 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (October 2015) |
| Battle of Marignano | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the War of the League of Cambrai | |||||||||
 Francis I Orders His Troops to Stop Pursuing the Swiss, a Romantic 19th century work by Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard (Galerie des Batailles, Palace of Versailles) | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Kingdom of France Venice |
 Old Swiss Confederacy.svg){kind=small} Milan | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Francis I Gian Giacomo Trivulzio Bartolomeo d'Alviano Louis de la Trémoille Charles III, Duke of Bourbon |
Marx Röist Maximilian Sforza[1] Cardinal Mattheus Schiner | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
22,200 men
| |||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
5,000 dead[4] Unknown wounded |
10,000 dead[5] Unknown wounded | ||||||||
The Battle of Marignano was the last major engagement of the War of the League of Cambrai and took place on 13–14 September 1515, near the town now called Melegnano, 16 km southeast of Milan. It pitted the French army, composed of the best heavy cavalry and artillery in the world, led by Francis I, newly crowned King of France, against the Old Swiss Confederacy, whose mercenaries until that point were regarded as the best medieval infantry force in Europe. With the French were German landsknechts, bitter rivals of the Swiss for fame and renown in war, and their late arriving Venetian allies.
- ^ Sforza was present at the battle, and, being the nominal employer of the Swiss, may be considered their leader. It is extremely doubtful, however, that he exercised any actual command.
- ^ Tucker, Spencer C. (2009). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. Vol. II. Santa Bárbara: ABC-CLIO. p.484
- ^ Nolan, Cathal J. (2006). The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. p.575; Nolan, Cathal J. (2017). The Allure of Battle: A History of How Wars Have Been Won and Lost. Oxford University Press. p.68
- ^ Nolan (2006), p.575; Tucker (2009), p.484
- ^ Nolan (2006): p.575