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| Battle of Seminara | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theThird Italian War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 France |  Spain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Bérault Stuart d'Aubigny | Fernando de Andrade | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 4,500 infantry 900 cavalry[2] | 4,000 infantry 800 cavalry[2] | ||||||
TheBattle of Seminara of 1503 was fought on 21 April 1503 betweenSeminara andGioia Tauro,Calabria, betweenFrench troops under the command ofBérault Stuart d'Aubigny and a Spanish force commanded byFernando de Andrade during theThird Italian War.
In November 1500Louis XII of France andFerdinand II of Aragon signed the secretTreaty of Granada, in which they agreed to divide theKingdom of Naples between themselves, despite it being ruled by Ferdinand's cousinFrederick of Naples.
In 1501 a French army under d'Aubigny attacked Naples from the north, while a Spanish force commanded byGonzalo Fernández de Córdoba occupied the southern part of the kingdom. Frederick was deposed and his kingdom divided between the two occupying forces as stipulated in the treaty. However, dissension appeared between the Spanish and the French for possession of several areas that lay between their spheres of control, and by June 1502 war broke out between them.
The more numerous French forces were divided into two: the FrenchViceroy of Naples,Louis d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours remained inApuliabesieging Fernández de Córdoba inBarletta while d'Aubigny pursued the Spanish forces under Hugo de Cardona and Manuel de Benavides inCalabria.
In February 1503 a Spanish fleet sailed fromCartagena, Spain, headed for southern Italy carrying reinforcements for Fernández de Córdoba. The fleet consisted of 40 ships carrying 600 cavalry and 2,000 infantry under the command of Luis Portocarrero, and arrived inMessina,Sicily on 5 March.[3] However, Portocarrero died shortly after his arrival, andFernando de Andrade took over command.
Upon hearing of the Spanish reinforcements, d'Aubigny gathered 200 cavalry and 800 infantry and marched towardsTerranova Sappo Minulio. He lifted the siege of Terranova and proceeded toSan Martino. Meanwhile Fernando de Andrade crossed over from Messina and concentrated his troops at Seminara. After negotiations, the French and Spanish agreed to do battle on Friday, 21 April. On that day both armies met halfway between Seminara and Gioia Tauro; in the ensuing battle the Spanish defeated the French, who retreated to the north, pursued by the Spanish.
D'Aubigny and his remaining troops were besieged inCastel Angitola, and was forced to surrender one month later.[4] He was taken toCastel Nuovo as a prisoner.[1] The French defeat led to Calabria falling under Spanish control; one week after this battle, Fernández de Córdoba would defeat the French atCerignola inApulia.
38°20′00″N15°52′00″E / 38.3333°N 15.8667°E /38.3333; 15.8667