Battle of Ravenna (1512)
| Battle of Ravenna | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the War of the League of Cambrai | |||||||
Mort de Gaston de Foix à Ravenne, 11 avril 1512, oil on canvas by Ary Scheffer, 1824, Palace of Versailles | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
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Kingdom of France Duchy of Ferrara |
Spain Papal States | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Gaston de Foix † Jacques de La Palice Alfonso I d'Este |
Ramón de Cardona Fabrizio Colonna Pedro Navarro | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
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2,000 men left to hold Ravenna 21,000 men engaged against the relief army 54 artillery pieces |
Garrison at Ravenna: 5,000 men Relief army: 16,000 men 30 artillery pieces 30 war wagons | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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3,000–4,500 dead 4,500 wounded |
7,000 dead Unknown wounded 17,000 civilians killed | ||||||
The Battle of Ravenna, fought on 11 April 1512, was a major battle of the War of the League of Cambrai. It saw a Spanish-Papal army under Viceroy of Naples Ramón de Cardona (the Holy League) defeated by France and their Ferrarese allies under Gaston of Foix, who was killed during the battle.
The battle was exceptionally bloody and saw both sides making a previously unseen usage of artillery. Although the Spanish artillery inflicted massive casualties, Ferrarese general Alfonso d'Este initiated a decisive French flanking of the Holy League with their own guns, hitting the exposed enemy cavalry and making their line collapse. The Spanish infantry repulsed a first French advance, but, with the cavalry routed, the Holy League army was ultimately surrounded and defeated. Gaston of Foix then died in action when he attempted to rout the retreating Spanish with a cavalry charge.
The French and Ferrarese eliminated the main army of Naples as a serious threat, although their triumph was overshadowed by the loss of their young general. The victory therefore did not help them secure northern Italy, leading the French to withdraw entirely from Italy in the summer of 1512, as Swiss mercenaries hired by Pope Julius II and Imperial troops under Emperor Maximilian I arrived in Lombardy. The Sforza were restored to power in Milan.