees and then wonder why their staff is unmotivated or quit😂😂😂 guess people never learn

[@noah4822]

@@joshuajimbun5877 unions have been at war with the state from the beginning of labor. and will be untill we are free, comrade.

[@jasonashley4579]

The kinda people that come looking for that money won't tolerate you not having it.

[@DavidJimenez-ux2lw]

Fun fact: because the pillaging of greece the catalans were forbidden to enter mount athos until the 2000s

[@ViktorCZ42]

Now that's what I call quarantine

[@Ilikefinalfantasy795]

LET ME INNNNNN~!

[@julio5prado]

The Almogavars are one of the most interesting military units in history. They were equipped as light infantry but they had the skills and the courage to confront and defeat all kinds of military units, including the most feared knights of the time. They fought large armies in open battle and conducted sieges, always successfully. The book from Muntaner is a fascinating account of their adventures.

[@MarceloHenriqueSoaresdaSilva]

this style of combat are pretty common in Iberia and even for cavalry.

[@julio5prado]

@@MarceloHenriqueSoaresdaSilva Iberia had a major difference with the rest of Europe, it had been in frontier wars and raids for 6 centuries. Everyone had weapons and knew how to use them, and the frontier people were incredibly skilled in combat, in understanding the dynamics of wars and in the use of the terrain and all elements in their advantage. Two hundred years later when the Spanish had to fight the elite of the French in Italy, they lost the first battle, then learned the lesson and were not defeated again for 160 years. Then small units conquered enormous empires in America and so on. It was the result of 8 centuries of continuous training

[@cliffordjensen8725]

@@julio5prado I agree, they were simply the best.

[@JayzsMr]

@@julio5prado100% it was a society centered around warfare because of these centuries of conflict against the Muslim and also tied into the conquest of the new world and Spanish tactics being dominant in Europe for a long time afterwards.

[@julio5prado]

@@JayzsMr Is very interesting how the tactics of surprise night attacks continued from this time into the 16-17 centuries with the Spanish Tercios. In the Tercios these attacks were called “encamisadas” as the Spanish wore a shirt on top of their equipment to distinguish themselves in the night from the soldiers they attacked. The origin of this tactic dates back to the Almogavars

For me, what really deserves more attention is not so much the Catalan Company of Robert de Flor, but the history of the Almogávar unit that made up the majority of his company and that was fundamental for the Kingdom of Aragon expanded into the Mediterranean (even conquering the city of Athens, as you mentioned). The Almogávares history are very interesting and the campaigns they carried out in the Iberian Peninsula, Sardinia, Sicily and Southern Italy were also impressive; They were able to defeat cavalry only using javelins, short swords and crossbows, and their war cry was "Desperta Ferro!" (Awaken iron) while they caused sparks by striking flints with their weapons and after the events narrated in this video, his passage through Greece is known to this day as "The Catalan Fury". It's funny and ironic at the same time, that another mercenary company from the Iberian Peninsula had to be used to defeat the Catalans after 70 years controlling Athenian territory. It should not surprise anyone that Iberian war tactics were so successful fighting against other Europeans or even the Turks themselves, since the War that was waged between the Moors and Christians on the peninsula meant that: flexibility, efficient use of infantry, the existence of light horsemen, guerrilla warfare, rapid maneuvers, war of attrition and surprise attacks, were the daily bread. For this reason, not only the Almogávares managed to triumph, the Spanish Tercios also later succeeded, since their war mentality made adaptation the most important thing; This can be seen in the campaigns of Gonzalo Fernández de Cordoba (the Great Captain) in the Italian Wars (fast maneuvers, guerrilla warfare and the use of many projectiles in battles) or the Grand Duke of Alba in his campaigns at the beginning of the 80 years war during the first Invasion of William of Orange (where the attrition due to indirect fighting and the "Encamisadas" that were the surprise night attacks), those two generals are the most obvious examples of how the fighting mentality coming from the Reconquista was carried into practice in other European settings.

