Stoic Historian

The Pirate Knight: Roger de Flor

Explore the gripping journey of Roger de Flor, a man who fell from grace but rose to become a legendary pirate knight, commanding his destiny against all odds.

#RogerdeFlor #pirateknight #historicaladventure #risefromgrace #captain

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Duration:: 15m
Broadcast on:: 10 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

Explore the gripping journey of Roger de Flor, a man who fell from grace but rose to become a legendary pirate knight, commanding his destiny against all odds.

#RogerdeFlor #pirateknight #historicaladventure #risefromgrace #captain

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[Intro] Medieval era mercenaries are notorious for being less than loyal, gold being the only respite to service their sword arm. Of these rogue knights and warriors, there is one who stands tall as the most controversial, competent, and greedy. A man capable of making both the Byzantines and Turks tremble in a war torn Anatolia. The ever opportunistic, Roger de Flor. Roger was born in the heel of Italy in the year of 1267 at the port city of Brindissi. The son of a minor Italian noblewoman from a merchant family while his father was a trained falconier who served the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II Hohenstofen. He was named Richard von Blume. Blume means "flower" in German and so does "floor" in Italian. Before you could even remember, Roger was exposed to the tragedy that befalls the brave. Before his first year of life was complete, his father, who was said to be an expert warrior on his own accord, would follow his liege, King Conradin, into battle to decide the fate of the kingdom of Sicily. The 16-year-old and final male member of Germany's Hohenstofen dynasty, where names such as Frederick Barbarossid dominated the politics of the Holy Roman Empire. In recent years, the war between this family and the Pope, most commonly referred to as the Gelf Ghibliene conflict, would come to one of its bloodiest conclusions. At the Battle of Tagliakozo, the papacy-backed army of Duke Charles of Anjou would find their way to victory after initial upsets. Here, Roger de Fleur's father would be struck down and killed in the heat of battle. The result of this conflict would see the last member of the Hohenstofen dynasty, executed by the Pope, and the kingdom of Sicily would fall into the hands of the French-born Charles of Anjou. The Pope had secured his south, and Roger de Fleur was now living in the domains of the man who had killed his father and taken his inheritance from the Fleur family. With his father dead, Roger, along with his brother, Jacob, who was four years older than him, were entrusted into the care of their maternal grandfather. A wealthy and unnamed merchant from Brindisi, who would raise the brothers through their formative years. At the age of eight, Roger de Fleur would begin his first of many adventures into the east. Where his father was a skilled soldier and royal falconier, his son would follow a similar, albeit different path. There would become a squire in the esteemed order of the Knights Templar. By this point in the year of 1275, the Templars were a shell of their former glory. The Crusades for the Holy Land were failing, and only remained alive with a few cities dotted along the Levantine coast. This only presented a new challenge for the Order of Knights to reconcile for their fresh new recruits. Away from the heavily armored lance-wielding warriors that we know so well from popular culture, the Templars began far more extensive training in their navy in order to connect the last few coastal bits of outremer. Ten years later in 1085, Roger became the captain of his own ship, dubbed the Falcon, in honor of his father's own occupation. The Falcon, with Roger at a time, was one of the fastest galleys in the Templar fleet, making it all the more important as a trading vessel, as well as a means of escape. By 1291, the domain of the Crusaders in the Holy Land was reduced to one key stronghold, the city of Acre. In April of that year, the last chapter in this 200-year conflict would come to its long-awaited climax. The Mamalook Sultanate of Egypt began their siege on April 4th. It only lasted for a little over a month before the city fell. The final stages of the battle would see the Crusaders defending the port, and evacuating as many knights and treasures as possible onto their many fleets. Roger de Flores Falcon, being among them. Here the true colors of this ambitious man begin to shine through. Entry onto the Falcon would not be a free ticket. Roger called for everyone to pay for their place in gold, refusing the request of his Templar brethren. This treasure, Roger would use to enrich himself before dropping the survivors of Acre off on the nearby island of Cyprus. Having swindled his fellow Christians and knights, the Pope excommunicated Roger de Flores while the Templars kicked him out of their crumbling order. Now a man on the run decided to abandon the Falcon and embrace a life of banditry. His situation couldn't get any worse after all. With his skill on the sea behind him, he went to the home of one of the greatest merchant fleets of his day, the Republic of Genoa. He borrowed money from a wealthy duke, never paid him back, bought a new ship and began looking for a master more willing to accept his brand of warfare. It would be opportunity that brought him into the service of King Frederick III of Sicily and his father, the King of Aragon. And it would be revenge that would motivate him to attack King Charles II of Naples. The father of the man who had conquered southern Italy and killed Roger's dad when he was but at helpless infant. Here Roger de Flores would become the Jolly Roger, a pirate mercenary who would raid coastal settlements in Sicily and beyond, striking any vulnerable coastal settlement before returning to his ship in a flash. For seven whole years, Roger de Flores would continue on in this piratical trend, becoming