1415—Battle of Agincourt:
During the Hundred Years’ War, Henry V of England invaded France, and his army of some 10,000 men was repelled by the French. Then his soldiers were trapped as they attempted to retreat to Calais (English territory at the time). With only 5,000 archers and perhaps 1,000 other foot soldiers, Henry’s strategy of deploying archers along both sides of a muddy gully yielded victory for the English. The 20,000 horsemen of the French cavalry, slowed by the terrain, were annihilated when they charged. The resulting Treaty of Troyes restored Normandy to the English, with other provisions (see later discussion).
1428—Siege of Orleans:
As the English were besieging the town of Orleans in 1429, Joan of Arc rallied French troops to repulse the enemy and conducted Charles VII to Reims for his coronation.
1450—Battle of Formigny:
Charles VII led French troops against the English at Formigny, putting Normandy under the French Crown.
Warfare
Turkish forces assaulted Constantinople, which fell in 1453. Many Byzantine scholars escaped to Italy, taking manuscripts and knowledge of ancient and early Christian Greek authors.
1485—Siege of Ronda:
Spanish troops under Ferdinand and Isabella successfully besieged Muslim troops in Ronda (western Granada), where Spanish artillery was a decisive factor.
1503—Battle of Cerignola:
Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba (1453-1515) led Holy League troops to defeat the French near this southern Italian town in the Neapolitan campaign. His success marked the first time that the arquebus had been instrumental in winning a military victory. Holy League troops simply dug trenches and waited until the French were within range.
1509—Battle of Agnadello (Battle of Giaradadda):
The Battle of Agnadello was fought on the border between the territories of Venice and Milan. Here the troops of the League of Cambrai, commanded by the condottiere Gian Giacomo Trivulzio (1441-1518), handed the Venetian army its worst loss in history. Charles, duke of Bourbon (1490-1527), played an important part in the victory.
1512— Battle of Ravenna:
Although the French were victorious in the Battle of Ravenna, both sides lost so many men that this was the bloodiest confrontation to date in the Wars of Italy.
1513— Battle of Novara:
At Novara, Swiss forces defending Milan defeated the French army led by Gian Giacomo Trivulzio.
1515—Battle of Marignano:
French troops and German Landsknechte commanded by Gian Giacomo Trivulzio defeated soldiers of the Swiss Confederation in a humiliating victory at Marignano (near Milan), leaving Milan open for French occupation. Artillery played a large part in the victory.
At Biocca (near Milan) Ferdinando d’Avalos (1489-1525) led German and Spanish Imperial troops to defeat the French army.
1525— Battle of Pavia:
Imperial troops under Ferdinando d’Avalos and Charles, duke of Bourbon, attacked French troops laying siege to Pavia. They defeated the French and took Francis I as prisoner.
1526— Battle of Mohdcs:
Suleiman’s Turkish army defeated Hungarian troops and killed their king. From Mohacs the victorious army marched on Buda, and occupied the city in the name of the sultan.
1527— Sack of Rome:
Charles, duke of Bourbon (1490-1527), fought in the Italian Wars for Louis XII. Francis I appointed him constable of France, putting him in charge of the French military. After he served as governor of Milan, Charles became alienated from the king and defected to Charles V. He was killed in the 1527 attack on Rome, after which his soldiers rioted and sacked the city.
1535—Battle of Tunis:
Imperial land troops led by Alfonso d’Avalos and a naval force commanded by Andrea Doria, with Charles V personally at the head of his army, took Tunis from the Muslims. The caliph Mohammed VI was put in charge of the city as a vassal of Spain.
1529—Siege of Vienna:
Among the several sieges of Vienna, the most famous is that of 1529, when the city held off the Turkish army of Suleiman I. Because the sultan’s troops were so far from Constantinople, communication became difficult and supply lines were strained. With the onset of winter and approach of the Imperial army Suleiman withdrew his troops.
1547—Battle of Muhlberg:
The battle of Muhlberg was the decisive victory of the Schmalkaldic War. Imperial soldiers and the army of Saxony defeated the Protestant army.
Handbook to Life in Renaissance Europe
The battle of Marciano is famous for the blatantly defensive tactics of both the Imperial army and the Sienese-French coalition. After a week-long stalemate, the French were running short of supplies and attempted to retreat. They lost at least one-third of their 12,000 soldiers in the resulting assault.
1557—Battle of Saint Quentin:
Spanish forces stationed in the Netherlands marched on Picardy in 1557 in retaliation for French attempts to recapture Naples. Although the soldiers fighting for Spain won a resounding victory and might have been able to take Paris, they refused to continue because they had not been paid.
1571—Battle of Lepanto:
Fought near the Gulf of Corinth, the naval battle of Lepanto was among the most famous events of the 16th century. Don Juan of Austria, commanding more than 200 ships of the Holy League, defeated the Turkish navy. This victory was seen as a triumph for Christianity.
1588—Spanish Armada:
Also known as the “Invincible” Armada, this Spanish naval attack on England never reached shore, partly because of wretched weather conditions. It is one of the most famous failures in Spanish military history. The Spanish fleet of 130 ships sailed from Lisbon, with the goal of picking up the army of the duke of Parma on the coast of Flanders and then invading England. With long-range cannon on more rapid ships, English captains such as Sir Francis Drake (1540 or 1543-96) and John Hawkins prevented the Armada from reaching Flanders. Skirmishes lasted for two weeks, at the end of which violent storms battered the Spanish vessels and scattered the fleet.
World History