[@aguspuig6615]

yyup, after all the term guerrilla would first appear in spain when they expelled the napoleonic invaders. Its a little sad as a catalan and spaniard myself how everyone knows Napoleon as ''that guy who won all the wars except that one in Russia'' when we did defeat him aswell, and in true catalan/spanish fashion we did it with common people that were barely armed but were flexible with their strategy and just very brave and commited

@@aguspuig6615 Exactly, it is totally regrettable (as a Hispanic American) that our history is omitted several times in world events; More than one of the reasons why Napoleon failed in Russia was because he left half of his great army fighting fruitlessly in Spain, losing veterans and material that would have given him a more overwhelming superiority than he initially had in his campaign ( I don't remember if it was Spain that also caused the delays in the preparation for the French Invasion of Russia). The beginning of the end of Napoleon was not Trafalgar, nor Russia, but having gotten into a war of attrition against the Iberian guerrillas (something unnecessary if we take into account that Spain was an ally before the French betrayal); They paid dearly for his audacity, even Napoleon, in his memoirs, lists as one of his greatest mistakes going to war against Spain and even knowing that, I am surprised that the world continues to ignore it.

[@Ocell728]

Crown of Aragon was the monarchy that expanded into the Mediterranean. Kingdom of Aragon never had access to the sea.

[@Pigraider268]

That's unreal xd I started my Thesis about Grand Company last week and was looking for some good reliable sources on the topic. You a Godsent :D

[@gj1234567899999]

No offense, but I hope people getting masters are not getting all info from KZbin. 😔

[@FloatingLeaf1111]

(Citation Needed)😢

[@albertmont3411]

@@gj1234567899999 I don't think he refers to the KZbin video but the sources that SandRhomanhistorian has cited to make the video possible.

[@Pigraider268]

@@gj1234567899999 Mate I see good bibliography. That's what I was talking about. You can't make a Thesis based on 15 minutos video xd

[@Pigraider268]

@@gj1234567899999 Mate you really think I would base my Thesis on 15 minutes film? ;) I was talking about good bibliography in the video :)

[@hoplite6164]

another day, another byzantine emperor cant stop sabotaging himself and his empire

[@LuisAldamiz]

This is an excellent documentary, surely the best one you can find online on the Almogavars, however I miss a key epic "detail": the siege of Gallipoli, in which some 500 Catalans defeated the whole Byzantine Army (around 40,000, many of them cataphracts/knights) in the most amazing sally ever. You also went over Apros very casually, when it was also a battle in which the Almogavars were in clear numerical disadvantage (even if not as extreme as in Gallipoli). Now Patreons should request the Navarrese Company, a somewhat similar development some decades later, in which the Angevine wife of Prince Louis of Navarre, brother of Charles the Bad, claimed Durrës and much of Albania in the midst of Catholic-Orthodox conflicts in that country. They won but the princess died soon after and they moved on as rogue mercenaries to Greece, where they defeated the Catalan Company for good at Thebes. Pro-tip: unlike the rag-tag Almogavars, the Navarrese were pike and engineer heavy, and I've read that they even had a Gascon unit of horse archers, a very unusual type of arm in Western Europe that has me extremely intrigued. In any case, treat your mercenaries well, else...

[@rebel_drop_troop7715]

I see so many people commenting that he’s dumb and there are mercenaries before him. He’s talking about the first literal business company that someone started as mercenaries as a business. Read the title use your brain.

[@cool06alt]

Imo you should make exclusive video about Almogavar and their tactics. Without Almogavars, there would be no Catalan. Almogavars were born out of the idea that to fight enemies superior tactic, you have to become like them (same as steppe horse archers)

[@arnaue6905]

... Catalans have way more culture and history than just a bunch of mad men throwing pointy sticks... We were there before the almogavers and had to undergoe french opresion, castillian opresion and even endured a crusade so please thibk before writing bullshit

[@righteousviking]

"I was a businessman, doing business!" - Roger de Flor

[@Cyricist001]

What's with all the backstabbing tradition among Rome and Byzantium? They were their own damn worse enemy it seems.

[@kassander7353]

Okay. Now I want to know about that Navarrese Company.

[@noahkidd3359]

Me too!!

[@Rohv]

This deserves a miniseries.

[@seedo201]

Very interesting piece of history. Interesting fact: Almogavars coming from the arabic word ( almaghaweer: المغاوير) which means the adventurers

[@skin4700]

I love it how you shown the iner boarders of Hungary as a Croatian that made me VERY happy.

[@erikturnar6466]

Not just that, but even the Banate of Slavonia. It is a very nice map.