a menace to his southern Italian homeland and building a fleet by acquiring boats from his victories and purchasing them from Sicilian ports with the money he earned from his privateering. Roger de Flores becoming a skilled businessman, the merchant maternal roots of his ancestors shining through him. In Sicily, Roger found the most success, creating his own small army, made up of soldiers called the Alma Vukars. These men were from the Iberian Peninsula, veterans of the western crusade, more commonly referred to as the Reconquista. These foot soldiers were made up of mostly lightly armored spear units, which could be used to counter the heavily armored knights of Naples with relative ease. They carried with them two to three javelins which they would throw before engaging with their fighting spears. They also held a small sword caught a falchian. Although they were lightly armored, their speed ensured any strategic advantage when used in the right hands, and that's just who Roger de Flores was. In 1302 the warfare Sicily had ended, and Roger de Flores and his mercenary company were out of work, and out of gold. A revolt likely would have started on the island if it was not for the reaver lord of the flower. With his wealth only growing after being excommunicated, Roger de Flores hired all the Alma Vukars he could acquire, and founded the Catalan company, one of the most well-known mercenary companies in history. With nowhere in particular to go, Roger decided to take his 6,000 strong army and sail them as far away from the Pope as he could, without starting another crusade that is. And enough, Roger de Flores found himself in the Byzantine court of Emperor Andronicos II palliologos. With the Eastern Roman Empire firmly on the back foot after the fourth crusade, and numerous invasions of the Turks and Anatolia, the Emperor was desperate for military aid. Who better than a former Templar to subdue the Turks? Seeing the aged Empire so in need of assistance, the opportunistic Roger de Flores decided to milk out everything he could. After all, how could they begin to reject the Alma Vukars? He only agreed to fight on behalf of the Emperor, if he could be married into his family. For this, Andronicos gave Roger his niece, a Bulgarian princess named Maria. Roger was also given the titles of Grand Duke, as well as Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Fleet and Army, which at this point was an empty title that Roger and the Cattleins now filled. Currently getting the army of Westerners away from Constantinople, Roger de Flores' band of mercenaries boarded their 22 boat fleet and made their way for Sizakis, one of the vital ports that dotted the Insular Sea of Marmara. Here the Cattlein Company crushed the Turks and liberated Sizakis. After spending a winter there, Roger and the Alma Vukars sped their way across the Anatolia and coast until reaching the city of Philadelphia, which at this point was completely surrounded and near the end of a long siege. In what was perhaps his shining moment, Roger forced the besiegers of Philadelphia to retreat and claimed victory over the Turks of Anatolia yet again. The light and fensory of the Cattleins could not be bested by the cavalry-composed armies of the numerous Turkic Baylicks. After becoming experts over the armies of Moors in the Reconquista, the Alma Vukars represented the tactics of the Western Crusades successfully overcoming tactics in what was the tail end of the Eastern Crusade. The arid fields of Catalonia were not so different from that of Anatolia. For a little over two years, Rosar de Flor was the undisputed master of Eastern Anatolia. He arrested and executed many of the remaining Byzantine governors and nobles who had made deals with the invaders. He was starting to become his own governor in Anatolia and surely could have become his own king. As was his way, the rogue mercenary knew his importance and used it against his employer. Having free reign in the East meant that he could take all of its spoils, which was supposed to go to Constantinople. While this enriched himself, the Byzantines took this as payment and refused to monetarily support the Cattlein Company. With the Cattleins only rising in power, the Byzantine emperor thought it high time for Rosar de Flor to pay. The mercenaries were invited back across the sea to the edge of Europe, while Rosar was given the illustrious title of Caesar. But this was only a ploy as he and his officers were invited to the city of Adrianople to discuss new terms for their contract. Here the overconfidence of Rosar finally caught up to him. Without his mercenary ban he thought so indispensable to the Byzantines, Rosar was assassinated. A red wedding style, ambushed during a feast. With Rosar dead, the rest of the Cattlein Company went on a rampage across the Byzantine West, conquering Athens and creating their own duchy. Here they would remain for some time in defiance of the empire who had betrayed their leader. Rosar de Flor was, for all intents and purposes, a man of exceptional skill and equal amounts of greed. Like any good mercenary captain, he wanted the most wealth for himself and his soldiers. Although he was excommunicated and disbanded from the Knights Templar, he showed the true face of that late order of warrior monks. He did not hide his greed unlike most of them. Not only was he first and foremost a great admiral, but he defeated the Turks of Anatolia on the battlefield when no one else could. Although his hijinks caught up with him in the end, for a moment in time he was the most feared pirate and mercenary of his day and age. If you'd like to support this stoic historian, feel free to do so on Patreon for as little as a dollar a month. And join Derek Clark, Savaclione Azarean, Taj Guilford, Nickmate Voicien, Lazarus Dykos, Dave J, and Dalinar. Or become a YouTube channel member like Derek Clark again, Donald Vincent, what, why? Nickmate Voicien again, and G-O-D. Thank you guys for supporting the channel, I really appreciate it. Thank you. [BLANK_AUDIO]