What is Catalan Company?
[[File:Entrada_de_Roger_de_Flor_en_Constantinopla_(Palacio_del_Senado_de_España).jpg|thumb|300x300px| Roger of Flor is received by the Byzantine emperor.]] The '''Grand Catalan Company''' ({{lang-ca|Companyia Catalana d'Orient}}), officially the ''Magna Societas Catalanorum'', and widely known as the '''Catalan Company''', was a free company of [[mercenary|mercenaries]] founded by [[Roger de Flor]] in the early 14th century. ==History== De Flor recruited soldiers left unemployed with the [[Peace of Caltabellotta]] in 1302 by the [[Crown of Aragon]], who opposed the [[France|French]] dynasty of [[Capetian House of Anjou|Anjou]]. In 1303 de Flor offered the services of his Company to the [[Byzantine emperor]] [[Andronicus II Palaeologus]] and his son the Basileus [[Michael IX Palaeologus]]. The Orthodox [[Byzantine Empire]] was under threat by the [[Turkic peoples|Turks]], who were invading [[Anatolia]] and established the mighty [[Sultanate of Rum]], whose name expressed succeeding to the '[Eastern] Roman' empire. Roger de Flor's offer was accepted by both Byzantium and by the [[Crown of Aragon]], rulers in Sicily and southern [[Italy]], who were quite eager to rid themselves of unemployed and unruly soldiers. Roger de Flor departed with 39 [[galley]]s and [[Horse transports in the Middle Ages|transports]] carrying around 1,500 [[knights]] and 4,000 [[Almogavars]], special foot soldiers employed mainly serving the kingdom's interests in the Mediterranean Sea, especially from [[Catalonia]], [[Valencia]] and [[Aragon]]. Roger de Flor arrived in [[Constantinople]] with the help of king [[Frederick III of Sicily]] in 1303, and married the niece of Andronicus, daughter of the [[Tsar]] of [[Bulgaria]], and was named [[Megas Doux]] ('Great Dux', i.e. head of the fleet). Roger de Flor campaigned with his Company in [[Anatolia]], defeating the [[Turkish people|Turks]] but also engaging in widespread violence and looting of the Byzantine inhabitants. By this point, the Catalans, were considered by the Byzantines to be