Fernando de Avalos, Marquis of
Pescara, (
1489–
1525), Italian
condottiere, was born at
Naples, his family being of
Spanish origin. As a
Spanish general, he participated in the
Italian Wars. At the
Battle of Ravenna in 1512 he was taken prisoner by the French, but was released at the conclusion of the
War of the League of Cambrai. He was the chief commander of the Habsburg armies in Italy during the
Habsburg-Valois Wars and defeated the French at
Bicocca and
Pavia.
Gaston de Foix, Duc de Nemours (
1489–
1512) was a
French military commander noted mostly for his brilliant six-month campaign from 1511 to 1512 during the
War of the League of Cambrai. He was a nephew of
Louis XII of France. In 1511, Gaston arrived in
Italy as a new commander. Having marched his army to Bologna and scattered the armies of the
Holy League, he then went north and defeated the
Venetians at
Brescia. He then force marched his troops south, intending to besiege
Ravenna and force the Spanish into battle. The
Battle of Ravenna was fought on
April 11,
1512; the Spanish withdrew after suffering tremendous casualties. During the pursuit, Gaston led a cavalry charge against a recalcitrant Spanish infantry unit, and was killed.
Louis XII the Father of the People (
French:
Louis XII le Père du Peuple) (
June 27,
1462–
January 1,
1515) was
King of France from
1498 to
January 1,
1515. In an attempt to make good his claim to the duchy of
Milan, Louis led several invasions of
Italy. He successfully secured Milan in
1499 from his enemy
Ludovico Sforza, and it remained a French stronghold until
1511, when
Pope Julius II formed the
Holy League to oppose the French ambition in Italy. The French were eventually driven from Milan by the Swiss in
1513. Louis also pursued
Charles VIII's claim to the kingdom of
Naples with
Ferdinand II, King of Aragon. Each power took a partition of this kingdom during the
Treaty of Granada (
1500), but were eventually at war over the partitioning, and by
1504 France had lost its share of Naples.
Andrea Gritti was a distinguished
Venetian diplomat and administrator. In 1509, after the Venetian defeat at the
Battle of Agnadello, Gritti was appointed as
proveditor to the Venetian army in
Treviso; ordered by the
Council of Ten to support revolts against the invaders, he successfully engineered the return of
Padua to Venetian hands, and its subsequent defence against the
Emperor. In
1510, following the death of
Pitigliano, Gritti took command of Venice's army, but was forced to withdraw to Venice by French advances. He continued as proveditor through end of the
League of Cambrai and the subsequent war of the
Holy League. In
1512, he led the negotiations with
Francis I that resulted in Venice leaving the League and allying with France.
Ludovico Sforza (Ludovico il Moro, "The Moor") was a member of the
Sforza dynasty of
Milan,
Italy, and the second son of
Francesco Sforza. When Gian Galeazzo died in
1494, Ludovico received the ducal crown from the Milanese nobles on
October 22. The same year he simultaneously encouraged the French under
Charles VIII of France, and the
Holy Roman Emperor,
Maximilian I, to become involved in Italian politics, hoping to control the two and reap the rewards himself—so starting the
Italian Wars. Things did not go as planned, and finding his own position endangered by the French, he joined the league against Charles VIII, giving his niece
Bianca in marriage to
Maximilian I and receiving in return imperial investiture of the duchy. Lodovico was driven from Milan by the new French king,
Louis XII in
1499. In
1500, Louis XII lay siege to the city of
Novara where Ludovico was based. The armies of both sides included
Swiss mercenaries, fighters who had been virtually undefeated in battle for over two centuries. The Swiss did not cherish the idea of fighting each other, and therefore chose to leave Novara. Ludovico was handed over to the French and died a prisoner in the castle of Loches.
Guillaume Gouffier, Seigneur de Bonnivet (c.
1488–
February 24,
1525) was a
French soldier. In the imperial election of
1519 he superintended the candidature of Francis, and spent vast sums of money in his efforts to secure votes, but without success. An implacable enemy of the
Constable de Bourbon, he contributed to the downfall of the latter. In command of the army of
Navarre in 1521, he occupied
Fuenterrabia and was probably responsible for the renewal of hostilities resulting from its not being restored. Bonnivet succeeded
Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, in 1523, as commander of the army of Italy and entered the Milanese, but was defeated and forced to effect a disastrous retreat, in which the
chevalier Bayard perished. He was afterwards one of the principal commanders of the army which Francis led into Italy at the end of 1524, and died at the
Battle of Pavia.
