The War of the League of Cambrai (1508-1516) was the third of the Italian Wars, fought initially between the French, Spanish, and Austrian-led "League of Cambrai" and the Republic of Venice, and later between France and Venice and the Papal-backed "Holy League" of Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and England. The war was decided by the 1515 Battle of Marignano, allowing for the French to regain lost territory and restore the status quo ante bellum in 1508.
History[]
In 1508, Pope Julius II created the League of Cambrai with the goal of curbing Venetian influence in northern Italy. This alliance consisted of himself, Louis XII of France, Ferdinand II of Aragon, and Emperor Maximilian I. The league was initially successful; in 1509, Louis XII left Milan to invade Venetian territory and decisively defeated the Venetians at Agnadello, destroying a 15,000-strong Venetian army and capturing its general, Bartolomeo d'Alviano. However, the Venetians conquered Padua, pushing the Imperial forces out of Italy; it would not be until 1516 that the Imperial forces attempted another invasion of Italy. Friction between King Louis and Pope Julius led to the alliance collapsing in 1510, and the Papal States then allied with Venice against the Kingdom of France, which was now the dominant power in northern Italy. In 1511, the Pope formed a "Holy League" to oppose France, and this alliance included the Pope, Venice, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, England, and Swiss mercenaries, joined by the Duchy of Milan in 1513.
In 1512, the city of Brescia revolted against the French and garrisoned itself with Venetian troops, only for the French general Gaston de Foix to take the city after a costly assault and massacre its inhabitants. He proceeded to defeat a Spanish-Papal army at Ravenna on 11 April 1512, although he was killed while pursuing his retreating foes. The French would proceed to sack Ravenna, but much of the French army withdrew from Italy after the battle. The Spanish army, which was almost entirely destroyed at Ravenna, but Ramon de Cardona would raise another army and return to Lombardy in 1513. Spain would have its revenge when it invaded Navarre in 1512, conquering all of the kingdom to the south of the Pyrenees. England would find itself drawn to the alliance due to its opposition to French hegemony in Europe, and it defeated a French fleet at Saint-Mathieu (off the western coast of Brittany) on 10 August 1512. In 1513, the Swiss invaded Italy and installed Maximilian Sforza as the new Duke of Milan. The Swiss defeated the French at Novara, which was a crushing defeat for them. In August 1513, a 30,000-strong Anglo-Imperial army under King Henry VIII of England defeated the French at the Battle of the Spurs in northern France, proceeding to conquer Tournai. A month later, France's ally of Scotland entered the war in support of France, only to have its army destroyed at the Battle of Flodden on 9 September 1513; King James IV of Scotland and several of his nobles were killed in battle. On 7 October 1513, to bring a close to their string of victories, the Spanish-Imperial forces decisively defeated d'Alviano's Venetian army at La Motta.
However, the tide turned in 1515. On 1 January 1515, on the death of Louis VII, Francis I of France became the new French monarch. Backed by Venetian forces, King Francis launched an invasion of Italy to reconquer all lost territories, and he went to battle with a Swiss-Milanese army at the Battle of Marignano (to the south of Milan) on 13-14 September 1515. The French army, possessing the best lancers and artillery in Europe, won an astounding victory over the allied forces, forcing the Swiss cantons to make peace with King Francis. Francis carried on to Milan, where he forced Maximilian Sforza to sell him the title of Duke of Milan. Francis regained all of the territory lost to the Holy League, and he signed peace treaties at Noyon and Brussels, essentially returning the borders to their 1508 borders.