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
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. 😜
@@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.
@@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.
Es por la venganza catalana, los bizantinos traicionaron a Roger de Flor después de ganar una batalla de Constantinopla y lo mataron junto 100 almogávares más, entonces los almogávares arrasaron con todo, matando a todos los ciudadanos y quemando todo, a eso se le llama la venganza catalana... Por eso en Grecia aún hay frases hechas que dicen: cuidado que vienen los catalanes!!
Exactly, and 6 years later, Spanish could go to iceland without the worrying that they could get killed because a law allowed it For more: Google this Spánverjavígin (Slaying of the Spaniards)
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...
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...
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)
... 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
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.
another day, another byzantine emperor cant stop sabotaging himself and his empire
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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.
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
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@@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.
si Napoleon hubiera tenido el doble de hombres solo habria conseguido el doble de muertes de su propio bando! Y es el rey Fernando VII quien da permiso a Napoleón de ingresar en la península!
Wealth and power invites infighting (specially in States where power is somewhat decentralized), and the Crusaders actions greatly enabled the Roman's worst qualities by undermining their political stability at the crucial moment they would've been able to make great gain against their most pressing enemies.
Well the byzantines had their issues for sure, mostly the internal struggle for power, but on the other hand the crusaders were off set their reason for existing, the free of holy lands and instead in many cases they attack and conquered christian lands, like in byzantium, and Zara, the italian city states were more than wiling to destroy byzantium in order to get in their hands the full control of the merchant with the east. Also in most cases the low noblemen of the crusaders who were leading them, their main goal was to have a feud of their own on the weak lands of the east no matter if was held by christians or muslims! and most worse from the crusaders they were those merceneries especially the Catalan company, they were really the scums of the earth!
@@thenoblepoptart true the italian merchant states like venice, genoa, amalfi and others were undermining byzantium becouse they wanted to control all the trade with east mediterranean without having paying taxes to use the byzantine ports and harbors or to be taxed on their profit that making by selling goods on the byzantine markets. so they activelly undermined the byzantine empire in many ways untill they diverted the 4th crusade to constantinople when they find a plausible pretexet, a dethroned byzantine ex emperor!
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)
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.
ua-cam.com/video/4b7L3eE5DUc/v-deo.html it's truly heartwarming. I can't recall ever seeing this, or this style of animation in my childhood. The animation is pretty good, taking aside that it is not 24 fps, as that would be a titanic enterprise. It reminds me of the Asterix&Obelix animated films, it had a similar pace of animation. Thank you very much!
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!
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).
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.
No hablaban catalán, hablaban en navarro-aragonés, bearnés, occitano, etc..., por aquel entonces el catalán era un dialecto más del occitano, además de que no solo se hablaba navarro-aragonés en el Reino de Aragón, también se hablaba en gran parte del Reino de Valencia, Tortosa y Lérida (hasta hace apenas 80 años el valenciano aún poseía una gran influencia aragonesa que en ciertas expresiones e ideas aún siguen compartiendo, tú mismo puedes comprobarlo en carteles o periódicos de época sin hacer demasiadas búsquedas) de los adalides de la gran compañía "catalana" más de la mitad eran aragoneses, dicha compañía (también llamada Gran Compañía Almogávar, referenciada por primera vez en 1305 como "Exercitus francorum") estaba compuesta principalmente por aragoneses, valencianos y catalanes, también por navarros, francos y castellanos en menor medida, no era algo exclusivamente catalán como algunos absurdamente defendeis, ni muchísimo menos, pues las tropas almogavares tienen su origen en el Reino de Aragón, teniendo su primera aparición documentada durante la toma de Zaragoza de 1118, desde entonces serían muy frecuentes en las huestes del Reino de Aragón y posteriormente de la Corona de Aragón (aparición de almogavares catalanes y valencianos), el reino y Corona de Aragón evidentemente no son lo mismo y creo que poca gente los confunde, pero recuerda que la Corona no es mas que una confederación de territorios propiedad del rey de Aragón, muchos remarcais la diferencia entre Reino y Corona, pero, acaso diferenciais vosotros entre Cataluña y Corona de Aragón?? 😂, que son los països catalans sino una Corona de Aragón sin Aragón con un idioma y nación impuestos (sin ni siquiera existir un precede histórico que lo justifique) de forma autoritaria y chovinista?? Acaso sois incapaces de diferenciar el relato pseudo-historico y nacionalista fantástico de la historia académica contrastada y aceptada por la historiografia oficial?? Tanto necesitáis adornar vuestro pasado para justificaros políticamente en el presente???
