The Italian Wars Volume 1 [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

The period 1453 to 1618 connects the High Medieval Period to the Early Modem Era. Commonly known as the Renaissance, it saw technological advances and significant social and cultural change. Catholic dominance was challenged by the rise of the new Protestant religions, and Western Europe was itself challenged by the rise of the Ottoman Empire. The New World was discovered and greater links with the East were created. This period saw the fall of Constantinople to the Turks and the last major battle of the Hundred Years War, both in 1453. The use of gunpowder and artillery played an ever-increasing role in war, and this was coupled with the rise of the professional soldier. The condotierri, landsknecht and janissary were all to march across the battlefields of Europe and beyond. Army organisation also changed. The mid to late 15th century still saw armies based around the 'lancefournie' or 'retinue' of the High Medieval Era, formations based around a lord and his immediate men-at-arms and other supporters. By the mid 16th century Italian officers were fielding their troops in formations known as 'battagliones', and by the end of the century the French term 'regiment' was in common usage. 'From Retinue to Regiment 1453-1618' examines this period in a broad sweep. It examines the wars and battles through narrative, as well as looking at the equipment, clothing and logistics involved.

About the author Massimo Predonzani was born in Piran. Slovenia in 1959 and currently lives in Trieste. Italy. He is an illustrator and researcher. He specializes in military heraldry during the Italian and European Renaissance. He is the author of Anghiari 29 giugno 1440 (2010). and Ceresole 14 aprile 1544 (2012). Since 2006 he has been providing the magazine Soldatini with texts and illustrations. He also has a website where he shares his research and his painted illustrations (www.stemmieimprese.it.). Vmcenzo Alberici was born in 1977 in Italy. near Cremona. Since a young age he has shown great interest in military history. He applied his historical knowledge to the building of miniature models, and also by teaching classes for industry.

Submis ion The publishers would be pleased to receive submissions for this series. Please contact series editor Charles Singleton via email ([email protected]). or in writing to Helion & Company Limited. Unit 8. Amherst Business Centre. Budbrooke Road. Warwick. Warwickshire. CV34 5WE.

The Italian Wars Volume 1: The Expedition of Charles VIII into Italy and the Battle of Fornovo

Massimo Predonzani, Vincenzo Alberici Translated by Rachele Tiso

Helion & Company

We would like to thank: Rachele Tiso, Roberta Alberici, Esterina Borgese and Nicoletta Rusconi

Helion & Company Limited Unit 8 Amherst Business Centre Budbrooke Road Warwick CV345WE England Tel. 01926499 619 Email: [email protected] Website: www .helion.co.uk Twitter: @helionbooks Published by Helion & Company 2019 Designed and typeset by Mach 3 Solutions Ltd (www.mach3solutions.co.uk) Cover designed by Paul Hewitt, Battlefield Design (www.battlefield-design.co.uk) Text © Massimo Predonzani and Vincenzo Alberici. Translator Rachele Tiso Black and white illustrations © as individually credited Colour artwork drawn by Massimo Predonzani © Helion & Company 2019 Maps drawn by Les Prince © Helion & Company 2019 Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The author and publisher apologize for any errors or omissions in this work and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book. ISBN 978-1-912866-52-6 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written consent of Helion & Company Limited. For details of other military history titles published by Helion & Company Limited contact the above address or visit our website: http)/www.helion.co.uk. We always welcome receiving book proposals from prospective authors.

Contents

List of Illustrations & Maps Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6

The Main Personalities The Opposing Armies Charles VIII's Expedition to the Kingdom of Naples The Battle of Fornovo The Siege of Novara and the Battle of Seminara Military Heraldry in the Fifteenth Century

Colour Plates Commentary Appendix Bibliography

iv vii 17 22 39 52 76 79 116 118 126

iii

List of Illustrations & Maps

1

Map of Italy on the eve of the French invasion.

2

A fifteenth-century portrait of Charles VIII. (Conde Museum, Chantilly)

x

3

A detail of the "Madonna della Vittoria" by Andrea Mantegna depicting Francesco Gonzaga. (Louvre Museum, Paris)

xii

4 5 6

Portrait of Louis 11 de la Tremoille. (Conde Museum, Chantilly) Medal of Gian Giacomo Trivulzio. Reproduction of the drawing made by the author. (Palais Dorotheum, Vienna)

xiii 18 18

7

Venetian infantrymen; detail of the "Legend of Saint Ursula" by Vittore Carpaccio, painted between 1490 and 1495. (Gallerie delli\ccademia, Venice)

23

8

Italian infantrymen armed with round shields and partisans; detail of "The Battle of Fornovo", preserved in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

25

9

Crossbowman; detail of the "Martirio di San Sebastian", Emilian school, c. 1490-95. Reproduction of the drawing made by the author.

26

10

Italian armour of a man-at-arms, dated 1480. Diocesan Museum "Francesco Gonzaga': Mantua. (Author's photo) Italian armour of a man-at-arms, dated 1480, seen from behind. Diocesan Museum "Francesco Gonzaga� Mantua. (Author's photo)

11

29 29

12

Italian armour of a man at arms, dated 1470-1490. Diocesan Museum "Francesco Gonzaga': Mantua. (Author's photo)

29

13

Italian knights, detail from "The Battle of Fornovo':

30

14

French knights during the tournament of Sandricourt in 1493. Reproduction of the drawing made by the author. (Cabinet des Dessins, Louvre Museum, Paris)

33

15

French knight unhorsing a Stratioti; detail from "The Battle of Fornovo':

34

Light-armoured French knight killing a Stratioti; detail from "The Battle of Fornovo':

34

French infantryman with partisan sporting the white cross on his back; the harnesses of the donkey nearby are decorated with fleursde-iys. Detail from "The Battle of Fornovo':

35

16 17

iv

Portrait of Ludovico the Moor depicted in the "Pala Sforzesca" (1494-1495), preserved in the Brera Art Gallery, Milan.

viii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS & MAPS 18

19 20 21

22 23 24

25

26

27

28

29

Coat of anns and device of Charles VllI, as represented in "Le Livre des faiz Monseigneur Saint Loys" (c. 1492), preserved in the National Library of France. (Reproduction of the drawing made by the author) Map of the French advance and retreat. Charles VIII's entrance in Florence, painted by Francesco Granacci. (Uffizi Gallery, Florence)

39 40 45

Charles VIII's entrance in Naples; before the King there is a captain of the guard and a Swiss. From the Cronaca di Partenope (Chronicle of Naples), The Morgan Library & Museum, New York. (Reproduction of the drawing made by the author)

48

"Francesco Gonzaga 11 alla battaglia del Taro" by Jacopo Tintoretto, 1578-1579, preserved in the Alte Pinakothek of Munich, Germany. Map of the Battle of Fornovo.

53 54

The bed of the River Taro in the direction of Medesano; picture taken from the bridge connecting Fornovo to Ramiola (part of Medesano), a recently-built little-inhabited centre. The present highway 357 connects the villages of the left bank, and presumably retraces the path followed by Charles in the morning of 6 July 1495. In the city of Medesano, at the corner of Via Roma and Via Grossardi, a thick boulder with the function of bollard is positioned. It was found in 1880 in the surrounding countryside, and legend has it that it was the boulder on which Charles rested and pondered the night after the battle. The bed of the River Taro to the south-west, the direction from which the French army marched. It is possible to see the remains of an ancient bridge connecting the inhabited centres in Fomovo with the opposite bank. It was probably used by Charles' troops to cross to the left bank of the river. The present road bridge, crossed by the highway 357, was built next to the ancient one. A view of the area called "the plain of Giarola� stretching between Pontescodogna and Ozzano Taro. Its name almost certainly comes from the dialectal term referring to gravel, commonly found in alluvial plains. The League military camp was settled there; Charles could see it from the hills near Fornovo. Corte di Giarola. A small agricultural centre, presumably the headquarters of the League army. A few letters written by Gonzaga trace back to this place. Nowadays, the building houses the Museum of Tomato and an excellent restaurant. Some parts of the original walls are still visible. Even though the building structure has been reworked several times throughout the years, the original structure probably has remained unchanged since the time of the battle. The River Taro, seen from the Corte di Giarola, looking at the left bank. The small hills visible in the distance are probably those crossed by the light cavalry and the Stratioti of Duodo to outflank the French vanguard. The left riverbank, between Pianezza and Felegara. It is possible to see the steep banks that the League troops had to climb to engage battle with the French. The picture, taken in early June, ill ustrates well how thick the vegetation could have been when the two armies clashed.

57

59

62

63

64

65

v

THE ITALIAN WARS VOLUME 30

The River Taro in front of Felegara. Probably it was in this place that the squadrons of Gonzaga forded the river. In this point the riverbed is wide, meaning that, in spite of the storms that broke in the days preceding the battle, the water was probably not that high. However, this did not prevent the death of some of the soldiers during the fording, also due to the sandy riverbed.

67

31

Drawing of the Battle of Fornovo. 1) Italian men -at-arms who, initially, defeated the French knights; 2) Italian servants and pages for backup; 3) Pages and members of the French Lance massacring Italian knights; 4) The Swiss infantry square chasing the Milanese; 5) Venetian Stratioti.

69

32

Charles VIII sporting the Jerusalem cross emblem; miniature from the book Louanges de Charles VIII preserved in the National Library of France. (Author's reproduction of the drawing)

83

33

The French entrance in Naples: soldiers of Charles VIII's guard and heralds. From the Cronaca di Partenope (Chronicle of Naples), The Morgan Library & Museum, New York. (Reproduction of the drawing made by the author) Milanese rotella captured by the Swiss in the Battle of Giornico (1478). In the centre of the shield, Trivulzio's impresa of the Jesus is depicted on an escutcheon. Reproduction of the drawing made by the author. (History Museum, Lucerne) Coat of arms of the House of Gonzaga. Detail of the miniature "Triumph of Love� dated 1465. A man of the House of Gonzaga wearing the colours of the white, red and green device on his garments and stockings, and sporting the sun impresa. Reproduction of the drawing made by the author. (British Library)

34

35 36

37

38

39 40 41 42

vi

1

86

89 94

99

Knights of Rodolfo Gonzaga sporting the sun impresa. Detail of the fresco depicting the Battle of Poggio Imperiale, Palazzo Pubblico (Siena). Reproduction of the drawing made by the author.

