A principios del siglo XIV, un pequeño ejército aragonés vivió una epopeya que le llevó a salvar un imperio y a crear un Estado en mitad de los Balcanes.
Los almogávares eran tropas de infantería ligera, integradas mayoritariamente por campesinos aragoneses y catalanes. Tras la paz de Caltabellota, Federico II de Sicilia aprovechó la llamada de auxilio del emperador bizantino Andrónico II Paleólogo ante el avance turco para deshacerse de ellos, que estaban causando desórdenes en la isla. El líder de la Gran Compañía Catalana fue Roger de Flor, un antiguo templario que quería huir de sus enemigos.
A medida que avanzaron fueron venciendo a los turcos en todas las plazas balcánicas. El emperador nombró césar a Roger de Flor, para luego ser asesinado por mercenarios alanos al servicio de Miguel, hijo del emperador. Los almogávares iniciaron la 'venganza catalana' y arrasaron los dominios bizantinos, sin que el ejército imperial pudiera pararlos.
Formaron un consejo de gobierno que aceptó trabajar para el duque de Atenas, que quería expulsar a los griegos. Una vez realizado el trabajo, el barón franco se negó a pagarles y éstos le derrotaron y tomaron el ducado para Aragón. El Papa Juan XXII los instó a devolver el territorio al duque, pero se negaron y, por consiguiente, fueron excomulgados en 1318. Luego, ampliaron sus territorios a Neopatria. En 1331, un ejército franco intentó recuperar sin éxito la zona. Estas tierras estuvieron en sus manos hasta 1390, cuando fueron derrotados por la Compañía Navarra.
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In the beginning of XIV century, a a small Aragonese army experienced an epic story which led it to save an empire and to create an State in the middle of the Balkans.
The almogavars were light infantry troops, made up with Aragonese and Catalonian peasants. After the peace of Caltabellotta, Frederick II of Sicily took advantage of the Byzantine emperor Andronikos II' call of help against the Turkish advance, to get rid of them, because they were causing disorders in the island. The leader of the Catalan Company was Roger de Flor, an old templar who wanted to flee from his enemies.
They won all the battles against the Turkish in the Balkans at the same time they advanced. The emperor proclaimed caesar to Roger de Flor who were killed later by Alan mercenaries at the service of Michael, son of the emperos. The almogavares started the 'Catalonian revenge' and devastated the Byzantine lands, despite the efforts of the Imperial army trying to stop them.
The Aragonese troops created a council which accepted to work for the duke of Athens, who wanted to throw the Greeks out from his lands. Once the work was accomplished, the Frank baron refused to pay them. They defeated him and took the duchy for Aragon. The Pope John XXII urged them to return the land to the duke, but the almogavars refused it too and were consequently excommunicated. After that, they increased their lands capturing Neopatria (Neopatras). In 1331, a Frank army tried to recover these territories without success. The lands were in their possession until 1390, when they were defeated by the Navarrese Company.
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