The Battle of Ravenna, fought on April 11, 1512, by forces of the Holy League and France, was a major battle of the Italian Wars. It was an overwhelming victory for the French; however, it was unsuccessful in helping them secure northern Italy, since they would be forced to withdraw from the region entirely by August 1512. The Battle of Ravenna (1512). ... The Italian Wars were a series of wars from 1494 to 1559 for control over the States of Italy, mainly involving France and Spain, but also involving most other European states, and the imprisonment for several months of Pope Clement VII. They started with the plotting of Ludovico Sforza of... April 11 is the 101st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (102nd in leap years). ... Events April 11 - Battle of Ravenna. ... For other places named Ravenna, see Ravenna (disambiguation). ... Ferrara, a town, an archiepiscopal see and a province in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. ... The Papal States (Gli Stati della Chiesa or Stati Pontificii, States of the Church) was one of the historical states of Italy before the peninsula was unified under the crown of Savoy. ... The Italian Wars were a series of wars from 1494 to 1559 for control over the States of Italy, mainly involving France and Spain, but also involving most other European states, and the imprisonment for several months of Pope Clement VII. They started with the plotting of Ludovico Sforza of... The Battle of Fornovo took place in July 1495 during the Italian Wars. ... The Battle of Cerignola was fought on April 21, 1503, between Aragonese and French armies, in Cerignola, next Bari, Southern Italy. ... In the Battle of Agnadello in northern Italy on May 14, 1509, French forces defeated the Venetians. ... The Battle of Novara was a battle of the Italian Wars fought on June 6, Swiss troops, part of the Holy League defeated the French under Louis de la Tremoille, forcing the French to abandon Milan. ... The Battle of Marignano, in the phase of the Italian Wars (1494–1559) that is called the War of the Holy League, was a victory for French forces that took place on 13 and 14 September 1515, at a location, today called Melegnano, 16 km south east of Milan. ... In 1525 during The Battle of Pavia, Charles V (1500-1558), The Holy Roman Emperor, defeated Francis I (1494-1547), King of France, taking him prisoner for ransom, and confining him in Spain. ... April 11 is the 101st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (102nd in leap years). ... Events April 11 - Battle of Ravenna. ... The Catholic League (or Holy League) was a coalition of various European powers that was formed between 1510 and Italy against Louis XII of France, and so strengthen the power of the pope. ... The Italian Wars were a series of wars from 1494 to 1559 for control over the States of Italy, mainly involving France and Spain, but also involving most other European states, and the imprisonment for several months of Pope Clement VII. They started with the plotting of Ludovico Sforza of...

Prelude

Beginning in February 1512, the French forces in Italy, newly commanded by Gaston de Foix, Duc de Nemours, had been engaged in capturing cities in the Romagna and the Veneto, in an attempt to deny control of those regions to the forces of the Holy League. Although he had been successful in a number of sieges, Nemours was aware that the impending invasion of France by Henry VIII of England would cause much of his army to be withdrawn, and he was determined to force the main army of the Holy League into battle before that occured. Thus, in late March, Nemours, together with an Italian contingent under the Duke of Ferrara, marched east from Bologna and laid siege to the city of Ravenna, which was defended by Papal troops. In the 12th and 13th centuries the lordship of Nemours, in the Gatinais, France, was in possession of the house of Villebeon, a member of which, Gautier was marshal of France in the middle of the 13th century. ... Emilia-Romagna is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. ... Veneto is a region in northeastern Italy, bordering on Lombardy, Trentino-South Tyrol, Austria, Friuli Venezia Giulia, and Emilia-Romagna, between the Alps and the Adriatic Sea. ... Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) from 22 April 1509 until his death. ... Ferrara, a town, an archiepiscopal see and a province in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. ... Bologna (from Latin Bononia, Bulaggna in the local dialect) is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, between the Po River and the Apennines. ... For other places named Ravenna, see Ravenna (disambiguation). ... The Papal States (Gli Stati della Chiesa or Stati Pontificii, States of the Church) was one of the historical states of Italy before the peninsula was unified under the crown of Savoy. ...

Julius II, alarmed at the prospect of losing his last stronghold in the Romagna, demanded that an army be sent to relieve the city; Ramon de Cardona had to comply, and the Spanish army set out for Ravenna with a company of Papal troops in tow. By April 9, they had passed Forli, and were advancing north along the Ronco River towards the city, and on the next day had reached Molinaccio, only a mile south of the French positions, but still separated from them by the Ronco. Nemours, short on supplies and increasingly anxious to give battle before he was forced to withdraw from Italy, ordered a general attack for the following day. Pope Julius II Julius II, né Giuliano della Rovere (December 5, 1443 - February 21, 1513), was pope from 1503 to 1513. ...

