Portal:Italian Wars

Selected event

The Siege of Florence took place from October 24, 1529 to August 10, 1530, at the end of the War of the League of Cognac. A large Imperial and Spanish army under Philibert of Châlon, Prince of Orange surrounded the city, and, after a siege of nearly ten months, captured it, overthrowing the Republic of Florence and installing Alessandro de' Medici as the ruler of the city.

The Florentines had thrown off Medici rule and established a republic after the Sack of Rome in 1527; the Florentine Republic had continued to participate in the war on the side of the French. The French defeats at Naples in 1528 and Landriano in 1529, however, led to Francis I of France concluding the Treaty of Cambrai with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. When Pope Clement VII and the Republic of Venice also concluded treaties with the Emperor, Florence was left to fight alone. Charles, attempting to gain Clement's favor, ordered his armies to seize Florence and return the Medici to power.

The Republic resisted this incursion; but, left without allies and betrayed by many of the mercenaries in her employ, Florence was unable to keep fighting indefinitely. After the capture of Volterra by the Imperial forces and the death of Francesco Ferruccio at the Battle of Gavinana, further resistance became impractical, and the city surrendered in August 1530.

Selected quote

When we heard at Ceresole that M. d'Enghien wanted us, both the Swiss and we Gascons turned toward him—I never saw two battalions form up so quick—we got into rank again actually as we ran along, side by side. The enemy was going off at quick march, firing salvos of arquebuses, and keeping off our horse, when we saw them. And when they descried us only 400 paces away, and our cavalry making ready to charge, they threw down their pikes and surrendered to the horsemen. You might see fifteen or twenty of them round a man-at-arms, pressing about him and asking for quarter, for fear of us of the infantry, who were wanting to cut all their throats.

Selected picture

The Death of Gaston de Foix in the Battle of Ravenna on 11 April 1512. Oil on canvas by Ary Scheffer, c. 1824.

Selected biography

Gaston de Foix, Duc de Nemours (1489–1512) was a French military commander noted mostly for his brilliant six-month campaign from 1511 to 1512 during the War of the League of Cambrai. He was a nephew of Louis XII of France. In 1511, Gaston arrived in Italy as a new commander. Having marched his army to Bologna and scattered the armies of the Holy League, he then went north and defeated the Venetians at Brescia. He then force marched his troops south, intending to besiege Ravenna and force the Spanish into battle. The Battle of Ravenna was fought on April 11, 1512; the Spanish withdrew after suffering tremendous casualties. During the pursuit, Gaston led a cavalry charge against a recalcitrant Spanish infantry unit, and was killed.

Major topics

Events		People
Italian War of 1494–98 Battle of Seminara Battle of Fornovo Italian War of 1499–1504 Battle of Ruvo Battle of Cerignola Battle of Garigliano War of the League of Cambrai Battle of Agnadello Siege of Padua Battle of Ravenna Battle of Novara Battle of Flodden Field Battle of Marignano War of Urbino Italian War of 1521–26 Battle of Bicocca Battle of the Sesia Italian campaign of 1524–25 Battle of Pavia	War of the League of Cognac Sack of Rome Siege of Florence Battle of Gavinana Italian War of 1536–38 Italian War of 1542–46 Siege of Nice Battle of Ceresole Siege of St. Dizier First Siege of Boulogne Second Siege of Boulogne Battle of the Solent Battle of Bonchurch Italian War of 1551–59 Battle of Marciano Battle of Renty Battle of St. Quentin Battle of Gravelines	Religious leaders Pope Julius II Pope Leo X Pope Clement VII Thomas Cardinal Wolsey Martin Luther National leaders Henry VIII of England Andrea Gritti Ludovico Sforza Maximilian Sforza Francesco II Sforza Charles VIII of France Louis XII of France Francis I of France Henry II of France Ferdinand I of Spain Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Philip II of Spain	Military leaders Niccolò di Pitigliano Bartolomeo d'Alviano Prospero Colonna Giovanni dalle Bande Nere Francesco Ferruccio Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard Gian Giacomo Trivulzio Gaston de Foix Charles III, Duke of Bourbon Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet Anne de Montmorency Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec Piero Strozzi Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba Fernando de Avalos Georg von Frundsberg Others Francesco Guicciardini Michelangelo Leonardo da Vinci
Armed forces		Other topics
Types of units Gendarmes Pike and shot	Mercenary groups Black Bands Condottieri Landsknechts Swiss mercenaries	Franco-Ottoman alliance Arquebus	Trace italienne

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From the Italian Wars working group, a part of the Early Modern warfare task force of the Military history WikiProject:

Requested articles 

Sack of Düren • Siege of Metz (1552) • Siege of Mondovi • Battle of Landriano • François de Bourbon, Comte de St. Pol • Siege of Mirandola (1510) • Siege of Mirandola (1551)

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Italian War of 1535-1538 • Louis II de la Trémoille • Antonio de Leyva • Robert de la Marck • Fabrizio Colonna • Siege of Nice • Battle of Serravalle • Siege of Genoa • Sack of Brescia • Siege of St. Dizier (1544)