[@egillskallagrimson5879]

"Almogàvers a la lluita! desperta ferro!" - Almogavars to battle! Awake Iron!

[@dalmabu]

Thanks from Catalonia for this amazing video on a topic often ignored!

[@guaporeturns9472]

Every group of warriors or soldiers ever featured on any channel /documentary was "one of the best/fiercest/toughest/most successful/most sought after” troops of all times.. literally every one😂. Just once I would love introduction to go something like " some of the least successful , most poorly trained troops of all time. Here is their story."🤣

[@iseeyou5061]

Someone probably would but "lack of surviving sources." :v

[@perrytran9504]

The Iceni would probably be on any list of troops with the worst showings. Despite a substantial numerical advantage they were crushed by the first Roman army that they didn't catch off guard. Even their queen was forgotten to history for centuries until Britain wanted to create a national mythos for itself.

[@piggypoo]

Man this stuff is just so interesting. Only a world where military and economic power isn't super centralized like what we have today could allow something like this to happen: a nationless homeless band of mercenaries moving about the land but who also happened to be unstoppable on the battlefield. I can't imagine a modern day equivalent of that happening, unless like, the USA broke up into different countries or something, even then it's hard to imagine. Also those cowardly mounted arches at the last battle are hilarious.

[@cool06alt]

You can google what the RSA (Rapid Support Force) in Sudan are doing.

[@JayzsMr]

We almost had such a case today in Russia with the Wagner company, almost. Prigoshin was also a mercenary captain character out this and later time periods

[@ingold1470]

It can still happen in regions the US cares little for, Paul Kagame's rise to power went something like this.

[@sirjabal]

Roger von Blume!! European history indeed. German in Italy to Spain to Greece etc etc. When travels were slow and dangerous. What a man.

[@STV240]

a true knight hero for a great novel

[@STV240]

Tirant lo Blanc's novel is based on Roger von Blume's adventures, considered the most important writing in Catalan

[@SB-qm5wg]

The flint at night trick is pretty cool.

[@LarsOfTheMohicans]

If anyone's curious. That animated movie about the Almogovars where some kid travels back in time, which used to play on YTV in Canada around Christmas in the late 90's. Its original title was "Desperta Ferro" which was translated as "Swords of Freedom". You can find it on YT.

[@Elpeletas]

DESPERTA FERRO!

[@edgarmaestre6622]

Desperta ferro!! Greetings from tha catalan pyrenes, birth place of a lot of "almogàvers". Thanks for talk about this topic.

[@didacromero3892]

Why is everyone complaining about him calling it Catalan? There must always be that person who puts politics into everything (Very good video by the way)

[@saguntum-iberian-greekkons7014]

I wish you showed the battles against the turks, or until they reached Cilicia. I always wondered how they overcame larger, more mobile and better equipped enemies. They knew how to adapt the terrain. Only another Iberian Company can beat an Iberian Company haha

[@kristofferraton7060]

Thank you for spending the time to research this and create a comprehensive video. Ive been very interested with this topic for a while now, but found most interesting sources in spanish!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Philipp.of.Swabia]

After Manfreds Death, his Nephew, the 16 year old Konradin, Duke of Swabia, gathered a Swabian and Bavarian Host, and marched onto Italy, the Bavarians left his army though, for reasons I’m not 100% sure anymore, will have to look it up again. But Konradin was welcomed by many of the Italians, as the Rule of Charles of Anjou was a hard one. Konradin was beaten in the field by Charles, who then had him Beheaded at the town square in Palermo, without a Trial, even back then, this was seen as a Crime. After that, the Aragonese came into the picture.

[@Pilvenuga]

Moral of the story: respect the men who come down from the mountains.

[@miguelsimarrogonzalez2128]

Almogavar's "Cultell" was not just a "heavy knife", it was a typical medieval falchion. Usually that kind of weapon is called knife or big knife, which is the meaning of the word "Cultell". The same happened with the German "Messer" or "Langes Messer"

[@gerardnogues4814]

Sant Jordi! Desperta ferro!

[@lopezlirio4004]

La venjança catalana. DESPERTA FERRO!!!

[@guilhermedossantos6358]

Just discovered this channel, the feeling is like a miner founding gold, you know. I'm a history student and (i hope you guys hear this a lot) you explain history far better than my teachers hahahaha

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@uxigadur]

I just started this campaign in field of glory 2 yesterday. Nice.

