The Almogavars (Aragonese: Almogabars, Catalan: Almogàvers, Spanish: Almogávares, from Arabic: Al-Mugavari) were a class of Aragonese and Catalan soldiers, well-known during the Christian reconquista (reconquest) of the Iberian peninsula. They were much employed as mercenaries in Italy and the Levant during the 13th and 14th centuries. The name comes from Arabic Al-Mugavari, a "raider, devastator". Languages distribution in Aragon (Aragonese in red). ... Catalan IPA: (català IPA: or []) is a Romance language, the national language of Andorra and one of several co-official languages in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencia (under the name Valencian). ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... Capital Zaragoza Official language(s) Spanish Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 4th  47,719 km²  9. ... The Catalans are an ethnic group or nation concentrated within Spains autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as other adjacent and nearby Mediterranean areas including Andorra, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, and Catalunya Nord in France. ... Conquista redirects here. ... The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe. ... A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict and is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a Party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that... The Levant The Levant (IPA: /lÉ™vænt/) is an imprecise geographical term historically referring to a large area in the Middle East south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and by the northern Arabian Desert and Upper Mesopotamia to the east. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right). ...

The Almogavars came originally from the Pyrenees, and were in later times recruited mainly in Navarre, Aragon, and Catalonia. They were frontiersmen and foot-soldiers who wore no armour, dressed in skins, were shod with brogues (abarcas), and carried the arms similar to those of Roman legionaries: two heavy javelins, or "assegai" (atzagaia in Catalan); a short stabbing sword; and a shield. Pic de Bugatetin the Néouvielle Natural Reserve Central Pyrenees The Pyrenees (Spanish: Pirineos; French: Pyrénées; Catalan: Pirineus; Occitan: Pirenèus; Aragonese: Perinés; Basque: Pirinioak) are a range of mountains in southwest Europe that form a natural border between France and Spain. ... Capital Pamplona (Basque: Iruña) Official language(s) Spanish; Basque co-official in the north of community. ... Capital Zaragoza Official language(s) Spanish Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 4th  47,719 km²  9. ... Anthem: Els Segadors Capital Barcelona Official language(s) Catalan, Spanish and Aranese Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 6th  32,114 km²  6. ... Area under Roman control  Roman Republic  Roman Empire  Western Empire  Eastern Empire Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a city-state founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... Reconstruction of a post-Marian pilum A Roman coin showing Antoninianus of Carinus holding pilum and globe. ... An Askari guards an Allied air training school at Waterkloof, Pretoria, South Africa. ... Catalan IPA: (català IPA: or []) is a Romance language, the national language of Andorra and one of several co-official languages in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencia (under the name Valencian). ...

They were professional soldiers, and served kings, the Roman Catholic Church, nobles, or towns for pay; eventually they also hired themselves out to the Byzantine Empire. When Peter III of Aragon made war on Charles of Anjou after the Sicilian Vespers of March 30, 1282 for the possession of Naples and Sicily, the Almogavars formed the most effective element of his army. Their discipline and ferocity, the force with which they hurled their javelins, and their activity, made them very formidable to the heavy cavalry of the Angevin armies. The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Byzantine Empire at its greatest extent c. ... Peter III of Aragon (Catalan: Pere) (1239 – November 11, 1285, also Peter I of Valencia, Peter II of Barcelona), known as the Great, was the king of Aragon and Valencia and count of Barcelona from 1276 to 1285. ... Charles I (March 1227 - January 7, 1285) was the posthumous son of King Louis VIII of France, created Count of Anjou by his elder brother King Louis IX in 1246, thus founding the second Angevin dynasty. ... Sicilian Vespers (1846), by Francesco Hayez The Sicilian Vespers is the name given to a rebellion in Sicily in 1282 against the rule of the Angevin king Charles I, who had taken control of the island with Papal support in 1266. ... March 30 is the 89th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (90th in a leap year). ... For broader historical context, see 1280s and 13th century. ... Naples panorama. ... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian and Sicilian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 km² (9,926 sq. ... Anjou is a former county (c. ...