100

Knight of Colleoni -Martinengo; detail from the frescoes in the Malpaga Castle, Bergamo. Reproduction of the drawing made by the author.

109

Engraving of "The Battle of Fornovo" preserved in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

112

Depiction of the Swiss infantry square; detail of "The Battle of Fornovo': Stratioti assaulting the baggage of the French; detail of "The Battle of Fornovo': The clash between the French cavalry, at the bottom, and the Italian cavalry, at the top; in the centre, Charles VIII is depicted with his sword while facing Gonzaga, who is armed with a lance.

113 114

114

Introduction

Poiche di Carlo il ritorno intendesti,

[ ... ]

when you learned of Charles'

Desiderosi Juggir tanta piena,

return, in your desire to avoid so

La cittd darme e gente provvedesti.

great a throng, you furnished the city

E pero giunto con sue genti a Siena,

And so, when with his host he

with arms and men. Sendo cacciato da piu caso urgente,

reached Siena, being pushed on by a

Nando per quella via che a Pisa il

matter more urgent, he went off by

mena;

the road which took him to Pisa,

Dove gid Gonzaga il Juror sente,

where at once he heard of Gonzagas

E come ad incontrarlo sopra al Taro

ardour, and that to oppose him on the Taro he had brought the forces of

Avea condotto la Marchesca gente.

Saint Mark. Ma quei robusti e Juriosi urtaro

But those strong and ardent men

Con tal virtu I'Italico drappello,

with such vigour charged the Italic

Che sopra 'I ventre suo oltrepassaro.

squadron that over its belly they marched onward.

Di sangue il flume pareva a vedello,

A stream of blood the river seemed

Ripien d'uomini e darme e di cavagli

to beholders, full of men and arms

Caduti sotto al gallico coltello.

and horses fallen under the Gallic sword.

Cos; gl'Italian lasciorno andagli;

So the Italians let them go, and

E loT, sanza temer gente avversara,

without fearing hostile soldiers, the

Giunson in Ansti e sanzaltri travagli.

French reached Asti without further afflictions. I

With such words Machiavelli's described the first and most controversial Italian War in his Decennale. For the first time a foreign state intervened in the conflicts between the most influential men in the peninsula. Afterwards, several battles followed and led to an utter political-military upheaval of the Italian States, especially in the North Central area. Such disruption was mainly caused by France and the Holy Roman Empire. In the

Niccolo Machiavelli.

First Decennale

(1509), in

Machiavelli: The Chief Works and Others,

translated by Allan Gilbert (Durham, Ne: Duke university Press, 1989).

vii

INTRODUCTION aftermath of the Italian Wars, borders were redrawn and remained almost unchanged until the threshold of the nineteenth century, when Napoleon newly created havoc in the peninsula. At that time Italian pride was newly awake, after being asleep since July 1495, when the invader took part for the first time in a battle against an "Italian army': Italian and French chroniclers, historians and writers have left us reports and studies on the "feat of arms on the Taro". Although no winner had officially been declared and recognised until today, both armies were sure about their full victory.2 They had and showed no doubts about that.

Italy and Europe at the end of the Fifteenth Century At the end of the fifteenth century, several European countries were building their national identity. England was the first country that reached a solid territorial and political stability; this happened under the reign of Henry VII of the House of Tudor, who had been crowned in 1485 after a disruptive civil war between the Houses of Lancaster and York. As for Spain, following the marriage between Isabella of Aragon and Ferdinand of Castile in 1469 and the conquest of the enclave of Granada, a unitary reign was formed; still, it was formalised only in 1504, after the death of Isabella. Until such date, Aragon and Castile were governed as two independent countries. The Holy Roman Empire was only formally governed by Maximilian of Habsburg (1459-1519). His decisions were heavily influenced by Prince­ electors, who autonomously reigned over their territories. Maximilian succeeded to his father Frederick Ill, and was appointed King of Italy in

1486; he was then crowned Emperor in 1493 after his father died. Before taking control of the Empire he managed to extend his dominion over part of Flanders (1489), on Southern Tyrol and Inner Austria (1490). He inherited thse lands from his cousin Sigismund of Austria, the last Habsburg member in Tyrol. He then reconquered Vienna, which had been occupied by Matyas Hunyadi (Matthias Corvinus) King of Hungary, who had previously defeated his father, and in 1491 he could claim the right to Bohemia and Hungary if the monarch Wladyslaw Jagiellonczyk died without heirs. In 1493, following the treaty of Senlis, he took over Artois and the Frank County by having married in 1477 Mary of Burgundy, the daughter and heir of Charles the Bold. He immediately lost such dominions because of a conflict with Louis XI. Subsequent to the death of his first wife, he married Bianca Maria Sforza in 1494. She was the daughter of Gian Galeazzo Sforza and niece of Ludovico the Moor. Maximilian then created the premises for successive alliances and interventions in Italian territory. When he became emperor, he reunited the territories under his dominion to those inherited from his father.

2

A1essandro Benedetti. Illatlo d 'arme del Tarro fra i principi italiani, et Carlo otlavo re di Francia, insieme con I 'assedio di Novara (Venice, 1 54 1 ).

ix

THE ITALIAN WARS VOLUME 1 In France, in 1483, Charles VIII of Valois, son of Louis XI " The Prudent" came to the throne of a country which was not united at all; even during the reign of Charles V II, powerful French dukes were the true opponents of the crown. They tried to return to the particular situation of privilege they had before the liberation of French lands from the English, which followed the end of the Hundred Years War. Until 1475, royal dominions only reached the southern regions, in particular Poitou, Turenne, Berry, Normandy and Champagne. In 1477 some regions in Burgundy went to Louis XI, they therefore were no longer under the control of Maximilian of Habsburg and Mary of Burgundy (Artois and Franche-Comte were later given to Maximilian, while some parts of Burgundy remained under the crown of France). The dominions of Rene of Anjou, second-born son of the king of Naples Louis

11

of Anjou - who returned to France after losing his Neapolitan

territories (1442) - had been progressively acquired by Louis XI after the relationship between Anjou and the crown worsened: at first the lands of Anjou and Bar (1474), then the Provence and Maine (1481). After Louis XI died, Charles VIII took over the throne and continued the annexations. In 1491, knowing Brittany to be a target of the expansionistic ambitions of Maximilian of Habsburg - and after his proxy marriage with Anne de Bretagne - Charles decided to invade and occupy the region and to take Anne as his wife; he therefore obtained such territories despite the efforts of Maximilian. After securing his dominion, the resourceful king was about to face new expeditions to Italy in the following years. Unlike the rest of Europe, in Italy there was no interest in a national unity; every local authority, independently from its importance, aspired to acquire political and territorial autonomy instead. In comparison to other 2 A 1 5th-century portrait of

Charles VIII (Conde Museum, Chantilly)

countries, Milan had great influence on commercial activities because of its strategic position (its location between powerful states over the Alps and the centre/south of Italy), as well as its wealth and economic development, given that the population was particularly inclined to pursue economic activities. The territory of Milan had been governed by the Visconti family for decades and went under the Sforza after a short republican interlude in the first half of the fifteenth century. Following the death of Francesco Sforza in 1466, and of his wife Bianca Maria Visconti in 1468, their firstborn son Galeazzo Maria came to power. His reign lasted only for a short time: on 26 December 1476, at the age of 37, he was brutally assassinated in the church of St Stephan in Milan by officials Carl Visconti, Girolamo Olgiati and Andrea Lampugnani. Giovanni (Gian) Galeazzo Maria, aged nine, succeeded to his ill-fated father Galeazzo in direct hereditary line; he therefore officially acquired the role of Duke of Milan on 24 April 1478. Given the young age of the new duke, it was the brother of Galeazzo Maria, Francesco's illegitimate son Ludovico the Moor, who actually governed the state of Milan. Ludovico re-

x

INTRODUCTION entered the

ducato

after his exile to France,3 and after making peace with

Gian Galeazzo's mother, Bona di Savoia, in 1479, he succeeded to deprive his nephew of his authority and to imprison and assassinate some of Gian Galeazzo's teachers, who remained faithful to his father. Among them was Cicco (Cecco) Simonetta.4 Florence was governed by Piero

11

de Medici, son of Lorenzo the

Magnificent and Clarice Orsini. Lorenzo, who died in 1492, had contributed to the state of balance between the powers of the peninsula. His son, who had a very different character, was not particularly appreciated by his people and after what happened with Charles VIII of France he was exiled at the end of the 1494. Afterwards a republic was formed which, however, maintained an accepting attitude towards the French monarch. Piero never entered Milan after that and died some years afterwards (1503) after a clash on the Garigliano river. The Republic of Venice had been for a long time an important military, economic and political player among the Italian powers. It contributed to keep an equilibrium (even though it was precarious) during the first part of the century. The progressive increase of territories in the mainland which went under the dominion of the Republic of Venice (Verona and Padua in

1404/1405, Patriarchate of Aquileia 1418/20, Brescia and Bergamo 1428, Crema and Polesine 1484, excluding the territories on the Slavic coast) was frowned upon by Italian governors (nobles and popes), as well as by Maximilian of Habsburg and other European rulers. Augustin Barbarigo had been Doge since 1486 and was supported by the Great Council of Venice. He maintained a versatile foreign policy: he who was an enemy one day could be a friend the day after. Ferdinand followed such a motto when he understood the threat from Charles, and sought the support of the senate, which initially claimed to be neutral. 5 Venetian expansionistic ambitions included the southern Adriatic coasts, which belonged to the Neapolitans. The Kingdom of Naples was under the control of Ferdinand I of Aragon, who before was Duke of Calabria and subsequently king of Naples as a result of the death of his father Alfonso V, called the Magnanimous. From 1435 (upon the death of Queen Giovanna

11)

the Kingdom of Naples endured

a long series of clashes between Rent� of Anjou, named legitimate heir to the throne by the Queen, and Alfonso V of Aragon. The siege of Naples of

1442 was won by the Aragonese. At that moment, they finally established themselves in the territory. While his father continued consolidating the kingdom, Ferdinand received an education on how to govern and how to be a good soldier. He was a good student, smart and intelligent. On 30 May 1445 he took Isabella Chiaromonte as his wife, after some agreements arranged by his father; Isabella was the granddaughter of a powerful prince

