| War of the League of Cambrai | |||||||
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| Part of theItalian Wars | |||||||
 Northern Italy in 1494; by the start of the war in 1508, Louis XII had expelled theSforza from the Duchy of Milan and added its territory to France. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| 1508–1510: | ||||||
| 1510–1511: | 1510–1511: | ||||||
| 1511–1513: | |||||||
| 1513–1516: | 1513–1516: | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| 1508–1510: | 1508–1510: | ||||||
| 1510–1511: | 1510–1511: | ||||||
| 1511–1513: | 1511–1513: | ||||||
| 1513–1516: | 1513–1516: | ||||||
TheWar of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as theWar of the Holy League and several other names,[1] was fought from February 1508 to December 1516 as part of theItalian Wars of 1494–1559. The main participants of the war, who fought for its entire duration, wereFrance, thePapal States, and theRepublic of Venice; they were joined at various times by nearly every significant power inWestern Europe, includingSpain, theHoly Roman Empire,England, theDuchy of Milan, theRepublic of Florence, theDuchy of Ferrara, and theSwiss.
The war started with theItalienzug ofMaximilian I, King of the Romans, crossing into Venetian territory in February 1508 with his army on the way to becrowned Holy Roman emperor by the pope in Rome. Meanwhile,Pope Julius II, intending to curb Venetian influence in northernItaly, brought together theLeague of Cambrai—an anti-Venetian alliance consisting of him, Maximilian I,Louis XII of France, andFerdinand II of Aragon—which was formally concluded in December 1508. Although the League was initially successful, friction between Julius and Louis caused it to collapse by 1510; Julius then allied himself with Venice against France.
The Veneto–Papal alliance eventually expanded into the Holy League, which drove the French from Italy in 1512; disagreements about the division of the spoils, however, led Venice to abandon the coalition in favor of an alliance with France. Under the leadership ofFrancis I, who had succeeded Louis on the throne of France, the French and Venetians would regain the territory they had lost in a campaign culminating in theBattle of Marignano in 1515; the treaties ofNoyon (August 1516) andBrussels (December 1516), which ended the war the next year, would essentially return the map of Italy to thestatus quo of 1508.
This is an overview of notable events including battles during the war.
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In the aftermath of theFirst Italian War (1494–1498),Pope Alexander VI had, with French assistance, moved to consolidate Papal control over centralItaly by seizing theRomagna.[11] The illegitimate son of the Pope,Cesare Borgia, acting asGonfalonier of the Papal armies, had expelled theBentivoglio family fromBologna, which they had ruled as afief, and was well on his way towards establishing a permanent Borgia state in the region when Alexander died on 18 August 1503.[12] Although Cesare managed to seize the remnants of the Papal treasury for his own use, he was unable to secure Rome itself, as French and Spanish armies converged on the city in an attempt to influence thePapal conclave; the election ofPius III (who soon died, to be replaced byJulius II) stripped Cesare of his titles and relegated him to commanding a company of men-at-arms.[13] Sensing Cesare's weakness, the dispossessed lords of the Romagna offered to submit to theRepublic of Venice in exchange for aid in regaining their dominions; theVenetian Senate accepted and had taken possession ofRimini,Faenza, and a number of other cities by the end of 1503.[14]
Julius II, having secured his own control of the Papal armies by arresting and imprisoning Cesare, first in Bologna and later in Ravenna, quickly moved to re-establish Papal control over the Romagna by demanding that Venice return the cities she had seized.[15] The Republic of Venice, although willing to acknowledge Papal sovereignty over these port cities along the Adriatic coast and willing to pay Julius II an annual tribute, refused to surrender the cities themselves.[16] In response, Julius concluded an alliance withFrance and theHoly Roman Empire against Venice; the death ofIsabella I of Castile (26 November 1504) and the resulting collapse of relations between the parties soon dissolved the alliance (theTreaty of Blois (1504), which had ended theItalian Wars of 1499–1504, became a 'dead letter'), but not before Venice had been induced to abandon several of the cities, except for the three key towns of Rimini, Faenza and Cervia.[17] Julius, although unsatisfied with his gains, did not himself possess sufficient forces to fight the Republic; for the next two years he instead occupied himself with the reconquest of Bologna andPerugia, which, located between Papal and Venetian territory, had in the meantime assumed a status of quasi-independence.[18]