Battle

In the early morning of April 11, the French troops began to cross the Ronco north of the Spanish camp. The main body immediately came under heavy fire from Spanish artillery, taking casualties, and Nemours was forced to bring up his own artillery. Although the two armies had soon fallen into positions facing one another, the bombardment continued over the course of the next three hours, causing considerable casualties to both sides. The Duke of Ferrara, meanwhile, had moved around the southern flank of the Spanish positions and began to enfilade the Spanish with some two dozen of his own cannon. Pedro Navarro, the commander of the Spanish infantry, ordered his men to lie prone to avoid the worst of the gunfire; the Spanish cavalry, however, had no such option, and was finally forced to leave its positions and attack the French line. Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire directed against fortifications, troops or towns and buildings. ... Enfilade and defilade are military tactical concepts used to describe a fighting units exposure to enemy fire. ...

The target of the Spanish attack was the main French cavalry formation, which stood closest to the river, at the end of the French line. The first attack was made by the Spanish rearguard, and was so disorganized that it disintegrated prior to reaching the French. Soon afterwards, the main body of Spanish heavy cavalry, supported by the light cavalry under the Marquis of Pescara, engaged the French cavalry under de Foix. This quickly became a general cavalry melee as further reinforcements arrived to both forces. The Spanish vanguard, under Fabrizio Colonna, attempted to flank the French, but was engaged and destroyed by Seigneur de La Palice, who then joined the main cavalry fight. At this point, much of the remaining Spanish cavalry broke and fled back into the camp, from which they retreated south towards Forli, accompanied by de Cardona, who had avoided taking part in the fighting. Pescara is a city in the central Italian region of Abruzzo, 42°28N 14°12E, on the Adriatic sea; with a population of 121,700 as of the 2003 census. ...

The Spanish infantry, meanwhile, had remained inside their entrenchements in their camp, Navarro having refused to follow Colonna out. Here they became the target of an advance by the French infantry, comprised mainly of landsknechts and Gascon archers. Navarro split his forces, sending part of them, together with the Papal infantry, along the embankment of the Ronco, where they successfuly broke the Gascon line, and were making considerable headway before being forced to retreat by the arrival of some French cavalry. The main body of Spanish infantry engaged the landsknechts, with the Spanish swordsmen moving under their pikes and causing considerable carnage. Colonna, who had returned from the cavalry battle, attacked the rear of the French formation with what remained of his cavarly, and the pikemen began to break and retreat from the camp. Landsknechts (German, Land land, country + Knecht servant: i. ... The Gascon language is an Occitan dialect mostly spoken in Gascony (in the French départements of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Landes, Gers, Gironde, a part of Lot-et-Garonne, a part of Haute-Garonne, and a part of Ariège), and in the small Spanish... Embankment can be: An artificial slope which can be made out of earth, stones or bricks, or a combination of these. ... A swordsman is one skilled in the use of swords. ...

At this point, the French cavalry attacked the Spanish from all directions. The Spanish infantry broke under the assault; and while several thousand managed to reach the riverbank and retreat along it, the majority were killed, and both Colonna and Navarro were taken prisoner. Gaston de Foix, meanwhile, had been informed of the Gascon retreat and had ridden north with a small cavalry detachement. On the embankment, he encountered a company of Spanish infantry trying to retreat, and was killed in the ensuing melee.

Aftermath

Following the death of Nemours, command of the French army fell to La Palice, who had little interest in pursuing the retreating Spanish forces, preferring instead to return to the siege of Ravenna. The city soon fell, and the French proceeded to thouroughly sack it. However, much of the French army was withdrawn to France following the battle, and La Palice was forced to extricate himself from Italy in August by renewed efforts on the part of the Holy League. The word sack can refer to: A large bag, typically made of heavy cloth such as hemp or burlap. ...

The Spanish forces in Italy were almost entirely destroyed at Ravenna, but Cardona would raise another army and appear in Lombardy in 1513. In the meantime, both Navarro and Colonna would see combat, Colonna in command of an Italian army and Navarro in the service of Francis I of France. Lombardy (in Italian Lombardia) is a region in northern Italy between the Alps and the Po Valley. ... Events January 20 - Christian II becomes King of Denmark and Norway. ... Francis I (French: François Ier) (September 12, 1494 – July 31, 1547), called the Father and Restorer of Letters (French: le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres), was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547. ...

References

• Norwich, John Julius (1989). A History of Venice. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-72197-5.
• Taylor, Frederick Lewis (1973). The Art of War in Italy, 1494-1529. Westport: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-8371-5025-6.