On to the next major battle of the Italian wars, the battle of Novara fought on 6 June 1513 between France and the Swiss for the control over the Duchy of Milan. This battle was the high point of the Swiss mercenaries during the Italian Wars, routing the larger French army!
This battle was the next major battle after the bloody 1512 clash at Ravenna where the French beat the Spanish-Papal force of the Holy League alliance. Despite their victory, the French army collapsed soon after due their brilliant young commander Gaston of Foix dying in battle.
While the French managed to practically annihilate their opposing army, their casualties were also very high and without the charismatic leadership of Foix, the army disbanded. The French occupation of Duchy of Milan and other parts of northern Italy was now unsustainable.
In normal circumstances, a peace between two sides would follow, but as we saw in previous chapters of the Italian Wars, there was always some other major player lurking in the background to exploit defeats of others, thus the wars just kept going and new conflicts emerged.
With the French control crumbling, the forces of the anti-French Holy League began to divide the spoils. Holy Roman Empire wanted the Duchy of Milan but it would end up being taken over by the neighboring Swiss who installed Maximiliano Sforza as the Duke of Milan.
The next crucial development was when the bellicose Pope Julius II who initiated the Holy League died in February 1513, replaced by the more peaceful Pope Leo X from the Florentine Medici family, which also meant that the Papal States were now effectively in union with Florence.
The French had other things to worry about during 1512 as the English invaded France from the north. However with this new development in Italy in 1513, they saw an opportunity to regain what was lost. They made an alliance with Venice which also wanted to get back territories.
This just shows how chaotic the Italian Wars have been as this particular War of the League of Cambrai started in 1508 with an anti-Venetian alliance of Cambrai and France invading Venice in 1509 and crushing its army, and by 1513 France and Venice were allies in the same war!
Now the alliances were shifted completely and it was France and Venice against everyone else! Emboldened by the new situation, the first objective of the French was to oust the Swiss mercenaries out of the Duchy of Milan and reclaim it, and then campaign from there.
The decisive engagement would be fought on 6 June 1513 at Novara. As the French besieged this city, a large Swiss relief force surprised them and an open battle followed. Swiss had an army of around 10000 men, almost entirely made of pikemen and no support cavalry or artillery!
On the other side were the French with around 20000 men, mostly infantry which included a large contingent of Landksnecht mercenaries, but also heavy cavalry and artillery. They were led by French general Louis de la Trémoille, a veteran warrior of the Italian Wars.
This battle was one of the finest Swiss victories as the skilled Swiss mercenaries completely surprised the French. Using their mobility and extreme discipline, they were able to march quickly over the marshy terrain towards the French artillery, during which they lost 700 men.
Once they reached the artillery lines, the Swiss fought with their bitter rivals the Landsknecht mercenaries and managed to overwhelm them by flanking them with extra detachments of men. The fighting was fierce and the Landsknechts finally routed, with Swiss taking no prisoners!
Meanwhile another Swiss regiment engaged with the French heavy cavalry which was taken by surprise and was unable to form in formation. Eventually, they retreated as well, leaving the Swiss victorious. The French lost around 7000 men and also all the cannons!
The casualties would have been higher if the Swiss had a cavalry to chase down the fleeing French. The Swiss lost only around 1500 men and decided to go on a raiding campaing in France where they had to be paid off by King Louis XII to stop pillaging and return.
The battle of Novara was a disaster for the French. The Swiss won it thanks to their unique offensive infantry tactical discipline, taking the French and their mercenaries completely off guard. However the endless Italian wars would continue and the French would be back soon!
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