Battle of the Cyzicus (1303) After those incidents and the recent defeat of the Byzantines in the
Battle of Bafeus, the Emperor ordered Roger de Flor to move his
almogavars as soon as possible to the battle front in
Anatolia, in modern-day
Turkey. Transported there in the fleet commanded by the Catalan Admiral
Ferran d'Aunés, Roger de Flor's troops disembarked at
Cape Artake, near the ruins of ancient
Cyzicus. They soon achieved a great victory against the
Karasid Turks in the
Battle of the Cyzicus in October 1303. The
almogavars made a surprise attack on the Oghuz Turkish camp located at Cape Artake, killing about 3,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry and capturing many women and children. After this victory, Roger de Flor decided to postpone a planned march to the besieged town of
Philadelphia and spent the winter on Cape Artake, a position that provided good defences and an easy means of supply. During this period temporarily left the company after a disagreement with Roger de Flor, putting himself in the service of the
Duke of Athens. Roger de Flor, on the other hand, took advantage of the lull to travel with his wife to Constantinople with four galleys, claim payment from the Emperor and discuss with him the next campaign. Emperor Andronikos happily paid Roger de Flor and entrusted him with the liberation of Philadelphia. On his return to Cyzicus, Roger de Flor found that his undisciplined troops had already spent twice or triple their pay and had been out plundering. Greek historians say that the region of Cyzicus was devastated by the looting of the almogavars, to the point that the sister of Andronikos had to go to the city to exhort Roger to move his troops immediately to Philadelphia.
Battle of Germe The 1304 campaign began with a month's delay because of continuous disputes between the
almogavars and their
Alan allies, which caused 300 deaths in the forces of the latter. Finally, in early May, Roger de Flor began the campaign to raise the siege of
Philadelphia with 6,000 almogavars and 1,000 Alans. Philadelphia at that time was suffering from a siege by Yakup bin Ali Şir, governor of the
Germiyanids from the powerful emirate of Germiyan-oğhlu. After a few days, the
almogavars arrived at the Byzantine city of
Achyraus and descended by the valley of the River Kaikos until they arrived at the city of Germe (now known as
Soma), a Byzantine fortification that had previously fallen to the Turks. The Turks who were there tried to flee as fast as possible, but their rearguard was attacked by the troops of Roger de Flor in what came to be called the .
Battle of Aulax and liberation of Philadelphia After the victory in Germe, the Company resumed its march, passing through Chliara (modern
Kırkağaç) and
Thyatira and entered the valley of the
Hermos River. On their way, they stopped in various places, abusing the Byzantine governors for their lack of courage. Roger de Flor even planned to hang some of them; naming the Bulgarian captain
Sausi Crisanislao, who finally obtained a pardon. Upon learning of the imminent arrival of the Great Company, Bey Yakup bin Ali Şir, head of the coalition of the Turkish troops from the emirates of Germiyan-oğhlu and
Aydın-oğhlu, decided to lift the siege of Philadelphia and face the Company in a suitable location (Aulax) with his 8,000 cavalry and 12,000 infantry. Roger de Flor took command of the Company cavalry, dividing it into three contingents (Alans, Catalans and Greeks), while Corbarán of Alet did the same with the infantry. The Catalans achieved a great victory over the Turks in what would come to be known as the , with only 500 Turkish infantry and 1,000 cavalrymen managing to escape alive. After this battle de Flor made a triumphant entrance into Philadelphia, being received by its magistrates and the bishop Teolepto. Having already accomplished the principal mission entrusted to him by the emperor, Roger de Flor decided to consolidate the defence of Philadelphia by conquering the nearby fortresses which had fallen into the hands of the Turks. Thus, the
almogavars marched north towards the fortress of
Kula, forcing the Turks who were there to flee. The Greek garrison of Kula received Roger de Flor as a liberator, but he, not appreciating how a seemingly impregnable fortress could be allowed to fall into the hands of the Turks without a battle, beheaded the governor and condemned the commander to the gallows. The same harshness was applied when, days later, the
almogavars took the fortification of Furnes, further north. Then, Roger de Flor returned with his troops to Philadelphia to claim payment for his successful campaign.
Occupation of Magnesia The captains of the Company then resolved to attack the maritime provinces of the Turks. From Philadelphia the Company retreated through the valley of the river Hermos and entered the
prefecture of the city of
Magnesia (modern
Manisa), the only territory of Anatolia that remained under the control of the Byzantines. Magnesia had solid walls and was a few miles from the
island of Chios, where the Catalan Company fleet was anchored under the command of
Ferran d'Aunés. In those circumstances, Roger de Flor decided to occupy the city and establish his headquarters there, and to transfer there his spoils of war and to garrison it with his troops. From the viewpoint of the Greeks, Roger de Flor began to act not so much as a mercenary or military leader but as the governor of all Anatolia, thus winning the enmity of the prefect Nostongos Ducas and the governor of the city of Magnesia, Demetrios Ataliota. Nostongo Ducas traveled to Constantinople to report the situation to the emperor, thereby causing consternation in the capital.