When the peace of Caltabellotta in 1302 ended the war in southern Italy, the Almogavars, under the leadership of Roger de Flor ("Roger Blum", a defrocked Knight Templar), formed the Catalan Company in the service of the emperor of the East, Andronicus II Palaeologus, as condottieri to fight against the Turks. The Peace of Caltabellotta, signed 19 August 1302, was the last of a series of treaties, including those of Tarascon and Anagni, designed to end the conflict between the Houses of Anjou and Barcelona for ascendancy in the Mediterranean and especially Sicily and the Mezzogiorno. ... Events July 11 - Battle of the Golden Spurs (Guldensporenslag in Dutch), major victory of Flanders over the French occupier. ... Roger de Flor, also known as Rutger von Blum (1266 in Brindisi - April 4, 1306 in Adrianople), a military adventurer of the 13th and 14th century, was the second son of a German falconer named Richard Blum (Blum means flower in German) in the service of the Holy Roman Emperor... To defrock a priest is to deprive him of the right to exercise the functions of the priestly office. ... This article is about the medieval military order. ... The Catalan Company,[1] short name for the Catalan Company of the East (Companyia Catalana dOrient in Catalan), was a free company of mercenaries founded by Roger de Flor in early 14th-century Europe. ... This is a list of Byzantine Emperors. ... Andronicus II Palaeologus (1260 - February 13, 1332), Byzantine emperor, was the elder son of Michael VIII Palaeologus, whom he succeeded in 1282. ... Condottieri (singular condottiere or condottiero) were mercenary leaders employed by Italian city-states from the late Middle Ages until the mid-sixteenth century. ...

Their campaign in Asia Minor during 1303 and 1304 was a series of romantic victories, but their greed and violence made them intolerable to the Byzantine population. When Roger de Flor was assassinated by his Greek employer in 1305, they turned on the emperor, held Gallipoli, and ravaged the neighbourhood of Constantinople. Anatolia (Greek: ανατολη anatole, rising of the sun or East; compare Orient and Levant, by popular etymology Turkish Anadolu to ana mother and dolu filled), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to... // Events 24 February: Battle of Roslin 20 April: Pope Boniface VIII founds the University of Rome La Sapienza Edward I of England reconquers Scotland (see also: William Wallace, Wars of Scottish Independence) The Khilji Dynasty conquers time travel Births Saint Birgitta, Swedish saint (died 1373) Gegeen Khan, Mongol emperor of... Events 20 July - Fall of Stirling Castle: Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold in the Wars of Scottish Independence. ... Byzantine Empire at its greatest extent c. ... Events August 5 - English troops capture William Wallace Wenceslas III becomes king of Bohemia Archbishop of Bordeaux, Bertrand de Got, was elected as Pope Clement V. Philip IV of France accused the Knights Templar of heresy. ... Gallipoli peninsula (Turkish: , Greek: ) is located in Turkish Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. ... Map of Constantinople. ...

In 1310 they marched against the duke of Athens, of the French House of Brienne. Walter V of Brienne was defeated and slain by the Almogavars with all his knights at the battle of Cephissus, or Orchomenus, in Boeotia in March. They then divided the wives and possessions of the Frenchmen by lot, and summoned a prince of the house of Aragon to rule over them. [edit] Events May 11 - In France, 64 members of the Knights Templar are burned at the stake for heresy Abulfeda becomes governor of Hama. ... // Duchy of Athens A small crusader state which was established after the Sack of Constantinople (1204) by the Crusaders. ... The County of Brienne was a medieval county in France centered on Brienne-le-Château. ... Walter V of Brienne (c. ... Cephissus (Greek Κήφισσος: Kifissós, Kephissós, or Kêphissos) or Cephisus (Greek Κήφισος: Kêphisos) the name of several rivers in Greece: Cephissus (Boeotia), a river arising in Phocis and flowing through northern Boeotia into Lake... A king in Greek mythology, Orchomenus was the father of Elara. ... Boeotia or Beotia (//, (Greek Βοιωτια; see also list of traditional Greek place names) was the central area of ancient Greece. ... History of Spain series Prehistoric Spain Roman Spain Muslim Conquest of Iberia Timeline of Muslim Occupation Medieval Spain Age of Reconquest Age of Expansion Age of Enlightenment Reaction and Revolution First Spanish Republic The Restoration Second Spanish Republic Spanish Civil War The Dictatorship Modern Spain Topics Economic History Military History...

The foundation of the Aragonese duchy of Athens was to be the culminating achievement of the Almogavars. By the 16th century the name had died out. // Duchy of Athens A small crusader state which was established after the Sack of Constantinople (1204) by the Crusaders. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ...

The name "Almogavars" was revived for a short time as a party nickname in the civil wars during the reign of Ferdinand VII of Spain. The parachute brigade of the modern-day Spanish army is also named Brigada de Infantería Ligera Paracaidista Almogávares VI (Parachute Light Infantry Brigade "Almogavars" VI). Ferdinand VII (October 14, 1784 - September 29, 1833) was King of Spain from 1813 to 1833. ... The Spanish Army (Ejército de Tierra in Spanish; literally, Land Army) is one branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, in charge of land operations. ...

This article is based on an entry in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica. (Redirected from 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica) The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...

References

• Morris, Paul N., ' "We Have Met Devils!" The Almogavars of James I and Peter III of Catalonia-Aragon', Anistoriton v. 4 (2000) [1]

• http://www.almogavares.net