@@anabogueles5932 La mayoría eran catalanes. El catalán era un idioma con literatura a esas alturas, perfectamente distinguido del occitano, con Ramon Llull habiendo escrito en ambos idiomas, o con la crónica de Jaime I que diferencia a los que hablan catalán de los que hablan aragonés. En Lleida y Tortosa también se hablaba catalán. No eran únicamente catalanes, pero eran identificados así, igual que la corona no era todo Aragón, pero se la llama así. Yo veo bastante pseudo-historia en todo lo que escribes. Dime qué estudio dice que más de la mitad eran aragoneses.
@@anabogueles5932 Well, they did their book keeping and relations in Catalan, so even if you have a mixed group of Mercenaries you stick to the most common language. They did not care about your modern political stance. Show me a document from the Catalan Company that is in Aragonese. Read the article by Bensch, for exemple and then you will have a better understanding I guess. I am not Catalan btw. but teach constitutional history and medieval law and I am constantly confronted with half knowledge bloated up with modern iberian nationalisms. The Catalan company was run in Catalan, all the evidence points in that direction. Rutger von Blume learned Catalan when he became the head of the Catalan company and it was not a big deal as he already new what today you would consider Venetian dialects. But honestly I think you're just here to troll so I rather spent my time transcribing in peace some pending documents. Have a peacefull live and I hope you will get over your nationalisms and become a free thinker.
Thank you for shedding some light into medieval catalan history which often gets overshadowed by later periods of history after unification with Castile
thank you for keeping alive the memory of the Great Catalan Company. Spanish/castillian envious people can keep coping, seething and dilating in the comments.
Los almogavares eran en su mayoría y en origen pastores aragoneses del Pirineo, había catalanes por supuesto, del mismo modo que había valencianos, sicilianos, navarros y hasta castellanos al servicio del rey de Aragón, los almogavares no eran tropas catalanas ni un símbolo catalán por el simple hecho de que en los siglos XII-XIII Cataluña no existía, recuerda que por muy mercenarios que fuesen los almogavares seguían siendo vasallos del rey aragonés y así lo demostraban, por lo que actuaban defendiendo los intereses reales además de los económicos propios, Desperta Ferro es un grito de guerra muy conocido, aunque también en los albores de la batalla gritaban ¡Aragón! para recordar que seguían los intereses del rey y la Corona.
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.
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."🤣
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.
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.
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
My family comes from one of those mercenaries. Here, on Catalonia, we are so proud of those warriors, they are like our national superhero. Thanks for posting this!
so i think you would find this story interesting! after the sack of agio oros (Holy Mountain monasteries in Athos) and the many crimes they did in general to the people and farmers, looting the innocent peoples, raping and sold them to slavery to make money they sold to Genoese slave traders!, The monasteries banned the enter of men of catalonia for 700 years! a Catalan man enter the monasteries around 2000 maybe, when the Abbot of the monastery wile talking to visitors as its custom he ask from were are you? and he replied from Catalonia! the abbot suprised and sayed Catalonia? from the place that mercenery company pillaged the monasteries and they had no sacred thing on this earth? he leave and refused to talk him again as a sign of protest! the man was deeply socked and after returning back home he make some diging in history he made the incident known and catalonia feld they need to make some form of reparation for the past and they founded some work to be done on the monastery as a redemption for the things past!
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
@@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!
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
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.
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.
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.
Medieval mercenary companies were the original gig workers-except instead of food deliveries, they delivered swords and shields... to whoever paid the most!
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.