Battle of Tire After leaving his spoils and a small garrison of
almogavars in
Magnesia, the troops of Roger de Flor arrived at the city of
Nif (
Nymphaion), where he received a request for aid from two inhabitants of
Tire. It appeared that the surviving Turkish troops of the battle of Aulax had united with those of the Emirate of Menteşe-oğhlu and begun a joint attack on Tire. Roger de Flor divided his force into two and ordered one half to return to Magnesia. The remaining troops under de Flor made a forced march to arrive at the walls of Tire in the dead of night, entering the city without being spotted by the besieging Turks. The began the following morning, when the Turks assembled on a plain near the city to prepare the assault, expecting to find in Tire only a small garrison of Greek soldiers. Inside Tire, Roger de Flor ordered his
seneschal to prepare a detachment of 200 men on horseback and 2,000
almogavars. When the Turks approached the walls, the troops led by Corberán of Alet rushed out of the city and attacked the Turks, who in a short time suffered the loss of 700 men on horseback and even more infantrymen. In panic, the rest of the Turkish cavalry fled to the mountains chased by the
almogávar cavalry. Corberán of Alet decided to continue the attack on the retreating Turks as they began to climb the mountains, ordering his cavalrymen to dismount and climb after them. In response, the Turks harassed the
almogavars by throwing stones and firing arrows, one of which killed Corberán of Alet, striking his head at a moment when his helmet had been removed. The
almogavar troops, shocked by the death of the seneschal of the company, interrupted their pursuit and retreated to Tire carrying the corpse of Corberán of Alet, thus allowing the surviving Turks to escape. When the troops returned to Tire and informed Roger de Flor of the death of his seneschal, he ordered that Corberán of Alet be buried with all honors in the Church of San George, located two leagues from the city, and that his tomb be beautifully decorated. The Company remained stationed in Tire for eight more days.
Arrival of Bernat of Rocafort In the course of the Battle of Tire,
Bernat de Rocafort arrived at
Constantinople from the
Kingdom of Sicily. Bernat had not joined the company the previous year after he had refused to accept the terms of the
Peace of Caltabellotta, which forced him to return two castles he had conquered in the
Kingdom of Naples. Finally, in July 1304, he decided to join the company and weighed anchor for Constantinople with 200 cavalrymen, 1,000 almogavars and two galleys. There, he was received by Andronikos, who informed him that the company was on the island of Chios. Bernat then made for Chios, where he met the fleet captained by Ferran d'Aunés, and together they sailed to Ania (now
Kuşadası). Once in Ania, they were received by Ramon Muntaner, who led Bernat to
Ephesus, where he met Roger de Flor, who named Bernat the new seneschal of the company (replacing the late Corberán of Alet) and gave him his daughter (who had been engaged to Corberan) in marriage and provided him with 100 horses and money for his men. Roger de Flor and Bernat de Rocafort then marched to Ania but not without first asking for further war contributions in Ephesus, again accompanied by numerous abuses and looting by the
almogavars. After his departure, Roger de Flor entrusted the safety of Tire to the Aragonese Diego de Orós with 30 cavalry men and 100 infantrymen.
Battle of Ania For their part, the surviving troops of the
Emirate of Aydin managed to regroup around Ania and frightened its population. In the face of that provocation, the
almogavars decided to charge immediately against them in complete disorder and without receiving orders from any of their captains. In spite of the disorder, they were victorious at the and killed 1,000 cavalrymen and 2,000 Turkish infantry. After the new victory, the captains decided to return to the eastern provinces and seek a great confrontation with the Turks in the hinterland of Anatolia since the limited number of soldiers of the Company did not allow a war of occupation.
Battle of Kibistra In July 1304, the Company began to march through the regions of
Caria and
Lycaonia and linked up with the road that the Crusaders had followed two centuries earlier on their way to the
Holy Land. Finally, the Company reached the
Cilician Gates at the foot of the
Taurus Mountains, which separated the region of
Cilicia from the Christian
Kingdom of Little Armenia. As the cavalry advanced to reconnoitre the land, they discovered in a valley a large contingent of Turkish troops (20,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry), who were remnants of previous defeats and were regrouped and ready to ambush the company. Once discovered, the Turks descended to the plain and both armies prepared for a great battle, the , in the open field at
Kibistra on August 15, 1304. Despite the numerical disparity between the forces, Roger de Flor did not avoid a confrontation but put himself at the head of the cavalry.
Bernat de Rocafort and Marulli did the same with the
almogavars, who showed great spirit and celebrated the victory before even engaging in combat and uttering their famous war cry "
Awake iron, awake!" while they hit the ground with the end of their spears. At last, the troops of the Company rushed to meet the Turkish troops, and the battle began. At first, the Turks asserted their numerical advantage, but even as the battle seemed to be swinging in favour of the Turks, the
almogavars charged again and managed to breach and destroy their line. The battle continued until twilight before the remains of the Turkish army fled in disarray, chased by the almogavar cavalry almost until dawn. The
almogavars spent the night with their weapons in hand and waited for a Turkish counterattack, which never occurred. The following morning, Roger de Flor proceeded to survey the battlefield and was surprised by the magnitude of his victory. No fewer than 6,000 cavalry and 12,000 Turkish infantrymen had been killed in the battle. The
almogavars then began to shout out their wish to continue the march through the Taurus mountains to Little Armenia in a surprise attack, and recover what the Byzantine Empire had lost over many centuries, but their captains judged the idea reckless. == De Flor's murder and Catalan revenge ==