3

4

When Galeazzo Maria died, Ludovico tried to put his brother Sforza Maria on the throne instead of the legitimate heir Gian Galeazzo. After the intrigue had been discovered, he and his siblings Sforza Maria and Ascani were condemned to exile (according to the online version ofTreccani, the Italian cultural encyclopedia, < http://www.treccanLitlenciclopedial>). Lorenzo Manini. Memorie slor;che della cilia di Cremona vot. I (Cremona: Manini, 1 8 1 9). pp. 94-95. Benedetti, IIlallo d 'arme del Tarro, p. 6. ..

xi

THE ITALIAN WARS VOLUME 1 of Taranto, Giovanni Antonio Orsini Del Balzo. Ferdinand came to the throne when his father died in 1458; unlike the reign of the father Alfonso, Ferdinand's government was not particularly appreciated by the Neapolitan people, above all because of very high taxes.6 During his reign he also had to deal with interfering barons and the supporters of the Anjous searching for retaliation; however, he succeeded in creating a wealthy kingdom and developing businesses and the arts. The Neapolitan kingdom had a great influence on affairs in the peninsula. In Florence, as a result of the Pazzi conspiracy, the Aragonese army - ally of the State of the Church - defeated the Florentine army in the Battle of Poggio Imperiale (September 1479). As for Milan, which was under the Sforza dominion, ties with Francesco Sforza had always been strong. Francesco came to Naples when his father Alfonso told him to and became captain of the 3 A detail of the "Madonna della Vittoria" by Andrea

army; later he came with Ludovico, his son. At the end of his reign, Ferdinand naively committed one of his biggest

Mantegna depicting

mistakes: he underrated the crisis created by Ludovico the Moor and how

Francesco Gonzaga (Louvre

strong the army of Charles VIII actually was. Although he had adequately

Museum, Paris). He was the Condottiero, Condotttieri Captain and Venice's

prepared his army by raising finances (above all by receiving loans from the bankers of Aragon), and although he had raised a good number of soldiers,

leading military officer from

he thought the French combatants to be inferior to the Italians. He died on

1 489 to 1 498. He was the

25 January 1494 in Naples, when Charles had already invaded a great part

commander-in-chief of the army of the Italian league in the battle of Fornovo.

of the peninsula. Alfonso

11 succeeded

to the throne and had then to face

the French. The State of the Church (the Papal State) was led, since 1492, by Rodrigo de Pomposity y Borja, who was called Pope Alexander VI, and was successor of Pope Innocenzo VIII and grandson of Pope Callisto Ill. He became pope thanks to the support of cardinals, first of all the powerful Ascanio Sforza, after he gave him huge sums of money and promised him future benefits.? As he was an expert Renaissance prince, Pope Alexander had a particularly ambiguous policy and was always ready to change his alliances. His good relations with Milan worsened his relationships with the Kingdom of Naples. But as Ludovico Sforza began having exaggerated expansionistic views, he thought of re-establishing relations with Ferdinand of Aragon. He also re­ established relations with France, which was a good but feared ally, as one victory in Italian territory could limit the papal autonomy.

6 7

xii

Bemardino Corio, L 'hisloria di Milano volgarmenle scrilla (Padua, 1646), p. 9 1 8. Francesco Guicciardini. Sloria d 'ltalia (Turin: Unione Tipografico - Editrice Torinese. 1874) vot. I, chapter 2.

INTRODUCTION

The Balance is Broken The new and fragile political stability of the peninsula was based on the balance among small and medium powers reigning in Italy, which followed the Peace of Lodi in 1454. Milan, Florence and the Kingdom of Naples formed an alliance. The pact was signed in 1467 and confirmed in 1480,8 and offset the powerful Republic of Venice. As Ludovico the Moor came to power, there were more and more tensions among these cities and the Aragonese state, which led to the end of an alliance (Milan and Florence) and improved the relationships between Florence and Naples. Both had already shown expansionistic ambitions towards Milan. Ludovico the Moor broke the balance once and for all. Around 1480, Milan and Naples joined their forces against a common enemy, the Republic of Venice, which aimed to expand its own dominions to the territories on the Adriatic Coast, which belonged to Ferdinand. In 1482, after Venice conquered the rich city of Ferrara, which was governed by the Estensi- allies of the Aragonese - the two states decided to engage in one decisive fight for its liberation. A series of victorious clashes solved the situation, but in the meantime something inside the court of Milan was changing. Ludovico the Moor came to the throne of Milan instead of his nephew

4 Portrait of Ludovico the Moor depicted in the "Pala

Gian Galeazzo. The relationships between Milan and Naples discreetly

Sforzesca" (1 494-1 495),

continued, also because Ludovico had a good relationship with Ferdinand

preserved in the Brera Art

of Aragon, motivated by previous vicissitudes

Gallery, Milan.

between the two. The crisis between the two states gradually grew when the legitimate Duke of Milan and nephew of Ludovico, Gian Galeazzo, married Isabella of Aragon, daughter of Alfonso of Aragon, Duke of Calabria (the future Alfonso

11), and Ippolita Maria Sforza, granddaughter of Ferdinand, the King of Naples. Gian Galeazzo had a good nature and did not easily come to arguments, while his spouse was quite the opposite. When they stayed in Milan - because Ludovico wanted it- there was a hidden hostility and a tendency to isolate the couple; both held a very important position yet were called upon only for formal events and decisions. Gian Galeazzo did not frown upon the situation, but the pride of his wife Isabella was hurt. The ambitions of the Moor did not stay hidden for too long. Although his nephew reached adult age and could claim his right to govern, he continued to reign as substitute. After the wedding

8

between

Ludovico

and

Lucia Brigato, Fornovo 1495: la vittoriosa sconfitta, Master's Thesis of the Ca'Foscari University in Venice, p. 7.

xiii

THE ITALIAN WARS VOLUME 1 Beatrice d' Este, daughter of Ercole I, in 1491, the situation worsened because of the not-so-friendly relationship between Beatrice and Isabella, fuelled by mutual jealousies. In 1493, unable to bear the constant surveillance and the uneasy situation they were in at the castle of Giovia Door, where they lived, the couple decided to move to Vigevano, but the situation did not improve. Isabella could no longer bear it and decided to write to her powerful uncle Ferdinand, asking for justice for herself and her husband. Ferdinand was smart, and above all he knew the character of the Moor, so he decided to send two diplomats, Ferrando and Antonio Genari,9 in order to use good words and much diplomacy to persuade the Moor to give back the kingdom to his nephew, the latter still having to follow his advice because of his young age. The outcome was not positive, and at the beginning of 1493 Isabella's uncle, Ferdinand of Aragon, decided to collect sufficient forces to threaten the usurper duke. In 1494, the situation regarding Gian Galeazzo finally collapsed. In July, he began to suffer from strong stomach aches. The symptoms continued and occasionally made their appearance until on 21 October 1494 the life of the legitimate Duke of Milan had its sad epilogue. But already before the death of Gian Galeazzo the balance of the peninsula had been irreparably broken. The Moor foresaw future disputes with the reign of Naples and decided to sign a pact of alliance with France in 1492. In 1493 he joined the League with the State of the ChurchlO and Venice, and following

continuous pressure from the king of Naples, in 1494 he

decided to seek help and asked Charles VIII for an intervention against the Aragonese by means of an embassy led by Carl from Barbiano, Count of Belgioiso. II To support his demand Ludovico promised 200,000 ducats to supply to the king with sufficient soldiers, 600 men

of arms 12 and 12 galleys.13

The demands were fully welcomed by the French monarch who had actually already planned to come to Italy.

Charles VIII and the Reasons that Led Him to the Expedition in Italy In 1494, Charles was young, 24 years old, but everyone already thought of him as a brave monarch and dreamer. He thought it was his duty to imitate the ancient Kings of France by attacking the heathens and beginning a new crusade in order to free the Holy Land, which had been occupied by the Muslims. The King of France was convinced that God chose him to fulfil such mission and claimed he had visions in his sleep which told him to act, and

9 10 11 12

Corio, L 'Historia di Milano volgarmente scrilla, p. 884. Guicciardini, vol. I, chapter 3 . Guicciardini. vol. I. chapter 3 . Benedetti, p . 5. I t i s important t o emphasise that Guicciardini i n his Storia d 'ltalia mentioned the same figure - 200,000 ducats - but 500 men instead. 1 3 Corio, L 'Historia di Milano volgarmente scrilla. p. 9 1 8.

xiv

INTRODUCTION foresaw a good outcome of such enterprise. 14 Moreover, the

Most Christian

Majesti5 also thought of the problems in Naples. The Anjou dynasty came to Naples for the first time in 1285 with Carl I. In the following two centuries, after various vicissitudes and numerous wars, control passed in the first half of the fifteenth century to the Aragonese, ruled by Alfonso I. The last member of the House of Anjou, Rene, did not have direct heirs and decided to leave all his belongings to the son of his brother, Charles V d' Anjou. When he died in 1472, his dominions returned to the crown of France, reigned by Louis XI. Among the territories left in inheritance there was also the Kingdom of Naples, which the Anjou lost after the city was besieged in 1442. When he acquired the right to reign from his father Louis XI, Charles VIII planned an expedition in order to retake control of the territories conquered by the Aragonese. Naples would have then become an important and strategic logistical headquarters for his expeditions to the Holy Land. Ludovico the Moor was not the only one who asked a French sovereign to intervene in ltaly. 16 Hercole I of Este, monarch of Ferrara, was very hostile towards Venice and his hostility grew with the war of Ferrara (1482-1484), which ended with a negative outcome for the Este family. He therefore asked the monarch for help in order to resist Venice. However, when Charles arrived in Italy Hercole, though claiming to be neutral, allowed the French army to pass through his territories. Another person who welcomed the expedition of Charles to Italy was the cardinal of

S. Piero in vincula (San Pietro in Vincoli) Giuliano della Rovere,

who escaped to France after the election of the Borgia Pope, his rival, who also was enemy of the Aragonese, 17 because he had to defend Rome against their invasion in 1486.

