Battle of Apros

The Battle of Apros took place in July 1305 in Thrace, when the Byzantine co-emperor Michael IX Palaiologos confronted the Catalan Company, a mercenary force that had recently turned against the empire. Hired a few years earlier to reinforce the eastern frontier, the Company had become increasingly difficult to control and entered into open conflict with the Byzantines after the murder of its leader Roger de Flor.

Michael IX assembled the main imperial field army in an effort to bring the Company to battle, but the confrontation near Apros in Thrace ended in a decisive Catalan victory. The collapse of key Byzantine auxiliary troops at the outset left the imperial centre exposed, and the army broke under pressure. The defeat effectively ended the empire’s ability to challenge the Company. In its aftermath, the Catalans and their Turkish allies ranged freely through Thrace before moving west into Macedonia and Thessaly, eventually establishing control over the Duchy of Athens.