In 1507, Julius returned to the question of the cities in Venetian hands; once again rebuffed by the Senate, he encouragedEmperor Maximilian I to attack the Republic.[19] Maximilian, using his journey to Rome for the Imperial coronation as a pretext, entered Venetian territory with a large army in February 1508 and advanced onVicenza, but was defeated by a Venetian army underBartolomeo d'Alviano (Battle of Cadore, 2 March 1508).[20] A second assault by aTyrolean force several weeks later was an even greater failure; Alviano not only routed the Imperial army but also seized the entireCounty of Gorizia, Austrian Istria (county ofPazin), as well asTrieste,Fiume, and the westernmost portions ofCarniola, forcing Maximilian to conclude a truce with Venice.[21]
In the spring of 1508, the Republic provoked Julius by appointing her own candidate to the vacantbishopric of Vicenza; in response, the Pope called for all Christian nations to join him in an expedition to subdue Venice.[22] On 10 December 1508, representatives of the Papacy, France, the Holy Roman Empire, andFerdinand II of Aragon concluded the League ofCambrai against the Republic.[23] The agreement provided for the complete dismemberment ofVenice's territory in Italy and for its partition among the signatories: Maximilian, in addition to regainingGorizia,Trieste, and easternIstria, would receiveVerona, Vicenza,Padua, and theFriuli; France would annexBrescia,Crema,Bergamo, andCremona to its Milanese possessions; Ferdinand would seizeOtranto; and the remainder, including Rimini andRavenna, would be added to the Papal States.[24]
The danger to the Republic of Venice was imminent, so in April 1509 theVenetian Senate immediately ordered to assemble an army of about 50,000 soldiers inPontevico, along theOglio river, while the main Venetian generals assembled in itsCastle.[25] On 9 May 1509, Louis crossed theAdda River at the head of a French army of about 40,000 soldiers and moved rapidly into Venetian territory.[26] To oppose him, Venice had hired acondottiere army under the command of theOrsini cousins—Bartolomeo d'Alviano andNiccolò di Pitigliano—but had failed to account for their disagreement on how best to stop the French advance.[27] On 14 May, Alviano confronted the French at theBattle of Agnadello; outnumbered, he sent requests for reinforcements to his cousin, who replied with orders to break off the battle and continued on his way.[28] Alviano, disregarding the new orders, continued the engagement; his army was eventually surrounded and destroyed.[29] Pitigliano managed to avoid encountering Louis; but his mercenary troops, hearing of Alviano's defeat, had deserted in large numbers by the next morning, forcing him to retreat toTreviso with the remnants of the Venetian army.[30]
The Venetian collapse was complete.[31] Louis proceeded to occupy Venetian territory as far east as Brescia without encountering any significant resistance; the Venetians lost all the territory that they had accumulated in northern Italy during the previous century.[32] The major cities that had not been occupied by the French—Padua, Verona, and Vicenza—were left undefended by Pitigliano's withdrawal, and quickly surrendered to Maximilian when Imperial emissaries arrived in the Veneto.[33] Julius, having in the meantime issued aninterdict against Venice that excommunicated every citizen of the Republic, invaded the Romagna and captured Ravenna with the assistance ofAlfonso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara.[34] D'Este, having joined the League and been appointed Gonfalonier on 19 April, seized thePolesine for himself.[35]
The newly arrived Imperial governors, however, quickly proved to be unpopular.[36] In mid-July, the citizens of Padua, aided by detachments of Venetian cavalry under the command of theproveditorAndrea Gritti, revolted.[37] Thelandsknechts garrisoning the city were too few in number to mount effective resistance, and Padua was restored to Venetian control on 17 July.[38] The success of the revolt finally pushed Maximilian into action.[39] In early August, a massive Imperial army, accompanied by bodies of French and Spanish troops, set out fromTrento into the Veneto.[40] Because of a lack of horses, as well as general disorganization, Maximilian's forces were slow to begin thesiege of Padua, giving Pitigliano the time to concentrate such troops as were still available to him in the city.[41] Although French and Imperial artillery successfully breached Padua's walls, the defenders managed to hold the city until Maximilian, growing impatient, lifted the siege on 1 October and withdrew to Tyrol with the main part of his army.[42]