14 Marin Sanudo, La spedizione di Carlo VIII in Italia, R. Fulin (ed.) (Venice: Tip. del commercio di M. Visentini, 1883), p. 22. 15 Corio, L 'Historia di Milano volgarmente scrilta, p. 9 1 9. 1 6 Sanudo, La spedizione di Carlo VIII in Italia, p. 3 1. 17 Sanudo, La spedizione di Carlo VIII in Italia. p. 3 1.

xv

1

The Main Personalities The French Side King Charles VIII of France,

son of Louis XI and Charlotte of Savoy, was

born on 30 June 1470 in Amboise. He was sickly and had a weak constitution. In 1483, he became King at the early age of 13. Due to his young age his older sister, Anne de Beaujeu, was appointed regent and governed France until

1490. In December 1491, Charles married Anne, Duchess of Brittany, and his reign began. He immediately proved himself to be a very ambitious king and, endorsed by his confidants Etienne de Vesc and Bric;:onnet, he started to project an expedition into Italy to conquer the Kingdom of Naples. The pretext was the claim on the Neapolitan kingdom by the House of Anjou, a right that Louis XI had inherited with the succession of Rene of Anjou. However, the young French King had to cease hostilities with the King of England, Henry VII, first. In 1492, Henry had sieged the city of Boulogne; subsequently, the two kings signed the Peace of Etaples. Then, Charles VIII put an end to a war in the Flanders by surrendering Burgundy, Artois, and Charolais to Maximilian of Habsburg. Finally, with the Treaty of Barcelona on January 1493, he surrendered the counties of Cerdanya and Roussillon to Ferdinand

11 of Aragon.

Once that his powerful allies were appeased, Charles started his expedition into Italy in August 1494. His plan proceeded well until his entrance into Naples in February 1495. He was forced to retreat against the League created by the Italian states, fought in the Battle of Fornovo in 6 July 1494, and then fled to France. On 7 April 1498, he hit his head severely against a low door of the castle of Ambois and died.

Pierre de Rohan, Seigneur of Gie (1451-1513).

He was appointed marshal

of France under Louis XI, and fought in the Battle of Fornovo for Charles VIII. During the reign of Louis XII, he became part of the government of France together with Georges d�mboise, Cardinal of Rouen. However, he was loathed by Queen Anne of Brittany and, in

1506, he was accused of

treason and exiled.

17

THE ITALIAN WARS VOLUME 1

Louis 11 de la Tremoille (1460-1525). Louis was a French captain under Charles VIII. On 28 July 1488, at the Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier, he defeated the army of Fran�ois

11, Duke of

Brittany, and captured Duke Louis of

Orleans, the future king of France (Louis XII). In 1495 he fought in the Battle of Fornovo, and in 1500, together with Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, he conquered Milan in the name of Louis XII. He defeated the Venetians in the Battle of Agnadello (1509), and was defeated by the Swiss at Novara in 1513. He partook in the Battle of Marignano (1515), and died in the Battle of Pavia in 1525.

John of Foix, Viscount of Narbonne (1450-1500).

Son of

Gaston IV of Foix and Eleanor I of Navarre, he married Marie of Orleans, sister of the future King Louis XII. In

1494, he partook in Charles VIII's expedition into Italy and, in 1497, he became governor of Dauphine, a position that he kept until his death.

Bemard Stewart, Seigneur of Aubigny (1452-1508). 5 Portrait of Louis II de la Tremoille. (Conde Museum, Chantilly)

With Scottish roots, he was the son of John Stuart and Beatrice dJ\pcher. Captain of the Scottish archers, he followed Charles VIII on his expedition into Italy, where he was appointed governor of Calabria. He defeated Spanish and Aragonese troops in the Battle of Seminara in June

1495, and in 1496, at the Battle of Gaeta, he negotiated the terms of his own surrender. He returned to Italy under King Louis XII and partook in the French expedition into the Kingdom of Naples, and in 1501, the siege of Capua. In April 1503, he was defeated in the second Battle of Seminara,

r;���§E��s���

captured after one month, and imprisoned in Castel Nuovo.

Gian Giacomo Trivulzio (1441-1518). Son Trivulzio, he was an Italian condottiero who

of Antonio was part of

the French army in the Battle of Fornovo. He initially served the Sforzas of Milan and then the Aragonese of Naples. When Charles VIII led his expedition into Italy, he changed side to fight for the French and distinguished himself in the Battle of Fornovo. In 1499, he became marshal of France and then, under Louis XII, governor of Milan. In 1509, he defeated the Venetians in the Battle of Agnadello and, in September 1515, the Swiss in the Battle of Marignano. 6 Medal of Gian Giacomo Trivulzio. Reproduction of the drawing made by the author. (Palais Dorotheum, Vienna)

18

THE MAIN PERSONALITIES

The Italian Side Agostino Barbarigo (1419-1501). He was doge of Venice from 1486 to 1501. He was the son of Francesco Barbarigo and Cassandra Morosini, and was appointed podesta (historical Italian title meaning "chief magistrate" ) of Verona in 1478 and of Padua in 1482. He was elected doge in August 1486 and, in 1495, he organised an alliance against the French, who were chased away after the Battle of Fornovo. In 1489, under his government, Venice conquered definitively the island of Cyprus.

Ludovico "the Moor" Sforza (1452-1508).

He was the son of Francesco

Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti. After the death of his brother Galeazzo Maria, Duke of Milan (1476), his relationship with Bona of Savoy- Galeazzo's wife, who had become regent of the Dukedom in the name of her young son - turned antagonistic. He was exiled to Pisa, but managed to return to Milan in 1480, where he replaced his sister-in-law as governor of the Dukedom. In 1489, he formed an alliance with the King of Naples, whose daughter Isabella of Aragon married Gian Galezzo; however, he supported Charles VIII's expedition into Italy against the Aragonese. In 1499, he was attacked by the new French King Louis XII, forced to leave Milan and seek shelter in Innsbruck. One year later, he attempted to reconquer the Milanese dukedom with a Swiss army. However, he was captured in Novara and imprisoned in Lys-Saint-George and, subsequently, in Loches, where he died.

Ferdinand 11 of Aragon, King of Naples, also called Ferrandino (14691496). He was the son of Alfonso 11 and Ippolita Maria Sforza. In January 1495, he ascended to the throne after his father Alfonso abdicated; at the time, the Kingdom was practically at the mercy of Charles VIII of France, who entered Naples soon after. Ferrandino fled with his family to the island of Ischia, where he reorganised the Neapolitan army and sought the help of his cousin, Ferdinand

11 of

Aragon, King of Aragon, called "the Catholic': who

sent a small army led by the commander Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba. Ferrandino's army met with the Spanish troops in Calabria; however, they were defeated by the French in Seminara in June 1495. Nonetheless, in May, the King of France returned to France with the main body of his army and Ferrandino, thus, thanks to the loyalty of his people and Cordoba's skills, quickly regained control of his reign. The remaining French troops surrendered in Atella in July 1496 and the Aragonese's authority was finally re-established. Ferrandino died of illness in September 1496.

Francesco 11 Gonzaga (1466-1512). He was the son of Federico I Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, and Margaret of Bavaria. In 1484, when his father died, he became Lord of Mantua. In February 1490, he married Isabella d' Este, daughter of Ercole I, Duke of Ferrara. According to his family tradition, Francesco distinguished himself for his intense military activity. He was appointed captain of the Republic of Venice from 1489 to 1498, and led the League army in the Battle of Fornovo in 1495. Subsequently, he fought under the Dukedom of Milan, under the King of France Louis XII, and under

19

THE ITALIAN WARS VOLUME 1 the Empire. In 1502, he became part of the French military, was appointed Lieutenant General and partook in the Battle of Garigliano. In 1503, he offered his services to the League of Cambrai in its fight against Venice. In August 1508, he was captured near Verona and imprisoned in Venice. He was released one year later thanks to the diplomatic mediation of his wife Isabella. He died of syphilis in Mantua in 1512.

Bernardino Fortebracci (1441-1532).

He was the son of Count Carlo

di Montone and Anna Colonna. He started his military career early and was part of his father's force. In 1477, he unsuccessfully defended the Montone Castle from the assaults of the papal troops led by Federico of Montefeltro. In 1478, together with his father, he was hired by the Republic of Venice, to which he remained loyal all his life. In June 1479, when his father died, the Republic of Venice established Bernardino as heir of Carlo's military company. In 1482, he partook in the war between Venice and the Duke of Ferrara, and in 1487 in the war against Archduke Sigismund of Tyrol. In 1495, he distinguished himself in the Battle of Fornovo, where he was wounded severely. In September 1499, together with the Venetian troops, he occupied the city of Cremona during the war against the Duke of Milan. In 1509, in the war against the League of Cambrai, he partook in the conquer of the city of Treviglio. In 1513, he was appointed governor general of the Venetian troops in Treviso. He died in Padua on 21 May 1532.

Rodolfo Gonzaga (1352-1495). He was the son of Ludovico 11 Gonzaga and Barbara of Brandenburg. He was a condottiero and, in 1469, he offered his services to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy ; from 1471 to 1473 he fought under the papacy and, the following year, under Florence. In January 1481, he married Antonia Malatesta, who was murdered two years later by Rodolfo himself when she was discovered cheating on her husband with her dance instructor. In 1484, he remarried with Caterina Pico della Mirandola. In

1485, he was exiled to Luzzara when he was discovered plotting a conspiracy 11 Gonzaga. He was forgiven in 1491. He

against his nephew, Francesco

fought in the Battle of Fornovo, where he died.

Alessandro CoUeoni-Martinengo (?-1527).

He was the son of Gherardo

Martinengo and Ursina Colleoni. He started his military career under the Dukedom of Milan; then, in 1480, he switched to Venice, to which he remained faithful. He partook in the Battle of Fornovo and in the siege of Novara in 1495. In 1499, he fought under Venice against the Moor, Duke of Milan, and, in 1509, he distinguished himself in the Battle of Agnadello. He died in 1527, and was buried in Basella, near Martinengo.

Annibale 11 Bentivoglio (1469-1540). Son of Giovanni 11 Bentivoglio, he condottiero who fought mostly under Florence. He partook

was a valorous

in the Battle of Fornovo. In 1511, once the Bentivoglios were expelled from Bologna by Pope Julius 11 in 1505, he returned to the city with his family with the help of the French troops led by Gaston of Foix. However, when Gaston

20

THE MAIN PERSONALITIES of Foix died in the Battle of Ravenna in 1512, Annibale had to flee the city. He died in exile.