"Only when another company, the Navarrese Company, pushed into the Athenian territory were they finally defeated." They needed other Spaniards to defeat the Spaniards.
@@paumarti1911 malauradament per tu si que som espanyols i a molta honra y molts de nosaltres no permetrem mai que polítics mentiders ens separin del nostre origen
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
About Roger de Flor, he became so popular in the Crown of Aragon that his adventures inspired the valencian knight and writter, Joannot Martorell, to create the best chivalry novel in Spanish literature untill Cervantes wrote the Quixote. That was Tirant Lo Blanc, (Tirant the white). The pinnacle of aragonese literature wrote in the valencian language, not catalan.
@@rotciv1492 here's the plotwist, while today the differences between the occitan languages in Spain are dialectical meaning Catalan, Valencian, Balearic and the Aragonese are basically the same language, back in the 15th century there were different languages who came from the old occitan.
@@albertmont3411 My answer in this case would be that I'm not sure myself. For one, I very well understand and acknowledge the idea of having a big group of several languages coming from the old Llèngua d'Oc from Occitania extending all down the Levant. However, my doubts purely point at the way it extended towards the south. See, it makes sense in the case of Aragonese and the Llemosí(Catalan), since the Marca Hispánica was basically a matter of Occitanian nobles taking possession of the lands south of the Pirenees, and therefore extending their culture and language. But, how did that language get to Valencia? And right when the Caliphate and mozarábic culture was going so steong. It took 4 centuries just to conquer as far as Lleida, and I personally can't imagine any kind of Occitan language crossing all those barriers and settling south. Did it happen during the Visigothic Kingdom, when the Occitan was barely different than Vulgar Latin? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to force anything here. I just love the truth and always being objective. And as History goes, the conquest of Mallorca was a Catalan enterprise, so it makes sense they speak Catalan. While the conquest of Valencia was a combined Aragonese and Catalan enterprise, so... it would make sense to me that Valencian was an hybrid language between the two, or that it came from the mozarabic, or from the vulgar Latin with some arabic influences. But saying it evolved from the Occitan sepparately seems like an overstretch. The most likely hypothesis it's still the one that I learned in school back in the Balearic Islands, which is that Valencian is a Catalan dialect.
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.
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.
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😂
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
Hi! I've been looking to your videos on and off for a while now and, as a Catalan, I was surprised to find that you decided to make a video about the Gran Companyia Catalana! I wanted to thank you greatly for providing such a well-researched documentary full of details I didn't even know about myself. Also, I feel sorry about the comments of Spanish nationalists trying to delegimitize your work. I know from first-hand experience how hard it can be to discuss about history with compulsive revisionists.
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.
@@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.
What an intriguing glimpse into history! 🏰 The story of the Almogavars and their rise to power showcases the importance of adaptability and strategic thinking, qualities that resonate even in today's fast-paced world of business and leadership.
I think this video is a great introduction to the Catalan great company, but it is a bit too cursory to cover such an interesting topic. Wish more had been said regarding the fascinating background of Roger de Flor. Also, I think you negated to mention important political factors in the assassination of Roger by not mentioning Michael IX Palaiologos and his jealousy of Roger as well as the the disgruntled nature of the Alan mercenaries and their leader, Gircon. For anyone interested in getting a true overview of the Catalan Grand Company, I would recommend reading Muntaner's great chronicle.
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.
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).
Well of course they lose the territory because after 70 years all the original men are either dead or old men all their new recruits and sons would be nothing like their founders.
That's right mate after 70 years, all the originals are gone, the descendants are then Athenians, speak little or no Catalan, or Castellano, and after living in comfort and splendor, unlike the tough mountain men of the Catalan Company, they would be less "inclined" to go to war, less likely to battle, they might seek "alternatives", with their successors the "Navarrese Company" - likely hired as Military. The originals were "frontiersmen" - they made them tough, they had to be tough, and the Turks they met in Anatolia, were cannon-fodder for the CC. Crushing-the-Turks. *Note: What did all the "Oghooze Turkish Armies" in Anatolia all have in common? They had very big hamstrings, and scrawny, skinny quads, they were good for the retreat, but very shy for the front-on attack. They then tried the "Get Young Christian European Boys" - and then train them to fight the "Westerners", and had a bit better success, but not usually "win the fight". They tried the half-casts, but that had little better results, finally they then came-up with the "EASTMAL CHICKEN-SHIT TRINITY" - Poison the Water & Food, Spread Shit & Biological Matter, BRIBES.