[@psychofozz]

Thank you. I loved this video. The Almogavars also ended up fighting against the English in the company of Owain Lawgoch (Owen of the Red Hands) in his invasion of Guernsey as part of his campaign to reclaim the Principality of Wales from the English king Edward III (victor at Crecy and Potiers [well his son was]). Love to see your take on the Welsh resistance under Lawgoch and his successor Owain Glyn Dwr.

[@Passer__]

A second part would be very appreciated

[@MysticChronicles712]

I'm continually impressed by the breadth and depth of knowledge in these history videos.

[@filthypeasant6641]

Up until very recently, catalan men were banned from entering the holy mountain Mt Athos in the Chalkidiki Peninsula in Macedonia, Greece, which is an autonomous region controlled by the orthodox church, due to the destruction caused by them to the area during their sacking of the greek countryside.

[@filthypeasant6641]

Could you do a video on Latin Greece? It is an often overlooked period of greek history...

[@fedecano7362]

Thanks SRH this was an excellent production!

[@vertigq5126]

This was excellent, thanks for the high-quality videos!

[@amtmannb.4627]

Very exciting adventure of such a company. Great work!

[@user-yd6nu2gq1b]

Thank you for explaining the Catalan Company history!

[@dennisbergkamp1553]

The quality of your videos is getting better and better. Absolutely top stuff keep it up

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Thanks a ton!

[@miguelmontenegro3520]

European noblemen's only weakness: Unable not to charge

[@OrthoHardrada]

Sounds like a French problem.

[@7thDesertRat]

another fantastic vid, look forward to the next one,

[@danvikkilmire6075]

It's never wise to antagonize professional killers..

[@kemita]

Impressive. This video was a truly enjoyable snippet of history. Thank you.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Our pleasure!

[@adriaarmengou1]

Thanks for the document, sir.

[@socratrash]

Great video. Thx. Fantastic.

[@Mrkabrat]

I hope we get a vid about the Navarrese Company next, despite the little info they have

[@TRLHistory]

Loved the almogavars in M2TW mods, such a badass early game unit😅

[@normtrooper4392]

Average mount and blade campaign experience.

[@summerwell8262]

CORRECTION: what they shouted before attacking wasn’t “awake iron, lets kill, lets kill!” It was “Aur, aur... Desperta ferro” meaning: “listen, listen, awake iron!”, they also shouted: “Aragon, Aragon!” Their royal house And “San Jorge!” Meaning Saint George, their royal house saint protector.

[@maxgalofre9909]

I love seeing that theres interest on history from catalunya,aragon and valencia. Also showing the good and the bad equaly.

[@bigsarge2085]

Fascinating history!

[@benm5913]

Commenting for the algorithm. Danke schon fellas.

[@MaxPower-mn2ig]

great video, tnx

[@Conquerthemall]

It’s funny how a mercenary company in the high Middle Ages used the same tactics to fight armored riders that the rest of Europe 200-300 years later

[@Pilvenuga]

neccesity breeds innovation

[@egillskallagrimson5879]

Not only you did a great video on the most famous and mad lads among the Catalans you also did the best video defending the legitimacy of the Aragonees crown over Sicily and Naples.

[@amos498]

You were just a foreign invader

[@gamingforfun8662]

Guys all this happened hundreds of years ago no need for animosity

[@aB-of1nz]

Aragonese crown it's not correct, Crown of Aragon Et Cathalonia

[@daninaval9569]

@@aB-of1nz es la corona de aragón a secas cataluña era un territorio mas

[@MrAlepedroza]

Catalans is not correct to describe them. They themselves called their name "Aragonese" or just "Franks" to the eastern Romans. "Catalan" is a modern nationalistic projection loaded with politics.

[@54032Zepol]

Awesome video bro! Keep up the great content! Can't wait for more! Swag 😎

[@jeanmartox3570]

Hello to Catalogne Nord, chez nous, c'est trés connu, et cela est meme une fiérté!!! Merci à la chaine pour avoir fait cette revue!

[@Benito-lr8mz]

L'estat Francés ha esborrat el.Catala ? i ens queixem en Espanya😂

[@jeanmartox3570]

@@Benito-lr8mz Surement pas, loin de là, la langue est meme encouragé, et promu, du moins par chez nous, et les échanges avec la Catalogne Sud est constant, hier j'étais encore avec des étudiants du collége de Figueras! bien à vous!