Antonio da Montefeltro (1450-1508). He was the trueborn son of Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino. He followed in his father's footsteps and became a combatant. In 1469, Antonio fought alongside his father against the pontifical troops led by Alessandro Sforza; then, in 1470, he partook in the Battle of Mulazzano, and two years later in the capture of Volterra. In

1477, he fought under the Republic of Siena and was defeated in the Battle of Chianciano by Carlo da Montone. In 1484, he fought for Florence against Genoa in the war of Sarzana. He led the reserve force in the Battle of Fornovo where, though urged by the Venetians to join the fight, he never fought to respect the orders he was previously given by Rodolfo Gonzaga. The latter had ordered him to not move without his order. This order, however, was never issued, for Rodolfo had died in battle. Antonio was accused of being partly responsible of the defeat, and subsequently fired. He died in Gubbio in 1508.

21

2

The Opposing Armies The Le ague Army The League army that faced the French in Fornovo was, by its nature, composite: it consisted majorly of light and heavy cavalry units. The Italian mercenary armies' structures and tactics, different from those of the other European states, remained unaltered throughout the fifteenth century. Sieging a city was the main form of battle, with the exception of some pitched battles such as Maclodio (1427), Sommo (1427), San Romano (1432), Anghiari (1440), Riccardina (1467) and Poggio Imperiale (1480). In Fornovo, two quite different ways of interpreting war clashed, and the Italian way, much more well-versed in politics and negotiation rather than in a direct confrontation, lost.

The Infantry In Italy, all wars during the fifteenth century were fought with the concept in mind that a force deployment had only one function: to serve as a deterrent in order to gain an advantage in the negotiations. Infantry, consisting of provisionati

-

meaning hired soldiers - had a long

military tradition due to the communal military service of the previous century. Thus, infantry combat formations developed fighting techniques with weapons which were more suited for actions against cavalry formations. The fighting style developed in the Italian peninsula did not include close order formations for the heavy infantry. At the time, battles were fought in a more scattered way and, in certain circumstances, became even mobile. Moreover, the soldiers were organised by their weapon specialty instead of by units. Infantrymen holding a palvese or

targoniere,

targone (great shield), who were called

were the backbone of infantry formations. The main function

of this great shield was mainly protection as the besieger drew closer to the enemies' walls; however, it was also used in the open field as a passive movable defence to protect the infantry lines at the back, which are described in the following paragraphs. These infantrymen are mentioned in a few

22

THE O PPOSING ARMIES

ordinances of the Republic of Venice, dated 1434, documents also cited in the volume

Anghiari 29 giugno 1440. I

In the

Hesperis

-

or

Hesperidis

-

by

7 Venetian infantrymen; detail of the "Legend of Saint Ursula" by Vittore Carpaccio,

Basinio of Parma, dating back to the first decade of the second half of the

painted between 1 490 and

fifteenth century, a precise graphic depiction can be found, which represents

1 495. (Galierie dell'Accademia,

these infantrymen both among the lines of the Aragonese army and among

Venice)

the hired soldiers of Sigismondo Malatesta. Lastly, a perfect depiction of the infantrymen can be found in the engraving of the "Battle of Fornovo", by an anonymous French artist, preserved in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Even though the aforementioned three sources cover a timeframe of more than one century, the defensive and offensive weaponry of the did not vary. The

provisionati

-

targoniere

professional militia who had good financial

resources - carried these great oval shields, made out of strips of wood covered with painted leather. These soldiers were helped by one or two famigli

(from

the Latin word famulus, referring to all the people who followed the

captain), who helped carrying the weapons and were divided into units led by constables. The passive defences consisted of a great shield, sized as to cover the soldier from under his knees to his neck;2 armour covering breast and back,

2

Massimo Predonzani, Anghiari 29 giugno 1440 (Rimini: 11 Cerchio, 2010), p. 98. Predonzani, p. 62.

23

THE ITALIAN WARS VOLUME 1 of various kinds depending on the financial possibilities of the infantryman; and a metal vambrace to protect the right forearm, a sallet, and greaves. The majority of the Italian infantry that clashed with the French army in Fornovo was part of the squadron led by Gianfranco of Sanseverino, Count of Caiazzo, and Pietro Duodo.3 This infantry consisted of Milanese and Venetians, other than a German mercenary contingent. Cuirasses and sallets were certainly manufactured in Milan and Brescia, thus being of Italian manufacture, or, as for the sallets, forged in Venice, thus being Venetian sallets with a "T" opening. The main offensive armament was a pole weapon. The Venetian ordinances report of the glavarina, namely a type of spear4 with a winged spearhead. The infantryman with the palvese (great shield) had also an infantry sword, which was carried by one of his famigli. The main role of the

targoniere was

to form a defensive element against the

enemies' throwing weapons and to be a strongpoint against cavalry charges. In fact, crossbowmen and soldiers with hand cannons found shelter behind the great shields. Shooting with hand cannons, called

schioppo

in Italian,

was a widespread specialty in Italy, especially in the territories of Milan, that would develop even further in the following century. Another peculiar specialty of the Italian armies was the fight with the

lanze longhe

(long lances), pikes borrowed by communal contingents;

soldiers wielding these pikes were deployed behind the infantrymen with great shields in order to hinder cavalry charges. The men in the first lines received triple pay and were equipped with armours and sallets; behind them there were infantrymen to back them up.

In the iconography depicting the "Battle of Fomovo" there is no visual proof of the presence of soldiers armed with pikes. However, they are cited by Paolo Giovio, who reported the fight between the Swiss contingent in the pay of France and a formation of the League troops. The League soldiers had "...lunghissime picche da terra sostentate col braccio sinistro, come si usava allora ..:: that is "... very long pikes for foot combat wielded with the left arm, as was the custom of the time': The defensive stance against cavalry charges, in fact, saw the end of the shaft well planted in the ground with the spearhead pointing upwards. Behind these soldiers, there were infantrymen equipped with partisans and

rotellas (round shields), and, behind them, crossbowmen were deployed, who had to hindrance the Swiss' advance. However, the League infantry armed with pikes was defeated, also thanks to the intervention of the Enfants perdus (Lost Children), skilled Swiss mercenaries armed with two-handed long swords, who fought in the melee against the soldiers with pikes. There is no document that reports the real cause of such a harsh defeat; however, the new Swiss tactic of the moving pikemen square presumably caught off guard the League infantrymen, more used to a static passive defence.

3 4

24

Lino Lionello Ghirardini, La battaglia di Fornovo - un dilemma della storia (Panna: Tipografia Benedettina editrice. 1 995). p. 43. In this respect. please see Mario Troso. Le armi in asta delle Janterie europee 1000-1500 (Novara: Istituto geografico de Agostini, 1 988), p. 1 06, spear no. 9, but also p. 1 08 "spear without wings", and the collection of ancient weapons preserved in the Bottacin Museum "spear without wings". ref. pie. 3 1 750.

THE O PPOSING ARMIES As

Giovio

infantrymen

punctually

with

the

reports,

behind

(great

shield)

there were infantrymen equipped with

rotellas

palvese

(round shields) and partisans or swords. These foot soldiers were called

rotellari

after the name of their shields. The

or rotularii rotella was a

round concave shield with a diameter of about

60 centimetres, easily manoeuvrable in hand-to­ hand combat. Some of shields are wonderfully decorated, and were probably used by infantry captains; a few examples are conserved in the Swiss museum of Lucerne. These

rotellas, captured by the

victorious Swiss in the Battle of Giornico (1478), are beautifully decorated and most of them display heraldic motifs.5 Thus, it is possible to say that here the infantry was used for defensive purposes as well as in the melee combat, which originated when the

two armies clashed frontally, once the preliminary attack stage with throwing weapons was over. Unlike the

targonieri, these soldiers wore sallets to protect

their heads but no breastplates, and used small bassinets. It is possible that wearing less armour helped with moving rapidly and with agility in a fight, while the shield was used as a mobile protection. In the Battle of Fornovo,

8 Italian infantrymen armed with round shields and partisans; detail from "The Battle of Fornovo", preserved in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.e.

these soldiers had to face Swiss' tactics they were not prepared for. Surely, the fact that to engage the enemy it was necessary to be in direct contact with the opponent was a downside that penalised the

rotellari in a determining way.

In fact, the tight Swiss military formation and the length of their pikes could strike their opponents, and anticipate and block their every move. This can justify, at least in part, the high number of fallen in the League army. Together with the

rotellari

there were also infantrymen armed with

polearms. In the fifteenth century, these weapons existed in huge variety, especially in Italy, and each of them was forged with a specific thought in mind and a different purpose. To list a general classification of pole arms, namely an iron point fixed on a round or square wooden staff of variable length, it is possible to divide them in families based on the type of blade, which was studied for specific usages. The most used polearms at the time of the Battle of Fornovo were the following:6 The family of pikes The family of spears The family of partisans The family of fauchards The family of rawcons The family of halberds The family of couses

6

To see a better image of the rotellas of Giornico, please see Gaston Cambin, Le roleLle milanesi, bOllino deLla ballaglia di Giornico 1478 (Fribourg: Societa Svizzera di Araldica, 1 987). Troso, p. 45.

25

THE ITALIAN WARS VOLUME 1 Thanks to careful examination of several paintings and iconographic references of the time, it is possible to see that, among infantrymen, the use of fauchards, rawcons and spears was greatly predominant. The peculiar design of these polearms, especially rawcons and fauchards, was suitable for several purposes; they consisted of a blade for striking with the point or the edge and protrusions on the sides to parry, which also functioned like hooks. These kinds of weapons were versatile, and infantrymen could use them to fight foot soldiers and light and heavy cavalry. Moreover, the infantrymen protected their chest, head and arms with metal armour. The soldiers deployed in the rear lines were infantrymen armed with throwing weapons and firearms, namelycrossbowmen with belt hook -spanned and windlass-spanned crossbows, and

schioppettieri

(gunners) armed with

hand cannons and harquebuses made of steel and bronze. In the Dukedom of Milan during the fifteenth century all types of firearms were widely used. Supplies and ammunitions were stored in different castles - property of the Dukedom- such as in Pavia and Vigevano, and were gathered and organised according to need. For example, on 25 January of 1488, the Duke of Milan 9 Crossbowman; detail of the "Martirio di San Sebastian", Emilian school,

c.

