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Series

Catalan Chronicles

The Catalan Chronicles follow Luca Baldi, a Sicilian shepherd forced into the company of the Almogavars at the beginning of the fourteenth century. The four novels carry him from Constantinople and the Byzantine campaigns in Anatolia through the murder of Roger de Flor, the Catalan Vengeance in Thrace and Macedonia, and the company's eventual conquest of the Duchy of Athens.

The series is rooted in the extraordinary history of the Catalan Company, an army of unemployed veterans who entered Byzantine service and then became a power in their own right. Luca's rise gives the story a personal centre while the surrounding history explores mercenary loyalty, fractured imperial authority and the thin line between hired soldiers, rebels and conquerors.

Reading order

Books in this series (4 books)

The Black Sheep cover

1. The Black Sheep

Peter Darman

First published 2019

4.4(1,218)

Set in Constantinople and western Anatolia from 1302, as the Catalan Company enters Byzantine service, constantinople 1302. Luca Baldi, a young shepherd, is catapulted into the violent world of mercenary warfare when he is forced to flee his native Sicily. He falls in with the Almogavars…

The White Dragon cover

2. The White Dragon

Peter Darman

First published 2020

4.4(1,086)

Set in Thrace and Gallipoli around 1305, after the rupture between Byzantium and the Catalan Company, 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…

The Golden Lion cover

3. The Golden Lion

Peter Darman

First published 2020

4.4(800)

Byzantine Thrace and Macedonia, after 1305. Luca Baldi and the Catalan Company have survived attempts to destroy them and now possess enough military power to dominate communities that once regarded them as hired soldiers. Victory, however, leaves them without a secure political settlement. Luca’s enemies exploit…

The Silver Stallion cover

4. The Silver Stallion

Peter Darman

First published 2021

4.6(858)

Greece, 1310–1311. Luca Baldi and the Catalan Company have made enemies across the eastern Mediterranean. Once useful as mercenaries, they have become an armed community that rulers fear but cannot easily destroy, and their latest service under Walter of Brienne, Duke of Athens, ends in another…