In mid-November, Pitigliano returned to the offensive,recapturing Vicenza,Este,Feltre, andBelluno; an attack on Verona failed, but Pitigliano destroyed a Papal army underFrancesco II of Gonzaga in the process.[43]Angelo Trevisan organized a river attack onFerrara by the Venetiangalley fleet, but the resultingBattle of Polesella ended in another defeat for the Republic when the Venetian ships anchored in thePo River were sunk by Ferrarese artillery.[44]
Faced with a shortage of both funds and men, the Senate decided to send an embassy to Julius in order to negotiate a settlement.[45] The terms insisted on by the Pope were harsh: the Republic lost her traditional power to appoint clergy in her territory, as well as all jurisdiction over Papal subjects in Venice, the Romagnan cities that had prompted the war were to be returned to Julius, and reparations were to be paid to cover his expenses in capturing them.[46] The Senate argued over the terms for two months, but finally accepted them in February 1510; even before the Venetian ambassadors had presented themselves to Julius forabsolution, however, theCouncil of Ten had privately resolved that the terms had been accepted under duress and were therefore invalid, and that Venice should violate them at the earliest opportunity.[47]
This apparent reconciliation between Venice and the Pope did not stop multiple French, Ferrarese, and Imperial armies from invading Venetian territory in May 1510.[48]Gianpaolo Baglioni and Andrea Gritti, left in command of the Venetian forces by Pitigliano's death in January, withdrew to Padua; by 24 May, the League's armies had taken Vicenza and the Polesine, and were advancing onLegnago.[49] Gritti fortified Padua for an expected attack by a combined Franco-Imperial army, but Louis, frustrated by Maximilian's failure to appear in person and distracted by the death of his advisor, theCardinal d'Amboise, abandoned his plans for a siege.[50]
Julius, meanwhile, had become increasingly concerned by the growing French presence in Italy; more significantly, alienated from Alfonso d'Este by friction over a licence for a salt monopoly in the Papal States and Alfonso's continued forays against Venetian forces to secure his recently reacquired Polesine, he had formulated plans to seize theDuchy of Ferrara, a French ally, and to add its territory to the Papal States.[51] His own forces being inadequate for the venture, the Pope hired an army ofSwiss mercenaries, ordering them to attack the French in Milan; he also invited Venice to ally with him against Louis.[52] The Republic, facing a renewed French onslaught, readily accepted the offer.[53]
By July 1510, the new Veneto-Papal alliance was on the offensive.[54] An initial attack on French-occupiedGenoa failed, but Venetian troops underLucio Malvezzo finally drove the French from Vicenza in early August, and a joint force commanded byFrancesco Maria della Rovere, the Duke ofUrbino, capturedModena on 17 August.[55] Julius nowexcommunicated Alfonso d'Este, thus justifying an attack on the Duchy of Ferrara itself; in anticipation of his coming victory, the Pope traveled to Bologna, so as to be nearby when Ferrara was taken.[56]
The French army, however, had been left unopposed by the Swiss (who, having arrived in Lombardy, had been bribed into leaving by Louis) and was free to march south into the heart of Italy.[57] In early October,Charles II d'Amboise advanced on Bologna, splitting the Papal forces; by 18 October, he was only a few miles from the city.[58] Julius now realized that the Bolognese were openly hostile to the Papacy and would not offer any resistance to the French; left with only a detachment of Venetian cavalry, he resorted to excommunicating d'Amboise, who had in the meantime been convinced by the English ambassador to avoid attacking the person of the Pope and had thus withdrawn to Ferrara.[59]
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In December 1510, a newly assembled Papal army conqueredConcordia andbesieged the fortress of Mirandola; d'Amboise, marching to relieve the latter, fell ill and died, briefly leaving the French in disarray; the pope took personal command of the siege, and Mirandola fell in January 1511.[60] Alfonso d'Este, meanwhile, confronted and destroyed the Venetian forces on the Po River, leaving Bologna isolated once more; Julius, afraid of being trapped by the French, departed the city for Ravenna.[61]Cardinal Francesco Alidosi, whom he left behind to command the defense of the city, was no better liked by the Bolognese than Julius himself had been; and when, in May 1511, a French army commanded byGian Giacomo Trivulzio approached, the citizens of Bologna revolted, expelled Alidosi, and opened their gates to the French.[62] Julius blamed this defeat on the Duke of Urbino, who, finding this quite unfair, proceeded to murder Alidosi in full view of the Papal guard.[63]