1 490-95.

Reproduction of the drawing made by the author.

wrote to Filippo da Crema, official of the ammunitions, to send

quattrocento dieci archebusf (410 harquebuses) from the castle of Sestri Ponente to Milan,

to arm the castles of Porta Zobia (Milan) and Bellinzona. This means that, in case of war, the Dukedom could deploy a good number of weapons in a relatively short time. At Fornovo this probably was not helpful, given how the clash with the cavalry happened immediately after the battle had begun. Furthermore, the battle was fought during a thunderstorm on rough terrain, which surely hindered the loading and aiming stages of firearms, and reduced greatly the offensive capability of weapons and the offensive capacity of shooters. Other than the specialist soldiers described in the previous paragraphs- deployed in the line of battle- there were also support troops. Cities like Milan and Venice had a high number of

cernide

at their service. These were troops recruited with a feudal-like method among the local population. They consisted mostly of destroyers, namely non-specialist troops deployed in the construction of siege machines during sieges, in the set up the military camp during campaigns, and in all those operations in support of the combat troops that required more or less skilled labour. Even in the case of significant losses, the tactical impact would have been minimal. In fact, it often happened that, during battles, the cernide

7

26

Angelo Angelucci. Gli schioppettieri milanesi nel XV seeolo, taken from volume XXIV of Politecnico. p. 90.

THE O PPOSING ARMIES were armed and deployed in the front line in order to absorb the impact of the enemy 's army, which obviously resulted in the

cernide

suffering heavy

losses due to them being untrained and badly armed.

The Artillery In the fifteenth century, artillery, which was born in the first half of the fourteenth century (apparently, the first to ever deploy artillery in the battlefield was Edward III in the Battle of Crecy, 1346, where he used three

bombardella,8 namely a type of hand cannon), progressed rapidly both under a productive and qualitative level, and also in its usage techniques. Initially, the trend followed by many foreign and European states was that of enhancing the weapons dimension and calibre, which led to the creation of the bombard, characterised by a huge muzzle. The bombard had to be carried by numerous draught animals and men, who were in charge of both transporting and firing the cannon. Throughout the fifteenth century, instead, the trend was to reduce the weapons' dimension and calibre in order to make them more transportable and easier to fire even on rough terrain. In Italy, as well as in other states, production coordinated at a national level did not exist. It was entrusted to individual master craftsmen who were commissioned by different customers, meaning that an exact classification of artillery is difficult, if not impossible, to list. Calibres were not standardised and their names changed according to the place they were manufactured in, resulting in a piece produced in Ferrara and in Milan having different characteristics. Among the small calibres, namely between 35-55 mm and up to two metres long, there are serpentines, culverins, passavolanti (small pieces of ordnance),

cerbottane

and

falconetti

with a breech-loading system and

mounted on wheels. These firearms were often used as a pair to compensate their slow loading process. There were also smaller calibres, around 20-25 mm, which were grouped to form organ guns in order to enhance their firepower. In several documents the definitions of

moiane, fagri, vuglerii, and

cortaldi, all weapons of medium calibre, are cited. The firearms manufactured in Italy were of excellent workmanship and quality, though Guicciardini and Giovio report that French weapons were top quality. Important manufacturing centres were located in Brescia, Ferrara, Florence and Venice. However, in the sources no relevant information was found to obtain a plausible overview of the artillery that the League deployed in Fornovo. Probably, this artillery was of small and medium calibre, a characteristic that made it easy to transport and fire. Bombards and calibres for siege operations, in fact, were not useful in a pitched battle, other than the fact that their transport on hilly terrain was difficult. In the Battle of Fornovo, the League army deployed the artillery along the perimeter of the camp set up on the plain of Giarola. To this end, defensive emplacements were prepared

8

Aldo G. Cimarelli. 'Dalla Bombarda al Moschetto a Miccia', in Epoca Arm; (Milan: A. Mondadori, 1970), p. 1 3 .

27

THE ITALIAN WARS VOLUME 1 wherein pieces of artillery and ammunitions were placed. Always with a defensive purpose in mind, moats were dug and defensive ramparts were prepared, as it is possible to see in the much-mentioned engraving of the battle by an anonymous French artist.

The Heavy Cavalry Throughout the fifteenth century, while in the European states different typologies of combatants on horse were born alongside the traditional heavy cavalry, in Italy the cavalry units that originated from the

di ventura

compagnie

(companies of mercenaries) remained the distinguishing feature

of all the Italian armies. This trend never changed until the clash with the French army at the Battle of Fornovo. During the fifteenth century, especially until the Peace of Lodi in 1454, in the Republic of Venice and in many other Italian states the initial strategy of recruitment for military campaigns - which was essentially based on temporary recruitment of

condottieri

who had their own contingent'} -

slowly changed, also due to the progressive increase in number and duration of conflicts in the peninsula. Moreover, temporary recruitment made it possible for clients to establish minor wages, which could be spread out over the year. On the downside, customers had to provide for the troops' quartering during the periods that battle did not take place; especially in winter, when troops were accommodated in so-called "winter quarters". The troops had to be housed and maintained together with their horses. Such a situation weighed mostly on civilians, and especially on those who lived in the countryside, where militias were usually dispersed. In all European states, the backbone of the heavy cavalry was the "lance': namely a group of knights in variable number, which constituted the base for campaign recruitment. The composition of the lance was different depending on the state. In Italy, up until the mid fifteenth century, the basic composition of the lance consisted of three elements. From the mid fifteenth century onwards, at times, the main core of the lance was accompanied by two other elements, namely two " boys" with a change of horses. Occasionally there was also a

saccomanno, a

lightly-armoured cavalryman who provided

supplies and eventually pillaged. The strength of the lance lay with the heavily-armoured knight, called an

armigero, who was equipped with full steel plate armour and armed with

a heavy spear. The shield as a means of protection was abandoned several decades before, since armour forged with hardened steel met increasingly high-quality standards.

9

The contingent of a condottiero was strictly supervised thanks to a periodic magazine, which could be published or not on a regular basis. Thus. customers could check the effective number of declared troops. In fact. it happened that discharged or temporarily unavailable soldiers were often included in the total number of troops. When such frauds were unmasked. the condottiero had to pay a hefty fine.

28

THE O PPOSING ARMIES

1 0 Italian armour of a man-at-arms, dated 1 480.

1 1 Italian armour o f a man-at-arms,

1 2 Italian armour of a man at arms,

Diocesan Museum "Francesco Gonzaga'; Mantua.

dated 1 480, seen from behind.

dated 1 470- 1 490. Diocesan Museum

Diocesan Museum "Francesco

"Francesco Gonzaga", Mantua.

Gonzaga� Mantua. (Author's photo)

(Author's photo)

(Author's photo)

The

armigero

was also equipped with blunt weapons for melee combat,

such as different types of flanged maces and war hammers, which at times had a spike on the hammees head in order to pierce through the enemy's armour. In this period the sword, symbol of the knight, evolved into a longer and pointed type of blade to pierce through the armour's plates and chain mail instead of striking with the blade. Armour consisted of a variable number of plates, which were extremely functional and structured as to protect the most vulnerable body parts no matter the knight's movements. Horses were equipped with barding to protect flanks and front, a chamfron for the head, and a protection made of segmented plates to shield the neck and allow the horse to move its head freely. With regard to the other two elements of the lance, the first soldier, generally armed with a short dagger, played the role of squire and helped the knight in melee combats once the charge was over. The second soldier had a support role and did not fight. The heavily-armoured knight relied on armour manufactured in Italy, especially in Milan, which represented the pinnacle of armour craftsmanship. Milan was the spearhead of armour manufacture and its products were more functional and resistant than any other produced in Europe. A document dating back to 1371 is the first known that attests an armourer being granted the privilege of immunity and familiarity. This privilege was granted by Gian Galeazzo Visconti to a certain Simone De Currentibus, fabbricatore

armature (crafter of armour), proving how valued

di

these artisans were in the

Dukedom of Milan. They were even forbidden to work in other territories. 10

10 Edict of 9 October 1448. Reg. L.O. 1447/50, B. and C. folio 47 p. and 163. J. Gelli. G. Moretti. "Gli armaioli milanesi - i Missaglia e la loro casa" (Milan: Hulrico Hoepli, 1 903), p. 5.

29

THE ITALIAN WARS VOLUME 1 In Milan there were numerous workshops

to

craft armour,

weapons and defensive tools; however,

some

families

made

a

important reputation

for themselves thanks to the quality like

and

the

organisation

production.

industrial­ of

Among

their them

excelled the Negronis - called Missaglia - and the Negrolis or Negriolis, both native to the city of Ello. In his

of Milan, that,

History

Pietro Verri reports

once

the

Battle

of

Maclodio (1427) came to an end,

Carmagnola

disarmed

the captured Milanese troops 1 3 Italian knights, detail from "The Battle of Fornovo",

and sent them back to Milan. In a few days, the two families of armourers managed to craft weapons and armour for 4,000 knights and 2,000 infantrymen." Among other armourers, who may be less productive but not less important, there were the brothers Francesco and Gabriello Di or Da Merate, Cantoni, Mendrisio (nickname of one of the most famous Milanese swordsmiths), and Pietro da Dexio. '2 Venice instead relied on the workshops located in its vast territory, especially those located in the surroundings of Brescia and in the Pre-Alps valleys. These workshops had been known for centuries for their armours and weapons production, consisting of firearms and, naturally, arsenals. It is important to note that the client states were not obliged to furnish weapons and armour to the hired troops; the

condottieri had to arm

their own soldiers, which is why

they restocked their armoury whenever they could.

The Light Cavalry and the Stratioti Among the League lines, there was a high number of light cavalry with the task of supporting the heavy cavalry. It mainly consisted of crossbowmen on horse, who were tasked with exploring, breaking up the opponents' attacks, and shielding the infantrymen. During the second half of the fifteenth century, in order to partially adapt to the other states' military evolution, this kind of light cavalry developed increasingly. However, it was still relegated to secondary roles, which were not coordinated with the heavy cavalry

1 1 The numbers hereby reported may seem exaggerated. However. it should be taken into account that Verri reports data that were previously cited by other historians. such as Muratori and Biglia., who were probably reliable. 12 J. Gelli and G. Moretti. Gli armaroli milanesi - i Missaglia e la loro casa (Milan: U. Hoepli. 1903).