[@welcometonebalia]

Thank you.

[@thomassimmons1811]

Local Byzantine emperor hires ambitious mercenaries and takes advantage of them, is surprised when it blows up in his face Many such cases!

[@duckyface0333]

Another banger video

[@GarfieldRex]

Hmmm dishonored and having your mercenary band persecuted by your former employer... In which manga and anime have I seen this 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@Pohjanseppa]

On the regards of their knives, which can also have the names of 'Cortel', 'Cultro', etc. It's been hard to find information or any archeological finds about them, but they seem to be wide single-edged knives, that were shortsword-sized, but could be still called 'knives'. I'd say they were similar to Falchions or something akin to another obscure weapon around 8-13th century in Lithuania, from the tribe of Semigallian a particular type of very wide combat knives. Which was a type of unique seax around the Baltics (Also arguably similar type in Finland/Finnish tribes, along with 'narrow' Baltic-styled seaxes), which they used against crusaders from Swedish crusades, Germany's Templars and the Rus' Orthodox Crusaders. The guerilla-type of warfare is similar, though in the Baltics/with Vikings, they used also axes/Dane-styled axes and bow (and arrow), whilst the Almogavarans used slings. Those tribes also didn't really use armor. I'd bet they used a Falchion-esque, Semigallian-type of war knife, that was useful also for utility, like a machete (They also carried them sideways through a 'latch' system). However, as I've mentioned, there doesn't seem to be any information about Spanish/Iberian finds, from between the Roman period to the later Medieval Period with rapiers (Besides usual arming swords), so it's hard to say.

[@framegrace1]

In today's Catalan, Coltell is just another name for a Knife, but refering to it as a "tool" (For cooking,etc..), not as a weapon. And AFAIK that was also the meaning back them... If I had to theorize, I gues people said they use "Coltells" meaning they used normal everyday knives instead of military ones. In the drawings they seem to use wide butcher knifes, which with their tendency on appearing fierce brutal, I think i makes sense.

[@wiktorberski9272]

Really intersting piece of history. . IT looks Luke switching the sides was a common practice

[@grumpycato8314]

Great video

[@medievalist8441]

I wish it was longer

[@jasonashley4579]

My grandparents were from Castlevetrano Sicily, I hope to see it some day, but right now I'm just down the road from Jesse James and thats a long ways away.

[@darthveatay]

How about a video on how the Spanish kingdom of Asturias defended against the Muslims of Cordoba

[@carnifex2005]

The Almogavars weapons and tactics sound a lot like the Aiel from Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. I wonder if they were an inspiration.

[@valentinbezdan570]

I don't think the idea of an irregular skirmishing force that does hit and run tactics is unique enough to warrant thinking this is what inspired the Aiel.

[@carnifex2005]

@@valentinbezdan570 I was talking more about the specific gear. Jordan described the Aiel as carrying several short spears, occasionally with a small round shield and their only edged weapon was a "heavy bladed knife" that looked closer to a short sword than a normal knife.

[@feartheamish9183]

Hey you can hire these guys in CK3

[@notthefbi7932]

Crazy cool story 😁👍

[@CPR523]

The comment section goes havoc. First the focus on the Almogavers comes from Catalan romanticism during the second half of the 19th Century and the glorification of the so called four great chronicles. Second, the mercenary company is called Catalan Company for a reason. Their business was run in Catalan, their correspondence was in Catalan etc. The Crown of Aragon is not the Kingdom of Aragon. These people spoke Catalan and there is enough evidence for it. Don't project your modern ideas of nation and people onto the past. But be assured that if you can read modern Catalan and you have the paleographic skills for 14th century documents of the time you will have no problem reading the preserved documentation (except the may be more neutral greek sources haha).

[@CPR523]

PS: You can read, Early Catalan Contacts With Byzantium by Stephen P. Bensch to better understand the previous relationships between the Crown of Aragon and the Byzantine Empire and why the Company was called Catalan Company.

[@PhilipLaSnail]

I am getting heavy bannerlord viebs from this.

