The White Dragon
A contemporary Byzantine historian wrote the Almogavars of the Catalan Company ‘died hard in battle and were ready to give their lives’. And as the Byzantine emperor was to discover to his cost, they also did not forgive easily. So prone to violence were they that the Pope excommunicated them, branding them ‘senseless sons of damnation’. But they were among the greatest fighters of the Medieval period, soldiers who could defeat anything thrown at them. Their exploits deserve to be preserved and not forgotten in the mists of time.
Cry ‘havoc!’, and let slip the dogs of war.
After its great victories in Anatolia, the mercenary Catalan Company has been grossly betrayed by its paymasters. Now cornered on the Gallipoli Peninsula, the Byzantine emperor is determined to wipe it out for good.
But the Catalan dogs of war have other ideas, none more so than Luca Baldi, now a hero among his comrades and a young man who thirsts for battle and glory.
The Byzantines have a assembled a great army to crush the Catalan mercenaries and afterwards wage a crusade against the Muslim Turks in Anatolia.
The stage is set for a battle that will decide the fate of Luca Baldi, the Catalan Company and the Byzantine Empire, which will echo down the ages.
‘The White Dragon’ is the second volume in the Catalan Chronicles, a Medieval saga set in the early 14th century. Maps of the Byzantine Empire and western Anatolia at this time can be found on the maps page of this website