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.)
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Free, free, Catalan. 😂
do you know why the borgias were being insulted as catalans? at least on the canal+ show. incredible show btw season 2-3 masterpiece
Make a vedio on the Spanish Jenetes please
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. 😜
@@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.
Already I can see from the comments that people didn't notice this is about the first Mercenary COMPANY, not the first Mercenaries.
Xenophon and the ten thousand
@@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.
Define "company".
What about the Free Company?
Oh God, you are right.
I read somewhere that the Catalan Grand Company was so vicious that Catalan citizens were banned from entering Mount Athos until the year 2000.
Something to do with them sacking the monastery at the location.
Es por la venganza catalana, los bizantinos traicionaron a Roger de Flor después de ganar una batalla de Constantinopla y lo mataron junto 100 almogávares más, entonces los almogávares arrasaron con todo, matando a todos los ciudadanos y quemando todo, a eso se le llama la venganza catalana... Por eso en Grecia aún hay frases hechas que dicen: cuidado que vienen los catalanes!!
Exactly, and 6 years later, Spanish could go to iceland without the worrying that they could get killed because a law allowed it
For more: Google this
Spánverjavígin (Slaying of the Spaniards)
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...
One of history's greatest lessons that is still being learned today: Pay your damn mercenaries
Company still tried to underpay their employees and then wonder why their staff is unmotivated or quit😂😂😂 guess people never learn
@@joshuajimbun5877 unions have been at war with the state from the beginning of labor. and will be untill we are free, comrade.
The kinda people that come looking for that money won't tolerate you not having it.
Fun fact: because the pillaging of greece the catalans were forbidden to enter mount athos until the 2000s
Now that's what I call quarantine
LET ME INNNNNN~!
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
No offense, but I hope people getting masters are not getting all info from UA-cam. 😔
(Citation Needed)😢
@@gj1234567899999 I don't think he refers to the UA-cam video but the sources that SandRhomanhistorian has cited to make the video possible.
@@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
@@gj1234567899999 Mate you really think I would base my Thesis on 15 minutes film? ;) I was talking about good bibliography in the video :)
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...
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.
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)
... 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
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.
another day, another byzantine emperor cant stop sabotaging himself and his empire
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.
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.
Crown of Aragon was the monarchy that expanded into the Mediterranean. Kingdom of Aragon never had access to the sea.
si Napoleon hubiera tenido el doble de hombres solo habria conseguido el doble de muertes de su propio bando!
Y es el rey Fernando VII quien da permiso a Napoleón de ingresar en la península!
very informative post. Thank you very much!
This deserves a miniseries.
As you can see in the comments, there are many Spanish deniers denying Catalan history.
I dont think anyone would deny Catalan history they would rather say it was spanish
What's with all the backstabbing tradition among Rome and Byzantium? They were their own damn worse enemy it seems.
Desperta ferro!! Greetings from tha catalan pyrenes, birth place of a lot of "almogàvers". Thanks for talk about this topic.
Byzantines are always their own worst enemy. Yet sympathizers of the Byzantines always lay blame on crusaders.
Wealth and power invites infighting (specially in States where power is somewhat decentralized), and the Crusaders actions greatly enabled the Roman's worst qualities by undermining their political stability at the crucial moment they would've been able to make great gain against their most pressing enemies.
Well the byzantines had their issues for sure, mostly the internal struggle for power, but on the other hand the crusaders were off set their reason for existing, the free of holy lands and instead in many cases they attack and conquered christian lands, like in byzantium, and Zara, the italian city states were more than wiling to destroy byzantium in order to get in their hands the full control of the merchant with the east. Also in most cases the low noblemen of the crusaders who were leading them, their main goal was to have a feud of their own on the weak lands of the east no matter if was held by christians or muslims! and most worse from the crusaders they were those merceneries especially the Catalan company, they were really the scums of the earth!
