The Battle of Pavia was the decisive battle of the Four Years' War in northern Italy, fought between the Holy Roman Empire/Habsburg Empire and the Kingdom of France. Both sides claimed ties by blood and deed to various Italian states and sought dominion over Italy, leading to war in 1521. Pavia, the last Imperial stronghold in northern Italy, was put under siege, but an Imperial and Spanish army under Charles de Lannoy relieved the city and defeated King Francis I of France in his final Italian War.
Background[]
For thirty years, the bitter Italian Wars were fought by the Holy Roman Empire and France. Both sides clamed ties by blood and deed to various Italian states and sought dominion over Italy. Starting in 1494 AD, the Italian Wars were a series of dynastic conflicts that were played out with the French and Imperial kings using Italian states as proxies to fight the war for them. The Spanish and French fought over Naples in the early 1500s, with the Spanish winning the Battle of Ruvo, the Battle of Cerignola, and the Battle of Garigliano, pushing the French out of southern Italy. During the War of the League of Cambrai, the Swiss Confederation and other city-states allied against France, and defeated Louis de la Tremoille at the Battle of Novara in 1509 AD. The Swiss occupied Milan, but when it seemed that they would take over Italy, the young king Francis I of France took the reigns of the monarchy and led his men to victory at the Battle of Marignano in 1515 AD. This victory pushed the Swiss back over the Alps, stopping them for good.
Francis' campaigns in Italy were similar to that of Frederick Barbarossa in the 1100s, tackling Italian city states, with the Republic of Venice as his ally. When, in 1519 AD, Charles I of Spain became Charles V of Germany, a jealous Francis decided to invade northern Italy in a bid to claim the coveted title of Holy Roman Emperor. From 1521 AD to 1525 AD King Francis laid siege to and captured all of the Imperial garrisons in northern Italy except for Pavia. However, all hope was not lost for Pavia's Imperial garrison. General Charles de Lannoy led a relieving army of Imperial and Spanish troops, amongst them: Musketeers and Arquebusiers, equipped with new, powerful, firearms.
Francis set up camp at Mirabello Park at the manor house, with his camp defended by Gendarmes. The Imperial and Spanish armies marched on the camp, with the Imperial army forming a square formation on a hilltop. Their halberdiers defended the base, while the arquebusiers/musketeers were on the slope, and above them was the cannon unit.
Battle[]
Alfonso, laying slain.
Francis I led his knights on a charge against the Spanish, breaking their force. Captain Alfonso was killed by the French knights. However, his forces were held back by pike and shot from the Imperial fortification on the hillside, and the French knights were repulsed. The other French units could not charge due to the incessant firing of cannon that could possibly inflict heavy losses on themselves, leaving many units out of the battle.
The French withdrawal to Mirabello Manor allowed the Germans and their crippled Spanish allies to assault the French. The French fought bravely, with Francis being wounded and then captured; the Duc de la Tremoille was shot. The French were routed, and their defeat in Italy was total.
Aftermath[]
The defeat at Pavia cost Francis his army and his freedom, and he was released only after renouncing his claims to Italy and a hefty ransom. He betrayed his word when he returned home to France, and continued to fight in Italy as an ally of the Ottoman Empire. In 1538 he helped in the Siege of Tunis on the defenders' side, sending 2 galleys to aid the Barbary States.
The Holy Roman Empire/Spain retained control of Milan and Lombardy from 1525 through several crises until the 1860s, when the Italian Wars of Independence were fought. The Kingdom of Sardinia conquered Lombardy, Central Italy, and southern Italy from the Austrians and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, uniting Italy.