Battle of Marignano

Battle of Marignano
Part of the War of the League of Cambrai
Francis I Orders His Troops to Stop Pursuing the Swiss, a Romantic 19th century work by Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard (Galerie des Batailles, Palace of Versailles)
Date September 13–14, 1515 Location Near Melegnano, southeast of Milan, present-day Italy Result Decisive Franco-Venetian victory Swiss cantons signed the Treaty of Fribourg establishing the "Perpetual Peace"
Belligerents
France  Republic of Venice	Swiss cantons Duchy of Milan
Commanders and leaders
Francis I Gian Giacomo Trivulzio Bartolomeo d'Alviano Louis de la Trémoille Charles III, Duke of Bourbon	Marx Röist Maximilian Sforza Cardinal Mattheus Schiner
Strength
38,700 men 20,000 infantry 17,000 landsknechts 1,700 cavalry	22,200 men 22,000 infantry 200 cavalry
Casualties and losses
3,000-8,000 men	8,000-14,000 men

38,700 men

22,200 men

The Battle of Marignano was fought during the phase of the Italian Wars (1494–1559) called the War of the League of Cambrai, between France and the Old Swiss Confederacy. It took place on September 13 and 14, 1515, near the town today called Melegnano, 16 km southeast of Milan. It resulted in a victory for French forces.

It pitted the French army, composed of the best armored lancers and artillery in Europe and led by Francis I, newly crowned king of France and a day past his 21st birthday, against the Old Swiss Confederacy. With Francis were German landsknechts, bitter rivals of the Swiss for fame and renown in war, and his late arriving Venetian allies.

The campaign of Marignano followed years of Swiss successes, during which French fortunes in Northern Italy had suffered greatly. The Swiss had taken control of Milan (for France the gateway to Italy) after their victory at the Battle of Novara (1513), and returned to its ducal throne Massimiliano, son of Ludovico Sforza, the last duke of the House of Sforza to rule independent Milan, as their puppet.

The prologue to the battle was a remarkable Alpine passage, in which Francis hauled pieces of artillery (72 huge cannons) over new-made roads over the Col d'Argentière, a previously unknown route. This was, at the time, considered one of the foremost military exploits of the age and the equal of Hannibal's crossing of the Alps. At Villafranca the French, led by Jacques de la Palice, surprised and captured the Papal commander, Prospero Colonna, in a daring cavalry raid deep behind the allied lines (the Chevalier Bayard providing the impetus and expertise). Colonna and his staff aside, the French seized a great deal of booty on the raid, including 600 horses.

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