30

THE O P POSING ARMIES operations. Lightly-armoured knights were equipped with a breastplate and a sallet, and were armed with a crossbow, a sword and a

boccoliere

-

namely

a small round shield held with one hand that was used in hand-to-hand combat. A peculiar light cavalry troop consisted of

Stratioti.

These people came

from the Balkan peninsula, mostly from the area of modern Albania, and initially they were hired only by the Republic of Venice, which deployed the

Stratioti

in its territories. Facing these peculiar knights in the Italian wars

convinced the other European states to hire and deploy these mercenaries greatly in the following century. De Commynes describes them as follows: Stradiotti sono come Giannizzeri, vestiti a piede, e a Cavallo come i Turchi, eccetto it capo, dove non portano quella tela chiamata Turbante: fono gente rozza, 6durata aUe fatiche; dormono co cavalli alia campagna tutto l�nno intiero. Erano da principio tutti Greci, i venuti da quei luoghi, che v'hanno cola i Ventiani; gli uni da Napoli di Romania nella Morea; altri da Albania verso Durazzo. I Cavalli loro sono buoni, e di razza Turchesca. Di coftoro fi ferve affai la Signoria di Venetia, 6fe ne confida molto. 13

That is: The Stratioti are like Janissaries, and they dress like Turks both when on foot and on horse. However, they do not wear that cloth called the turban on their head. The Stratioti are uncouth people and used to labour; they even sleep together with their horses during military campaigns all over the year. Initially, they were all Greeks and came from the places the Venetians go to. Some of them came from Nafplio in Morea, others from Durres [Albania] . They have good Turkish-breed horses. The Republic of Venice often deploys the Stratioti.

The term

Stratioti has uncertain origins, though it plausibly stratiotai, namely how soldiers were called in

Greek word

comes from the ancient Greece.

The military structure of the troops was a division by units, each of them consisting of family-related groups. The main area of provenance of these soldiers was Albany. However, some

Stratioti

contingents came also from

Greece, a detail that did not help collaboration among different companies. In fact, in the terms of engagement was stated that companies had to be led by officials with a Venetian heritage and who did not directly come from the

Stratioti's ranks. The Stratioti

were mainly tasked with exploration, breaking up the

opponents' attacks through quick and merciless raids, and, naturally, pursuit and pillage. Quickness and mercilessness were the main characteristics of these knights. They mounted Arabian horses, strong and sturdy even on

13 Philippe de Commynes, Le memorie intomo aUe azzion principaJi de due re di Francia Ludovico Undicesimo, & Carlo OUavo (Brescia, 18 1 3), p. 366.

31

THE ITALIAN WARS VOLUME 1 harsh terrains (such as mountainous terrains I 4), a factor that often gave them a clear advantage on heavy cavalry which, on the other hand, could not deploy its full potential on rough terrains. Their provenance from particularly poor and harsh territories caused these skilled knights to learn how to survive with the bare minimum. They often prioritised their horses due to these animals' high military and economic value. These horses were not bought but trained in the

Stratioti's

lands of origin and then sold to the ordinary cavalry once

their service was over. Living together with the Ottomans and fighting them caused these mercenary units to develop their superior equestrian skills and also their brutality. In fact, emulating the Turkish custom of not taking prisoners, which clashed with the European chivalry code of the time, the

Stratioti used to behead their prisoners as well as acting cruelly

towards them

and mutilating them. The custom of bringing prisoners' heads to the captain in order to receive a reward continued all the same. It was officially, though never practically, opposed and it continued even under the Republic of Venice. In fact, it seems that each severed head was rewarded with one ducat. In his chronicle of Charles VIII's expedition into Italy, Philippe de Commynes describes the clash between a squadron of

Stratioti and a French

vanguard, which took place immediately before the Battle of Fornovo started. The chronicler reports the fight as follows: . . . questi adunque (gli stradiotti), come dissi, oltre l'haver ucciso uno di quegli huomini d'arme a cavallo, diedero la caccia a gli altri, fino all'alloggiamento del Maresciallo, dove erano accampati i Tedeschi, de quali similmente havendone ammazzati tre, 0 quattro, et spiccate le teste le si recarono via, conforme al costume loro; percioche havendo Venetiani guerra con Maometto Ottomano, padre di questo Turco, egli non voleva, che si facesse alcuno prigioniero, ma che a tutti mozzassero i capi, donano un Ducato per testa; et Venetiani facevano il medesimo."15

That is: . . . these soldiers [the Stratioti] then, as I already reported, other than killing one of the men-at-arnts on horse, chased the others until the Marshal's quarters, where the Germans16 camped, and, after killing three or four of them, they severed their heads and brought them away, as was their custom. When he was at war against the Republic of Venice, Mehmed the Ottoman, father of this

Turk, did not want

any prisoner to be taken; he ordered that they were beheaded instead, and for each severed head he awarded one ducat. And the Venetians did the same.

The

Stratioti

were equipped in a different way from the traditional light

cavalry. They did not wear armour (though some of them wore a simple cuirass), but long heavy quilted jackets stuffed with cotton. They also wore a

1 4 The Republic of Venice deployed the Stratioti in the mountains of Cadore with excellent results, and all thanks to the superior resistance of both knights and horses, who were used to subsisting on the bare minimum. 15 Commynes. Le memorie intorno aUe azzion principali de due re di Francia. p. 366. 16 At times. in ancient chronicles, the Swiss were referred to as Germans.

32

THE O PPOSING ARMIES peculiar hat typical of their country of origin, which is why in the following centuries they were also called The

Stratioti did

cappelletti (meaning

"small hats" in Italian).

not use firearms; they were armed with a double-headed

spear about three metres long, which was used both as a throwing weapon and as a fighting staff in hand-to-hand combat. Moreover, they had a Turkish scimitar and a mace named

zagaglia, other than a dagger under their heavy

jacket. Their horses were not barded and the stirrups were short to enable the horseman to move freely during the fight. The scimitar cutting blow was from upward to downward, and standing on the stirrups made it possible to inflict a more powerful blow from an advantageous position. One of the main tactics used by

Stratioti companies, other than rapid and

brutal raids to scatter the enemies' ranks, was the simulated retreat. Thus, the enemy was drawn to chase them, but the Stratioti company then split in half and, taking advantage of their superior mobility, attacked on the flanks of the enemies' formation with a converging manoeuvre. In that way, the enemies' defence was pierced and, once that their main fighting line was broken, they were forced to fight hand-to-hand, a type of combat in which the Balkan knights usually prevailed. The success of the

Stratioti, in

spite of their well­

known unreliability, was such as to make their economic value rise to the levels of the heavy cavalry.

The French Army The Cavalry In the fifteenth century, cavalry had still a feudal organisation and consisted almost entirely of noblemen. Especially in France, heavily-armoured knights were the main concussive force of the army.

1 4 French knights during the tournament of Sandricourt in 1 493. Reproduction of the drawing made by the author. (Cabinet des Dessins. Louvre Museum. Paris)

33

THE ITALIAN WARS VOLUME 1 These knights were protected by full armour - its quality showed how wealthy the knight was - and were armed with a heavy spear, used in the initial clash between armies, and sword and mace for the melee combat. French knights repudiated the rising importance of infantry and despised firearms.

They

were valorous men­

at-arms and were regarded as the best heavy cavalry in Europe. In 1445, the King of France Charles VII created the

compagnies dordonnance

(companies

of ordinance), namely national cavalry consisting 1 5 French knight unhorsing a

Strotioti; detail from "The Battle of Fornovo".

compagnies dordonnance

of

standing

troops.

The

consisted of companies of 100 lances, each made

up of six men: one knight or gendarme called one

maitre, two archers on horse, coustillier-a lightly-armoured soldier on horse - one manservant, and

one page. Each knight owned four horses: one for his manservant, one to carry his luggage, one war horse, and one spare horse. Archers owned two horses each and so did the

coustillier. However, under the reign of Charles VIII

the number of soldiers deployed in one lance is controversial. The historian Guicciardini claims that it consisted of six knights, whereas Tristano Calchi, chancellor of Ludovico the Moor, writes that it consisted at least of eight. Instead, according to historian Paolo Giovio, the French lance consisted of five men as follows: one man-at-arms with three horses, one page in charge of the weapon transportation, two servants - called

saccomanni -

bagaglioni

or

and one archer on horse equipped

with a longbow, a cuirass and a salletY Moreover, Giovio

describes

the

French

men-at-arms'

armament in his report of Charles VIII's entrance in Rome. " They came wearing silk tunics, with golden necklaces and hackles [clipped feather plumes] decorating their helmets. They were armed with a big grooved spear with a thick spearhead and an iron mace. Their horses were strong, though only a few were harnessed with boiled leather harnesses in the Italian way:' lll

1 6 Light-armoured French knight killing a Strotioti; detail from "The Battle of Fornovo".

34

1 7 Guicciardini, 1874, vol. I, p . 106; C . de'Rosmini. Dell 'Istoria intorno alle militari imprese di Gian-Jacopo Trivu/zio, vol. 11 (Milan: G.G. Destefanis, 1 8 1 5), p. 209; P. Giovio, La prima parte delle Istorie del suo tempo (Venice 1560), p. 54. 18 Giovio, La prima parte delle Istorie del suo tempo, p. 54.