In October 1511, Julius proclaimed a Holy League against France.[64] The new alliance included not only Spain and the Holy Roman Empire (which abandoned any pretense of adhering to the League of Cambrai in hopes ofseizing Navarre fromQueen Catherine and Lombardy from Louis), but alsoHenry VIII of England who, having decided to use the occasion as an excuse to expand his holdings in northern France, concluded the Treaty of Westminster—a pledge of mutual aid against the French—with Ferdinand on 17 November.[65]
Louis now appointed his nephew,Gaston de Foix, to command the French forces in Italy.[66] Foix proved more energetic than d'Amboise and Trivulzio had been; having checked the advance ofRamón de Cardona's Spanish troops on Bologna, he returned to Lombardy tosack Brescia, which had rebelled against the French and garrisoned itself with Venetian troops.[67] Aware that much of the French army would be diverted to deal with the impending English invasion, Foix and Alfonso d'Este besieged Ravenna, the last Papal stronghold in the Romagna, in hopes of forcing the Holy League into a decisive engagement.[68] Cardona marched to relieve the city in early April 1512, and was decisively beaten in the resultingBattle of Ravenna, fought on Easter Sunday; the death of Foix during the fighting, however, left the French under the command ofJacques de la Palice, who, unwilling to continue the campaign without direct orders from Louis, contented himself with thoroughly sacking Ravenna.[69]
By May 1512, the French position had deteriorated considerably.[70] Julius had hired another army of Swiss mercenaries; they descended on Milan, bringing with themMaximilian Sforza, who was determined to regain control of theDuchy for his family.[71] The French garrisons abandoned the Romagna (where the Duke of Urbino quickly captured Bologna andParma) and retreated to Lombardy, attempting to intercept the invasion.[72] By August, the Swiss had combined with the Venetian army and forced Trivulzio out of Milan, allowing Sforza to be proclaimed Duke with their support; La Palice was then forced to withdraw across the Alps.[73]
In 1512Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset led an unsuccessful English military expedition to France to reconquerAquitaine, which England had lost during theHundred Years' War.Ferdinand of Aragon gave none of the support he had promised. While Ferdinand delayed and tried to persuade Dorset to help him to attackNavarre instead of Aquitaine, the English army's food, beer, and pay ran out, many took to wine and became ill, and the army mutinied. Back in England, Dorset had to face a trial.[74]
In late August, the members of the League met atMantua to discuss the situation in Italy and the partition of territory acquired from the French.[75] They quickly came to an agreement regardingFlorence, which had angered Julius by allowing Louis to convene theCouncil of Pisa in its territory; at the Pope's request, Ramon de Cardona marched intoTuscany, smashed Florentine resistance, overthrew theFlorentine Republic, and installedGiuliano de' Medici as ruler of the city.[76] On the subject of territory, however, fundamental disagreements quickly arose.[77] Julius and the Venetians insisted that Maximilian Sforza be permitted to keep the Duchy of Milan, while Emperor Maximilian and Ferdinand maneuvered to have one of their relatives installed as duke.[78] The Pope demanded the annexation of Ferrara to the Papal States; Ferdinand objected to this arrangement, desiring the existence of an independent Ferrara to counter growing Papal power.[79] The Emperor refused to relinquish any Imperial territory, which in his eyes included most of the Veneto, and signed an agreement with the Pope to exclude Venice entirely from the final partition; when the Republic objected, Julius threatened to reform the League of Cambrai against her.[80] In response, Venice turned to Louis; on 23 March 1513, a treaty pledging to divide all of northern Italy between France and the Republic was signed atBlois.[81] Pope Julius II, meanwhile, had died in February, and Cardinal Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, second son ofLorenzo the Magnificent and elder brother of the new ruler of Florence, was electedPope Leo X.
