EXPEDICION DE LOS CATALANES Y ARAGONESES CONTRA TURCOS Y GRIEGOES

de Moncada (D. Fransisco)

251 pages.  Hardback.  First published 1625   This is the 1824 reprint published as Tome III of Tesoro de Autores Ilustres (Tome III of Treasure of Illustrious Authors). Frontispiece. Leather covered boards, some scuffing as seen.  In Spanish. Gold stamped words & adornment of spine.  Binding is tight, pages are clean. Some foxing throughout the book.

EXPEDICION DE LOS CATALANES Y ARAGONESES CONTRA TURCOS Y GRIEGOES
Dirigida A.D. Jean de Moncada, Azorbispo de Tarragona Conde de Osona, Su Sobrino; Con us prólogo y notas por D. Jaime Tio

(EXPEDITION OF THE CATALANS AND ARAGONESE AGAINST TURKS AND GREEKS
Directed by A.D. Jean de Moncada, Archbishop of Tarragona Count of Osona, his nephew; With as prologue and notes by D. Jaime Tio)

The expedition of Catalans and Aragonese against Turks and Greeks refers to the Great Catalan Company, a unit of Almogávan mercenaries that acted in the Byzantine Empire and the eastern Mediterranean at the beginning of the 14th century.

After the peace of Caltabellotta (1302), which put an end to the War of the Sicilian Vespers, numerous Almogávar mercenaries of the Crown of Aragon were left without work. The Byzantine emperor Andronic II Palaeologos hired this elite troop to combat the growing power of the Ottoman Turks in Anatolia.

The leader of the company was the almogávar Roger de Flor. In 1303, a force of about 6,000 almogávars left for Constantinople aboard 36 ships.

The Almogávares achieved important victories against the Turks, especially on the Cicico Peninsula and in Philadelphia, easing the pressure on the Byzantine borders.  The growing fame and power of Roger de Flor, along with the aggressiveness of the Almogávars, generated distrust between the Byzantine court and Genoese rivals.

In 1305, Roger de Flor was murdered in Adrianople by order of co-emperor Michael IX Palaeologist. This act of betrayal unleashed the Fury of the Company. The Almogávares, thirsty for revenge, dedicated themselves to looting and devastating the region of Thrace and Macedonia for two years, punishing the Byzantines. The Company inflicted a hard defeat on the Byzantine army at the Battle of Apros in 1305.

The Company of Almogávares acted as mercenaries in various local conflicts. They also had to face the Turks who joined their ranks. In 1311, the Company, already out of Byzantine control, defeated the Duke of Athens in the battle of the Cephisus River. The Almogávares took control of the Duchies of Athens and Neopatria and offered them to the Crown of Aragon, which ruled them for approximately 70 years.

The Aragonese rule over the ducats ended in 1388 after being defeated by the Navarre Company.

Tesoro de Autores Ilustres - "Treasure of Illustrious Authors" is a collection of old and modern literary works, both national and foreign, published in Barcelona between 1842 and 1899 by the publisher Joan Oliveres i Gavarró. More than 110 volumes were published that compiled texts by various authors.

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