They lay the blame on Venice
@@thenoblepoptart true the italian merchant states like venice, genoa, amalfi and others were undermining byzantium becouse they wanted to control all the trade with east mediterranean without having paying taxes to use the byzantine ports and harbors or to be taxed on their profit that making by selling goods on the byzantine markets. so they activelly undermined the byzantine empire in many ways untill they diverted the 4th crusade to constantinople when they find a plausible pretexet, a dethroned byzantine ex emperor!
Very interesting piece of history. Interesting fact: Almogavars coming from the arabic word ( almaghaweer: المغاوير) which means the adventurers
Okay. Now I want to know about that Navarrese Company.
Me too!!
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)
Spaniards are butthurt that us catalans remember our history
I love it how you shown the iner boarders of Hungary as a Croatian that made me VERY happy.
Not just that, but even the Banate of Slavonia. It is a very nice map.
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.
ua-cam.com/video/4b7L3eE5DUc/v-deo.html it's truly heartwarming. I can't recall ever seeing this, or this style of animation in my childhood. The animation is pretty good, taking aside that it is not 24 fps, as that would be a titanic enterprise. It reminds me of the Asterix&Obelix animated films, it had a similar pace of animation. Thank you very much!
Rule 1: always pay your mercenaries.
"Almogàvers a la lluita! desperta ferro!" - Almogavars to battle! Awake Iron!
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!
Glad it was helpful!
Any of these Company videos would make an epic tv-series. Thanks!
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).
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.
@@CPR523 You are the typical pseudocatalan fake propaganda agent. Your opinion is just 0.
No hablaban catalán, hablaban en navarro-aragonés, bearnés, occitano, etc..., por aquel entonces el catalán era un dialecto más del occitano, además de que no solo se hablaba navarro-aragonés en el Reino de Aragón, también se hablaba en gran parte del Reino de Valencia, Tortosa y Lérida (hasta hace apenas 80 años el valenciano aún poseía una gran influencia aragonesa que en ciertas expresiones e ideas aún siguen compartiendo, tú mismo puedes comprobarlo en carteles o periódicos de época sin hacer demasiadas búsquedas) de los adalides de la gran compañía "catalana" más de la mitad eran aragoneses, dicha compañía (también llamada Gran Compañía Almogávar, referenciada por primera vez en 1305 como "Exercitus francorum") estaba compuesta principalmente por aragoneses, valencianos y catalanes, también por navarros, francos y castellanos en menor medida, no era algo exclusivamente catalán como algunos absurdamente defendeis, ni muchísimo menos, pues las tropas almogavares tienen su origen en el Reino de Aragón, teniendo su primera aparición documentada durante la toma de Zaragoza de 1118, desde entonces serían muy frecuentes en las huestes del Reino de Aragón y posteriormente de la Corona de Aragón (aparición de almogavares catalanes y valencianos), el reino y Corona de Aragón evidentemente no son lo mismo y creo que poca gente los confunde, pero recuerda que la Corona no es mas que una confederación de territorios propiedad del rey de Aragón, muchos remarcais la diferencia entre Reino y Corona, pero, acaso diferenciais vosotros entre Cataluña y Corona de Aragón?? 😂, que son los països catalans sino una Corona de Aragón sin Aragón con un idioma y nación impuestos (sin ni siquiera existir un precede histórico que lo justifique) de forma autoritaria y chovinista?? Acaso sois incapaces de diferenciar el relato pseudo-historico y nacionalista fantástico de la historia académica contrastada y aceptada por la historiografia oficial?? Tanto necesitáis adornar vuestro pasado para justificaros políticamente en el presente???