In late May 1513, a French army commanded byLouis de la Trémoille crossed the Alps and advanced on Milan; at the same time, Bartolomeo d'Alviano and the Venetian army marched west from Padua.[82] The unpopularity of Maximilian Sforza, who was seen by the Milanese as a puppet of his Swiss mercenaries, enabled the French to move through Lombardy with little resistance; Trémoille, having seized Milan, besieged the remaining Swiss inNovara.[83] On 6 June, the French were attacked by a Swiss relief army at theBattle of Novara, and were routed despite having superior numbers.[84] Detachments of the Swiss army pursued the fleeing French over the Alps and had reachedDijon before being bribed into withdrawing.[85]
The rout at Novara inaugurated a period of defeats for the French alliance. English troops under Henry VIII besiegedThérouanne, defeated La Palice at theBattle of the Spurs, and capturedTournai.[86] In Navarre, resistance to Ferdinand's invasion collapsed; he rapidly consolidated his hold over the entire region and moved to support another English offensive in theGuyenne.[87]James IV of Scotland invaded England at the behest of Louis;[88] but he failed to draw Henry's attention from France, and his death—and the Scots' catastrophic defeat—at theBattle of Flodden on 9 September 1513, endedScotland's brief involvement in the war.[89]
Meanwhile, Alviano, unexpectedly left without French support, retreated into the Veneto, pursued closely by the Spanish army under Cardona; while the Spanish were unable to capture Padua in the face of determined Venetian resistance, they penetrated deep into Venetian territory and by late September were in sight ofVenice itself.[90] Cardona attempted a bombardment of the city that proved largely ineffective; then, having no boats with which to cross theVenetian Lagoon, turned back for Lombardy.[91] Alviano, having been reinforced by hundreds of volunteers from the Venetian nobility, pursued Cardona and confronted him outside Vicenza on 7 October; in the resultingBattle of La Motta, the Venetian army was decisively defeated, with many prominent noblemen cut down outside the city walls as they attempted to flee.[92] Cardona and Alviano continued to skirmish in the Friuli for the remainder of 1513 and through 1514.[93]
The death of Louis XII on 1 January 1515 broughtFrancis I to the throne; having assumed the title ofDuke of Milan at his coronation, Francis immediately moved to reclaim his holdings in Italy.[94] By July, Francis had assembled an army in theDauphiné; a combined Swiss and Papal force moved north from Milan to block the Alpine passes against him, but Francis, following the advice of Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, avoided the main passes and marched instead through the valley of theStura.[95] The French vanguard surprised the Milanese cavalry atVillafranca, capturingProspero Colonna;[96] meanwhile, Francis and the main body of the French confronted the Swiss at theBattle of Marignano on 13 September.[97] The Swiss advance initially made headway; however, Francis's superiority in cavalry and artillery, together with the timely arrival of Alviano (who had successfully avoided Cardona's army at Verona) on the morning of 14 September, led to a decisive victory for Francis and the Venetians.[98]
After the victory at Marignano, Francis advanced on Milan, capturing the city on 4 October and removing Sforza from the throne.[99] In December, he met with Leo at Bologna; the pope, who had in the meantime been deserted by the remainder of his Swiss mercenaries, surrendered Parma andPiacenza to Francis and Modena to theDuke of Ferrara.[100] In return, Leo received guarantees of French noninterference in his proposed attack on theDuchy of Urbino.[101] Finally, the Treaty of Noyon, signed by Francis andCharles V in August 1516, recognized French claims to Milan and Spanish claims to Naples, removing Spain from the war.[102]
Maximilian held out, making another attempt to invade Lombardy; his army failed to reach Milan before turning back, and by December 1516, he had entered into negotiations with Francis.[103] The resulting Treaty of Brussels not only accepted French occupation of Milan, but also confirmed Venetian claims to the remainder of the Imperial possessions in Lombardy (except for Cremona), effectively ending the war with a return to the status quo of 1508.[104] The peace, however, would last only four years; the growing rivalry between theHouse of Valois and theHouse of Habsburg, and the election of Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor in 1519, would soon lead to theItalian War of 1521–26.[105]
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