The Art of Raiding: The Catalan-Aragonese Raid of the Aegean in 1292

Abstract

Raiding in the Middle Ages is often portrayed as an ad hoc adventure with little or no planning and assumed to involve brute force applied relatively indiscriminately. The reality is that successful raids involved detailed planning, diplomacy, and timing. Moreover, items targeted by the raiders often were not what one would expect. A raid of the Aegean Sea by the Catalan Aragonese fleet during the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302) is a perfect example of this. Through planning and execution, Roger de Lauria not only solidified the fleet’s position as one of the most potent naval forces in the Mediterranean, but also managed to generate enough income from the raid to pay for the fleet’s operations for over a year.KeywordsSicilian VespersRaidingTradeStrategyDiplomacy