@@anabogueles5932 La mayoría eran catalanes. El catalán era un idioma con literatura a esas alturas, perfectamente distinguido del occitano, con Ramon Llull habiendo escrito en ambos idiomas, o con la crónica de Jaime I que diferencia a los que hablan catalán de los que hablan aragonés. En Lleida y Tortosa también se hablaba catalán. No eran únicamente catalanes, pero eran identificados así, igual que la corona no era todo Aragón, pero se la llama así. Yo veo bastante pseudo-historia en todo lo que escribes. Dime qué estudio dice que más de la mitad eran aragoneses.
@@anabogueles5932 Well, they did their book keeping and relations in Catalan, so even if you have a mixed group of Mercenaries you stick to the most common language. They did not care about your modern political stance. Show me a document from the Catalan Company that is in Aragonese. Read the article by Bensch, for exemple and then you will have a better understanding I guess. I am not Catalan btw. but teach constitutional history and medieval law and I am constantly confronted with half knowledge bloated up with modern iberian nationalisms. The Catalan company was run in Catalan, all the evidence points in that direction. Rutger von Blume learned Catalan when he became the head of the Catalan company and it was not a big deal as he already new what today you would consider Venetian dialects. But honestly I think you're just here to troll so I rather spent my time transcribing in peace some pending documents. Have a peacefull live and I hope you will get over your nationalisms and become a free thinker.
Thank you for shedding some light into medieval catalan history which often gets overshadowed by later periods of history after unification with Castile
The flint at night trick is pretty cool.
Fantastic video, very clearing and interesting. People hard for hart times.
thank you for keeping alive the memory of the Great Catalan Company. Spanish/castillian envious people can keep coping, seething and dilating in the comments.
Los almogavares eran en su mayoría y en origen pastores aragoneses del Pirineo, había catalanes por supuesto, del mismo modo que había valencianos, sicilianos, navarros y hasta castellanos al servicio del rey de Aragón, los almogavares no eran tropas catalanas ni un símbolo catalán por el simple hecho de que en los siglos XII-XIII Cataluña no existía, recuerda que por muy mercenarios que fuesen los almogavares seguían siendo vasallos del rey aragonés y así lo demostraban, por lo que actuaban defendiendo los intereses reales además de los económicos propios, Desperta Ferro es un grito de guerra muy conocido, aunque también en los albores de la batalla gritaban ¡Aragón! para recordar que seguían los intereses del rey y la Corona.
Pero si lo peor es que la mayoría ni serán castellanos
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.
underatted channel that's for sure...
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."🤣
Someone probably would but "lack of surviving sources." :v
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.
Impressive. This video was a truly enjoyable snippet of history. Thank you.
Our pleasure!
Thank you for explaining the Catalan Company history!
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.
You can google what the RSA (Rapid Support Force) in Sudan are doing.
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
It can still happen in regions the US cares little for, Paul Kagame's rise to power went something like this.
The quality of your videos is getting better and better. Absolutely top stuff keep it up
Thanks a ton!
La venjança catalana. DESPERTA FERRO!!!
I'm continually impressed by the breadth and depth of knowledge in these history videos.
My family comes from one of those mercenaries. Here, on Catalonia, we are so proud of those warriors, they are like our national superhero. Thanks for posting this!
so i think you would find this story interesting! after the sack of agio oros (Holy Mountain monasteries in Athos) and the many crimes they did in general to the people and farmers, looting the innocent peoples, raping and sold them to slavery to make money they sold to Genoese slave traders!, The monasteries banned the enter of men of catalonia for 700 years! a Catalan man enter the monasteries around 2000 maybe, when the Abbot of the monastery wile talking to visitors as its custom he ask from were are you? and he replied from Catalonia! the abbot suprised and sayed Catalonia? from the place that mercenery company pillaged the monasteries and they had no sacred thing on this earth? he leave and refused to talk him again as a sign of protest! the man was deeply socked and after returning back home he make some diging in history he made the incident known and catalonia feld they need to make some form of reparation for the past and they founded some work to be done on the monastery as a redemption for the things past!
@@petros311 Didnt know that stort. Thanks for sharing!
The Pope excommunicated them, they are all in hell now.
I love seeing that theres interest on history from catalunya,aragon and valencia.
Also showing the good and the bad equaly.
A second part would be very appreciated
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
Average mount and blade campaign experience.