THE O P POSING ARMIES

The French Infantry Since the end of the fifteenth century, the French monarchy, financially strong, preferred to hire foreign infantry for its army, especially from Switzerland, Germany, and Italy. It was rare for monarchs to have an infantry consisting of French subjects, both because of the poor results that these foot soldiers obtained on the battle field and also for the fear that, one day, the subjects could rebel against the King. In 1445, when the Hundred Years War was almost at an end, Charles VII tried to build a permanent national army consisting of

compagnies dordonnance

as

cavalry and the francs-archers as infantry. The latter were all recruited among the French people and this resulted in a failure when the French infantry was crushed at the Battle of Guinegate

(1479);

the

francs-archers

were

disbanded

by Louis XI due to their poor discipline. In their place, Swiss mercenary were hired, who had become famous thanks to the victories reported against Duke Charles of Burgundy. These soldiers became the first French standing infantry, which was composed by the

bandes de Picardie (Picardy gangs) consisting mainly of aventuriers (adventurers) hired in the regions at the border with Picardy and Artois. Under the reign of Charles VIII, successor of Louis XI, these

bandes distinguished

themselves in the defence of the northern provinces against the Emperor Maximilian; however, they did not take part in the expedition into Italy, even though Charles VIII brought with him Swiss soldiers and many French, Breton, Provenc;al, Gascon, and Genoese19

aventuriers.

Giovio describes the

1 7 French infantryman with partisan sporting the white cross on his back; the harnesses of the donkey nearby are decorated with

fleurs-de-lys. Detail from "The Battle of Fornovo".

Gascon infantrymen as follows: "5,000 Guascons, almost all crossbowmen, who used a crossbow with a steel prod. They were all proficient in spanning and shooting. Compared to the Swiss infantrymen, they were less pleasant to see because of the scarce ornaments they wore and their short stature." 20

The Swiss Infantry In the sixteenth century, the Swiss were known as the best infantry of Europe. They became famous during the fight for independence against the Austrian Habsburg princes, when the Swiss communities signed the first federal pact (1291) among Vri, Schwyz, and Vnterwalden, laying thus the

1 9 L. Susane, Histoire de I 'ancienne infanteriefram;aise, vol. I (Paris: Correard, 1 849), pp. 62�7; P. de Bourdeille Brantome, Oeuvres Completes, vol. V (Paris, 1 866), pp. 297-304. 20 Giovio, La primaparte delle Istorie del suo tempo, pp. 53-54.

35

THE ITA LIAN WARS VO LUME 1 foundations for the Swiss Confederation as we know it today. This alliance managed to win against the Austrians in Morgarten (1315) and Sempach

(1386), where the Swiss infantrymen, using the pike square formation, crushed the Habsburg knights and foot soldiers with their spears, voulges, and halberds. Moreover, the Confederation deployed the military power and training of its cantons against the Burgundian army of Charles the Bold in the Battles of Grandson, Murten and Nancy (1476-1477); the victories achieved were bloody and proved that the Swiss' tactic was superior. It consisted of a sequence of tight infantry squares deployed at an angle and arranged in a series to protect one another; each square could consist of

1,500 to 6,000 infantrymen, armed with polearms and pikes. The pikes were three metres long, and at the beginning of the sixteenth century reached a length of five metres and more. In 1499 with the Swabian War, the Swiss cantons, allies of the Grey Leagues, faced the army of Maximilian I consisting of Landsknechts, namely Swabian mercenaries who fought like the Swiss. In battle, the Confederation and Leagues' infantrymen always won, slaying the German soldiers even after their surrender. In this conflict, in fact, the Swiss commanders had established that no prisoners would be taken, in order to strengthen the troops' discipline. Until then, it was custom of the Swiss infantry to take prisoners and ask for a ransom; the soldiers chased their fleeing opponents even out of the battlefield, which at times jeopardised victory. All infantrymen were forced to take an oath to follow that inhuman order, a fact that heavily affected the number of Swabian fallen. The whole conflict led to a deadly hate between Swiss and Landsknecht infantrymen. From that moment on, both groups gave no quarter. During the Italian wars, the Swiss troops turned mostly into mercenaries, and fought alongSide France, several Italian states, and even for the Empire. The hiring of these troops was controlled, where possible, by the cantonal authorities of the Confederation and the Leagues by means of war regulations, which were applied both in the case of recruitment by the Confederation against its enemy countries, and of recruitment by other states. The main reason why in Switzerland, at that time, mercenary work developed so greatly is to be found in the extreme poverty of the mountain cantons. Crops became smaller, which forced farmers to become breeders or shepherds, mostly of bovines. These conditions made it possible for men to temporarily migrate, since women and children could attend to milk and graze the animals; thus, even for long period of time, men could go abroad and get paid as mercenaries. One of the peculiarity of these mercenaries, other than their weapons and war tactics, was the almost "democratic" organisation of the army. The Confederation authorities appointed the commanders, but not the infantrymen. The foot soldiers brought with them the custom of taking common decisions, typical of towns and mountain communities, thus influencing the military hierarchy. The decisional power, in fact, was not of the supreme commander - who was considered like a prim us

inter pares (first

among equals)- but of the commanders' council. In 1480, Switzerland concluded an initial agreement with the King of France, Louis XI, which provided for the hiring of 6,000 Swiss infantrymen.

36

THE O PPOSING ARMIES Zurich and Berne provided 1,000 men each, Lucerne 800, Uri, Schwitz, Unterwalden, Zug, and Glaris provided collectively 2,000 infantrymen, Fribourg and Soleure 1,000, and lastly Bienne 150 men. These foot soldiers were led by Guillaume de Diesbach.2 1 The number o f men i n Charles VIII's army for his expedition into Italy reported by existing sources is discordant. The French historian Brantome reports 6,000 men, the Italian Belgioioso writes that it was an army of 3,000 men, whereas the Neapolitan chronicler Giuliano Passero reports 10,000 Swiss infantrymen. Paolo Giovio describes these soldiers as follows: They wore short garments in different colours; the bravest sported beautiful hackles. They had short swords and 1 0-foot-long ash pikes with a small iron spearhead on top. One quarter of them was armed with a great axe with a square point on top. The axe was two-handed and it was both used for strikes with the edge as well as with the point; they called this weapon a halberd. For each 1 ,000 infantrymen there were 100 arquebusiers [infantryman armed with an arquebus] , who shot enemies with lead bullets. These soldiers fought i n tight squadrons and did not wear cuirasses, sallets or shields. The captains and the soldiers in the front lines were the only ones wearing a sallet and iron pauldrons.22

The Artillery Paolo Giovio describes beautifully the French artillery of Charles VIII's army when it entered Rome: The 36 artillery pieces transported on wagons were source of wonder and fear. The wagons were pulled by horses through fiat or rough terrains with notable speed. The majority of these pieces were eight feet long and weighed 6,000 pounds of bronze. They were called cannons, and fired iron balls as big as a man's head. After came the falconets, which had different proportions; the smallest shot balls as big as an apple. All the aforementioned pieces were placed in between two thick planks kept together by buckles. The smallest pieces were on two wheels, whereas the biggest ones on four. With great swiftness, artillerymen and cart drivers transported said artillery pieces with the help of horses through the plain matching the speed of the light cavalry.2J

According to a French document contemporary with Charles VIII's expedition into Italy, the French army owned more than 700 pieces of artillery.24 However, in a manuscript of the seventeenth century

I'Expedition de Charles VIII

-

-

Notice sur

preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale de

France, the pieces reported are more numerous: 1,200 big cannons and other

2 1 Susane, vot. I, pp. 63-64. 22 Giovio, La prima parte delle Istorie del suo tempo, p. 53. 23 Giovio, La prima parte delle Istorie del suo tempo, pp. 54-55. 24 'Descriptio apparatus bellici regis Francie Caroli intrantis civitates Italiae', in Edmond Martene, Ursin Durans, Voyage litteraire de deux benedictins (Paris, 1724), p. 3 80.

37

THE ITALIAN WARS VOLUME 1

1,200 smaller cannons, including arquebuses and hand guns. Furthermore, it is also cited that there were 200 masters of artillery, 600 master carpenters and destroyers, 300 cannonball smelters, 200 blacksmiths, 1 1 1 coalmen, 200 rope makers and chain makers, 4,000 cart drivers, and more than 8,000 horses.25

25 L. Cimber, Archives curieuses de [ 'his/oire de France depuis Louis XIjusqu '0 Louis XVIII, 1 st series, vol. l (Paris: Beauvais, 1 854), p. 188.

38

3

Charles VIII's Expedition to the Kingdom of Naples Lead-up to the Expedition The ambitious plan of the young Charles VIII was not easy to execute, especially without the trust and financial support of the court and of the noblemen who had ties within it.

,,.----::=-.,....-;-=

Charles VIII's father, Louis XI, a king more pragmatic and less of a dreamer than his son, had already put aside his projects of invading Italy in his day; he thought that the people of France would be nothing but damaged by the plan. I Moreover, it was uncertain whether Spain and Germany - France's cumbersome neighbours - would have taken advantage of the King's absence to occupy the French territory, in spite of the peace treaties of Barcelona and Senlis

(1493). Another threat was Henry VII, King of England,

whose ambitions, appeased by the Treaty of Etaples (1492), could awaken at any moment. No treaty would be sufficiently strong to avert that danger. The King had the support of a multitude of people grown under his shadow, who were led by Stefano De Vers,2 seneschal of Beaucaire, and Guillaume Bric;:onnet, bishop of Saint-Malo. Persuaded by the promises of the Count of Caiazzo,3 delegate of Ludovico the Moor as ambassador to 18 Coat of arms and device of Charles VIII, as

1

Guicciardini, 1874. vot. I. p. 58.

2

Guicciardini, 1874. vot. I. p. 65.

3

The Milanese ambassadors reached the King in 1494, while he was in Lyon. Commynes describes the arrival of the diplomatic mission as follows: "Galeazzo, brother of the Count of Caiazzo of Sanseverino (of whom I spoke about before), arrived here with a good escort in the name of Ludovico-the Moor-of whom he was the Lieutenant, his best man. Galeazzo brought

represented in "Le Livre des faiz Monseigneur Saint Loys"

(c. 1492), preserved in the National Library of France. (Reproduction of the drawing made by the author)

with him majestic and good horses in great number and much rich armour to joust in, which he did excellently, being young and a good knight. He was welcomed honourably by the King. The King gifted him the Order of Saint Michaet." De Commynes, Le memorie intorno aUe azzion

principali de due re di Francia, p. 308.

39

CHARLES VIII'S EXPEDITION TO THE KINGDOM OF NAPLES the King of France together with Galeazzo Visconti and Count Carlo of Belgioso, and supported by Count Antonello of Sanseverino, Prince of Salerno, who had fled from the Kingdom of Naples, De Vers and Bri