[@francescocatalano5855]

My family name is Catalano and it is documented that my ancestor was a military sent to Sicily to fight I can tell you that they were people hardened since a thousand years fighting with the Saracens both on land and at sea I can feel this is into my dna

[@gerardarriola5954]

Hi, I am a catalan myself and I didn't know this part of my history. It's really cool to see it represented in such a cool video! Thank you, earned a new follower

[@user-wp9gy7pe2d]

You missed to add their participation in the battle of Velbazd in 1330.

[@ruzasuka]

Was this made by a studio?? It looks so good. Great job.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

everything made by just the two of us!

[@ruzasuka]

@@SandRhomanHistory Damn, did you two made all of the drawings and maps?

[@marccan3267]

Such formations, although disciplined, were extremely unreliable. In 1313, the Venetians engaged 3,000 of these mercenaries in the siege of Zara, but they changed sides when the Croatian Viceroy Mladen II. bribed them. The mercenaries had already received their salary from the Venetians, and then they still took a bribe from Duke Mladen.

[@jurgnobs1308]

that's exactly what made swiss mercenaries so well regarded later on. because they generally didn't switch sides and paid heavily (with some battles resulting in almost complete erradication) for it. that's not because the swiss were better or anything, but the swiss people taking part in the mercenary corps often had very limited rights

[@poil8351]

Actually the Swiss were pretty prone to switching sides later on especially if the person who employed also hired landskanchets as the two groups kind of hated each other.

[@catoelder4696]

AWESOME

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@Jesse_Dawg]

Please more videos

[@TheRaulmt]

How interesting It is, that to this day , in Portuguese , Cutelo means large knife

[@ivanivanovic5586]

Capable characters then. They got a lot of similarities with hajduk and uskok guys(think highwayman+skirmisher/raider in same package) of ottoman border wars. Say, that could be a good topic for a video. Ubisoft used these guys' name in the assassin's creed revelation game. Only problem, they gave it to the wrong enemy type, explanation - byzantine enemy type with heavy armor and 2h axe was called almogavar(instead of being called the varangians that they named their polearm counterpart after).

[@KarolusTemplareV]

Put a disclaimer about the Company thing, people thinks they know more than they do and then don't read the title well enough to add insult to injury. C-O-M-P-A-N-Y, the type of mercenary business that started in late middle ages.

[@antoniomoreira5921]

I strongly recommend Schwerpunkt's videos series on the topic

[@geordiejones5618]

That dude either has a cult behind the scenes or a lot of bots spamming his content. It's long and boring most of the time. He needs an editor.

[@angrymonkeynoises]

Not to mention that he repeats the same 3-5 points for 2 hours using slightly different words to say the same things that he had said before

[@MrRostit]

Thank you for shedding some light into medieval catalan history which often gets overshadowed by later periods of history after unification with Castile

[@deltabravo1969]

Thank you so much for sharing the history of Iberian warriors. The gladius was used by Iberian tribes before the Roman legions made it their weapon of choice.

[@Amadeus8484]

Will there be a video on the Navarrese company soon?

[@daveweiss5647]

If only the Byzantines had paid them and kept them in service... maybe they could have pushed back in Anatolia and held off the Turks for longer.

[@eriktillman8114]

They probably didn't have the money to pay- after 1204 the Empire was totally impoverished. Also the Catalan mercenaries would likely have been unwilling to hand over territories and castles they captured to Imperial officials and there would have inevitably been religious tensions with the Orthodox population.

[@daveweiss5647]

​@@eriktillman8114true...

[@ivansmith654]

I live in the Catalan area on the French side Perpignan I am told the Catalans on the Spanish side are still feared to this day!

[@yagollopart897]

Well, yes but actually no hahahaha we just became as soft and cosmopolite as any other Western society😅 You guys at least still have that fearlessness when doing manifestations like t'he almogàvers did when unpaid😂

[@cegesh1459]

@@yagollopart897 "Soft" seems a silly choice of words. It's better.

[@deumevet]

more hated than feared sadly.

[@deumevet]

@@cegesh1459 softness is good in peace when at war means death

[@STV240]

mostly we are hated

[@PlasterPariss]

Show us all of the different known free companies and their different regalia

[@EconGun]

I'm eager to see something from you on Persian history. Cataphracts, sagaris, Parthian volley etc. Or the Anglo-Persian Alliance against the Ottomans and the Portuguese.

[@cmachinist]

Hey hey. How can I find the soundtrack for your vids?