Moral of the story: respect the men who come down from the mountains.
DESPERTA FERRO!
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!
L'estat Francés ha esborrat el.Catala ? i ens queixem en Espanya😂
@@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!
I just started this campaign in field of glory 2 yesterday. Nice.
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
neccesity breeds innovation
Sant Jordi! Desperta ferro!
Thanks from Catalonia for this amazing video on a topic often ignored!
uy si siempre "ignored" incluso aunque fueran catalanes (que no lo fueron) se habla de bandidos: de eso te sientes orgulloso??? jajajaja
@@MrNigara I tant! Sobretot quan van massacrar a milers de castellans a Múrcia. ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cr%C3%B2nica_de_Ramon_Muntaner
Fascinating history!
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
Wow, you can smells like the end of November in Madrid in the comments. Bet they all miss the blue door bar.
Very exciting adventure of such a company. Great work!
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.
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.
You were just a foreign invader
Guys all this happened hundreds of years ago no need for animosity
Aragonese crown it's not correct, Crown of Aragon Et Cathalonia
@@aB-of1nz es la corona de aragón a secas cataluña era un territorio mas
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.
Medieval mercenary companies were the original gig workers-except instead of food deliveries, they delivered swords and shields... to whoever paid the most!
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.
"Only when another company, the Navarrese Company, pushed into the Athenian territory were they finally defeated."
They needed other Spaniards to defeat the Spaniards.
Catalans are not spaniards
@@paumarti1911 Desgraciadamente para ti, si que lo son, y tus hijos lo serán, tus nietos,bisnietos y tataranietos.
Un saludo compatriota.
@@BicornioSPA Ni mi padre ni mi abuelo ni mis hijos ni mis nietos seran jamas puñeteros castellanos
@@paumarti1911 Sure, mate. Sure.
@@paumarti1911 malauradament per tu si que som espanyols i a molta honra y molts de nosaltres no permetrem mai que polítics mentiders ens separin del nostre origen
I wish it was longer
Commenting for the algorithm. Danke schon fellas.
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.
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.
Great video. Don't forget the Kingdom of València
Thanks SRH this was an excellent production!
Thank you.
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.
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
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.
About Roger de Flor, he became so popular in the Crown of Aragon that his adventures inspired the valencian knight and writter, Joannot Martorell, to create the best chivalry novel in Spanish literature untill Cervantes wrote the Quixote. That was Tirant Lo Blanc, (Tirant the white). The pinnacle of aragonese literature wrote in the valencian language, not catalan.
Trant Lo Blanch
They are literally the same language.
@@rotciv1492 here's the plotwist, while today the differences between the occitan languages in Spain are dialectical meaning Catalan, Valencian, Balearic and the Aragonese are basically the same language, back in the 15th century there were different languages who came from the old occitan.
@@albertmont3411 My answer in this case would be that I'm not sure myself.
For one, I very well understand and acknowledge the idea of having a big group of several languages coming from the old Llèngua d'Oc from Occitania extending all down the Levant.
However, my doubts purely point at the way it extended towards the south. See, it makes sense in the case of Aragonese and the Llemosí(Catalan), since the Marca Hispánica was basically a matter of Occitanian nobles taking possession of the lands south of the Pirenees, and therefore extending their culture and language.
But, how did that language get to Valencia? And right when the Caliphate and mozarábic culture was going so steong. It took 4 centuries just to conquer as far as Lleida, and I personally can't imagine any kind of Occitan language crossing all those barriers and settling south.
Did it happen during the Visigothic Kingdom, when the Occitan was barely different than Vulgar Latin?
I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to force anything here. I just love the truth and always being objective.
And as History goes, the conquest of Mallorca was a Catalan enterprise, so it makes sense they speak Catalan. While the conquest of Valencia was a combined Aragonese and Catalan enterprise, so... it would make sense to me that Valencian was an hybrid language between the two, or that it came from the mozarabic, or from the vulgar Latin with some arabic influences. But saying it evolved from the Occitan sepparately seems like an overstretch.
