The Almogavars were light shock troops, whose origin and name go back to groups of robbers from Al Andalus. The Aragonese were the first to adapt their tactics, and for this reason their light infantry was called in this way. But when they really became famous, and for what they are remembered centuries later, it was for the activity of a group of these in the Byzantine empire at the beginning of the s. XIV.
Thus, in 1302 a group of Almogavar mercenaries under the leadership of Roger de Flor, most of them veterans of the war in Sicily (unemployed after the peace of Caltabellota), are hired by the Byzantine Empire to help in the reconquest of places in Anatolia.
The great Catalan company, as it was called, arrived in Constantinople at the beginning of 1303, and with its arrival, sparks flew, first with the Genoese, leading to a strong conflict between the two. Finally, the emperor sends the Almogavars on his mission, and they reap victory after victory against the Turks, even in strong numerical inferiority as in the battle of Aulax, after which they manage to lift the Turkish siege of Philadelphia
After securing the area, they occupy Magnesia, under Byzantine rule, raising anger among the local leaders, who see Roger de Flor not as a mercenary, but as a true governor of Anatolia.
Leaving a garrison in Magnesia, along with the treasures confiscated to date, the Almogavars continued to sow panic among the Anatolian Turks, scoring a great victory at the Battle of Kibistra, against a vastly outnumbered enemy again. But when they returned to Magnesia from Cilicia, where they arrived harassing the Turks, they saw that the detachment left behind had been eliminated, so they laid siege to the city. Emperor Andronicus II again called the Almogavars to the aid of the Bulgarian tsar to quell an uprising, where they went, lifting the siege.
The excesses of the Almogavars against the Greek population throughout this journey, plus the ambitions of Roger de Flor, made them many enemies, and finally, at a banquet to which they had been invited by the emperor in Adrianopolis, Roger de Flor was assassinated. along with 100 Almogavar knights. The order was given by the emperor’s son and co-regent Michael. Later they tried to finish off all the Almogávares that remained without success, coming to lay siege to Gallípoli where they were. The Almogavars finished off the Byzantine army and plundered the regions of Macedonia and Thrace for years, leaving for posterity a memory of limitless violence, known as Catalan revenge.
In 1311, after not receiving the agreed payment for their help, they conquered the Duchy of Athens and named King Frederick II of Sicily Lord. In 1318 and 1319 they added lands from Thessaly and formed the Duchy of Neopatria united to that of Athens. They kept these duchies under Aragonese sovereignty until 1388-1390, when they fell under the Florentines, associated with the Navarre Company.
It seems clear that the Catalan company must have minted coins, but there are no types in the name of the Aragonese King. It is assumed that they kept the previous types, although this does not make much sense either. Pieces in the name of Guy II are attributed to the later Florentines, with a dot on the cross on the obverse and with a very peculiar style from the legends, and therefore, it is assumed that the Catalans did the same. While Metcalf thinks that some of the normal types could be from the Catalans, Malloy attributes to these the anonymous types that Metcalf attributes to the Guy I minority, which makes clear the mess that exists in the attributions of this period.
Malloy also attributes to them the large number of types with unintelligible captions that were produced at the time, but more like these faux period pieces, which certainly need further study.