List of battles of the Italian Wars

War of the League of Cambrai

Brescia

The Sack of Brescia took place on February 18, 1512 during the War of the League of Cambrai. The city of Brescia had revolted against French control, garrisoning itself with Venetian troops. Gaston de Foix, recently arrived to command the French armies in Italy, ordered the city to surrender; when it refused, he attacked it with around 12,000 men. The French attack took place in a pouring rain, through a field of mud; Foix ordered his men to remove their shoes for better traction. The defenders inflicted heavy casualties on the French, but were eventually overrun, suffering 8,000 – 15,000 casualties. The Gascon infantry and landsknechts then proceeded to thoroughly sack the city, massacring thousands of civilians over the next five days. Following this, the city of Bergamo paid some 60,000 ducats to the French to avoid a similar fate.

Flodden Field

The kingdoms of France and Scotland had traditionally enjoyed a close diplomatic relationship, reflected in a defensive treaty signed between the two kingdoms in 1512. When Henry crossed the English Channel to campaign in France, the King of France activated the treaty, sending arms, money and military advisers to James IV of Scotland to encourage him to fulfil his obligations, in the hope that this would draw English resources away from the invasion of France. James crossed the border with a force of some 35,000 men, including 5,000 French advisers. He was opposed by an English force under the Earl of Surrey. The two sides met on September 9, 1513, near the village of Flodden. The Scottish army was heavily defeated, losing some 9,000 men and many nobles, including King James, the King's illegitimate son, and twelve earls.

La Motta

The Battle of La Motta, also known as the Battle of Schio, Battle of Vicenza or Battle of Creazzo, which took place on October 7, 1513 between the Republic of Venice and a combined Spanish and Imperial army, was a significant battle of the War of the League of Cambrai. A Venetian army under Bartolomeo d'Alviano attempted to prevent the Spanish and Imperials under Ramón de Cardona from withdrawing from the Veneto, but was defeated and scattered.

Italian War of 1521–26

Pampeluna

The Battle of Pampeluna (also spelled Pamplona) occurred on May 20, 1521, between French-backed Navarrese and Spanish troops, during the Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre and in the context of the Italian War of 1521–26. Most Navarrese towns rose at once against the Spanish, who had invaded Navarre in 1512. The Spanish resisted the siege sheltered inside the city castle, but they eventually surrendered and the Navarrese took control of the town and the castle of Pamplona.

It was at this battle that Inigo Lopez de Loyola, better known as St. Ignatius of Loyola, suffered severe injuries, a Navarrese cannonball shattering his leg. It is said that after the battle the Navarrese so admired his bravery that they carried him all the way back to his home in Loyola. His meditations during his long recovery set him on the road of a conversion of life from soldier to priest. He would eventually found the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), and create the Spiritual Exercises, which is the basis for the idea of "retreats" as an experience of prayer as practiced in the Roman Catholic Church.

Noain-Esquiroz

The Battle of Noain-Esquiroz was fought near Pamplona on June 30, 1521, during the Italian War of 1521–26. A makeshift Spanish army consisting mostly of Castilian troops defeated the Navarrese and French forces sent by Henry d'Albret and commanded by Lesparre, driving them out of Iberian Navarre.

Mézières

The Siege of Mézières (1521) took place during the Italian War of 1521–26. An Imperial army besieged the city (now part of Charleville-Mézières), which was defended by French troops under the command of the Chevalier de Bayard and Anne de Montmorency; the siege was unsuccessful, and the determined French resistance gave Francis I time to concentrate his forces against Charles V.

Tournai

The Siege of Tournai (1521) took place during the Italian War of 1521–26. An Imperial army besieged the city of Tournai, capturing it from the French in late November; it would remain a Habsburg possession until the French conquest of the Austrian Netherlands in 1795.

Genoa

The Siege of Genoa (May 20, 1522 – May 30, 1522) was conducted by an army of the Holy Roman Empire under the command of Spanish General Fernando d'Avalos and Italian condottiero Prospero Colonna against the French forces defending the Italian city. Since Genoa had refused to surrender, the Imperial troops were permitted to loot the city once it had fallen.

Sesia

The Battle of the Sesia (April 30, 1524) was a battle in the Italian War of 1521–26 fought near the Sesia River that saw the Spanish-Imperial forces under Charles de Lannoy inflict a decisive defeat on the French under Admiral Bonnivet and the Francis de Bourbon, Comte de St. Pol, forcing the latter to withdraw from Lombardy.

Marseille

The Siege of Marseille (August–September 1524) was conducted by an Imperial army under Charles de Bourbon (who had recently betrayed Francis I) and Fernando de Avalos against the French defenders of Marseille. Although Avalos heavily looted the surrounding countryside, he was unsuccessful in seizing the city; and, faced with the arrival of French reinforcements, called off the siege in September.

Italian War of 1542–46

Nice

The Siege of Nice took place in August 1543, during the Italian War of 1542–46, when a combined Franco-Ottoman force attacked and captured the Imperial city of Nice.

St. Dizier

The Siege of St. Dizier took place in the summer of 1544, during the Italian War of 1542–46, when the Imperial army of Charles V attacked the French city of St. Dizier at the beginning of its advance into Champagne. The siege was already underway when Charles V himself arrived with an army of 14,100 (including 1600 sappers) on July 13. The next day an imperial commander, René of Châlon, Prince of Orange, was struck by a shot from the defenders, and died the next day with the Emperor by his bed (his title and lands going to his famous cousin, William the Silent). On July 23 French outposts near the besieged town were overrun, but a French army under the command of the Dauphin Henry maintained an observing position at Jalons. On August 17 the town surrendered. Charles elected not to attack the Dauphin's army and instead pressed on to Soissons.

References

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