The most likely hypothesis it's still the one that I learned in school back in the Balearic Islands, which is that Valencian is a Catalan dialect.
No es veritat, sempre han sigut el mateix idioma @@albertmont3411
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.
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.
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.
@@eriktillman8114true...
another fantastic vid, look forward to the next one,
the only faction to defeat these iberians are more iberians😂
You missed to add their participation in the battle of Velbazd in 1330.
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!
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😂
@@yagollopart897 "Soft" seems a silly choice of words. It's better.
more hated than feared sadly.
@@cegesh1459 softness is good in peace when at war means death
mostly we are hated
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
Hi! I've been looking to your videos on and off for a while now and, as a Catalan, I was surprised to find that you decided to make a video about the Gran Companyia Catalana! I wanted to thank you greatly for providing such a well-researched documentary full of details I didn't even know about myself.
Also, I feel sorry about the comments of Spanish nationalists trying to delegimitize your work. I know from first-hand experience how hard it can be to discuss about history with compulsive revisionists.
Hey you can hire these guys in CK3
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.
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.
@@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.
Great video. Thx. Fantastic.
How interesting It is, that to this day , in Portuguese , Cutelo means large knife
What an intriguing glimpse into history! 🏰 The story of the Almogavars and their rise to power showcases the importance of adaptability and strategic thinking, qualities that resonate even in today's fast-paced world of business and leadership.
Meanwhile in Total War javelins are trash.
I think this video is a great introduction to the Catalan great company, but it is a bit too cursory to cover such an interesting topic. Wish more had been said regarding the fascinating background of Roger de Flor. Also, I think you negated to mention important political factors in the assassination of Roger by not mentioning Michael IX Palaiologos and his jealousy of Roger as well as the the disgruntled nature of the Alan mercenaries and their leader, Gircon. For anyone interested in getting a true overview of the Catalan Grand Company, I would recommend reading Muntaner's great chronicle.
AWESOME
Thank you! Cheers!
Great video, very interesting. I would very much apreciate more videos like this one.
AUR AUR DESPERTA FERRO
Some Catalans fought with Stefan Dušan the Mighty, pretty influential in the short-lived Serbian empire
Incorrect
@@nathanworthington4451 Maybe it's not the same company
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.
If i remember correctly romans adopted the iberian version of the gladius over the version they were using before.
Really intersting piece of history. . IT looks Luke switching the sides was a common practice
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).
Another banger video
Almogàvars ¡Desperta Ferro!
I hope we get a vid about the Navarrese Company next, despite the little info they have
Desperta Ferres! Desperta!
Ironic. The ACTUAL antichrist calling the Holy Roman Emperor the "precursor to the antichrist".
Why would sparks make a small army look large? Are armies often sparky?
It looks like flickering torches from a distance
Well of course they lose the territory because after 70 years all the original men are either dead or old men all their new recruits and sons would be nothing like their founders.
the land was later given to the crown of aragon, their king
That's right mate after 70 years, all the originals are gone, the descendants are then Athenians, speak little or no
Catalan, or Castellano, and after living in comfort and splendor, unlike the tough mountain men of the Catalan
Company, they would be less "inclined" to go to war, less likely to battle, they might seek "alternatives", with their
successors the "Navarrese Company" - likely hired as Military. The originals were "frontiersmen" - they made them
tough, they had to be tough, and the Turks they met in Anatolia, were cannon-fodder for the CC. Crushing-the-Turks.
*Note: What did all the "Oghooze Turkish Armies" in Anatolia all have in common? They had very big hamstrings,
and scrawny, skinny quads, they were good for the retreat, but very shy for the front-on attack. They then tried the
"Get Young Christian European Boys" - and then train them to fight the "Westerners", and had a bit better success,
but not usually "win the fight". They tried the half-casts, but that had little better results, finally they then came-up
with the "EASTMAL CHICKEN-SHIT TRINITY" - Poison the Water & Food, Spread Shit & Biological Matter, BRIBES.
Local Byzantine emperor hires ambitious mercenaries and takes advantage of them, is surprised when it blows up in his face
Many such cases!