Battle of Apros
1305 battle in Greece From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Battle of Apros occurred between the forces of the Byzantine Empire, under co-emperor Michael IX Palaiologos, and the forces of the Catalan Company, at Apros on July 1305.[1][2]
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (October 2014) |
| Battle of Apros | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Byzantine Empire | Catalan Company | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Michael IX | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 6,000 | 2,500 | ||||||
The Catalan Company had been hired by the Byzantines as mercenaries against the Turks, but despite the Catalans' successes against the Turks, the two allies distrusted each other, and their relationship was strained by the Catalans' financial demands. Eventually, Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and his son and co-ruler Michael IX had the Catalan leader, Roger de Flor, assassinated with his entourage in April 1305.
In July, the Byzantine army, comprising a large contingent of Alans as well as many Turcopoles, confronted the Catalans and their own Turkish allies near Apros in Thrace. Despite the Imperial Army's numerical superiority, the Alans withdrew after the first charge, whereupon the Turcopoles deserted en bloc to the Catalans. Prince Michael was injured and left the field and the Catalans won the day.
The Catalans proceeded to ravage Thrace for two years, before moving west and south through Thessaly, to conquer the Latin Duchy of Athens in 1311.
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
