The First Free Company in History (Catalan Grand Company)

Video Description

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. Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/sandrhomanhistory Paypal (thank you: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/SandRhomanhistory Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sandrhoman Some must read mlitary history books: Ambrose, S. E., Band of Brothers: E Company, 2001. https://amzn.to/438ltvZ Baime, A. J., The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman, 2017. https://amzn.to/3TcDGUj Beard, M., Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World, 2023. https://amzn.to/49L2olR Bevoor, A., Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943, 1999. https://amzn.to/4a4rqwe Beevor, A., The Second World War, 2013. https://amzn.to/3wNFITu Brennan, P+D., Gettysburg in Color, 2022. https://amzn.to/48LGldG Clausewitz, C., On War, 2010. https://amzn.to/3Vblf5 Kaushik, R., A Global History of Pre-Modern Warfare: 10,000 BCE–1500 CE, 2021. https://amzn.to/49Mtqt7 McPherson, J., Battle Cry of Freedom, The Civil War Era, 2021. https://amzn.to/3TseYAW Tsu, S., The Art of War, 2007, https://amzn.to/3TuknHA Sledge. E. B., With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, 2008. https://amzn.to/439olIK Pomerantsev, P., How to Win an Information War, 2024. https://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