Today in Military History: April 11, 1512,Battle of Ravenna: Bloody French Victory Over Spanish-Papal Forces

by Siggurdsson

"Battle of Ravenna, April 11, 1512" by Hans Burgkmair the Elder
Engraving, sixteenth century (prior to 1531)
(Unless otherwise indicated, all illustrations are courtesy of Wikipedia)

Today's conflict of interest took place in northern Italy during the early sixteenth century. Italy was still a patchwork of provinces, duchies, and other small territories. The Pope still had dreams of being a player in temporal European politics, while the other major nations of Europe – France, the Holy Roman Empire, and Spain, principally – sought to take over large swathes of territory in the patchwork of Italian states.

Background

"Portrait of Pope Julius II " by Raphael
On display in the National Gallery, London, UK

Pope Julius II, who had become pope upon the death of Alexander VI in August of 1503, was extremely concerned about the territorial expansion of the Republic of Venice in northern Italy. Pope Julius was not alone in his fear of Venetian territorial ambitions. Being from Genoa, Pope Julius knew of the Genoese hatred of Venice for forcing the other states out of the rich Po Valley as the Republic expanded its frontiers across northern Italy. Additionally, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian was upset with the Venetian seizure of Duchy of Friuli. Furthermore, King Louis XII of France had been firmly established in Milan since 1500. Louis XII now saw Venice as a threat to his position in Milan. Moreover, King Ferdinand of Naples resented the fact that Venice held a number of towns in southern Italy along the Adriatic coast.

As a result of all these incidents, Pope Julius formed the League of Cambrai (later to be known simply as the Holy League) in December of 1508. The members of the alliance included France, the Papacy, Spain, the Duchy of Ferrera, and the Holy Roman Empire. Within six months, the League defeated the Venetian army in battle, but failed to achieve many of its objectives. In 1510, King Louis of France began to regard Pope Julilus as a greater thteat to peace in Italy than the Venetians. Julius, meanwhile, had become increasingly concerned by the growing French presence in Italy. He began to formulate a plan to attack the Ferrara – now a French ally – and add its territory to the Papal States. His own forces being inadequate for the venture, the Pope hired an army of Swiss mercenaries, ordering them to attack the French in Milan; he also invited Venice to ally with him against Louis. The Venetians, facing a renewed French onslaught, readily accepted the offer.

Prelude to the Battle

Map of northern Italy c. 1494
Map from William Shepherds Historical Atlas (1911)

The French had assumed control of the Duchy of Milan in northwestern Italy, and sought to gobble up other, smaller city-states in the area. In 1511, King Louis appointed his nephew, Gaston de Foix the Duc de Nemours, to command the French forces in northern Italy. He led the French forces against the armies of the Holy League, achieving victory after victory. De Foix then led his men from the city of Bologna east to the city of Ravenna, then garrisoned by Spanish-Papal troops. Pope Julius, not wishing to lose another important territory to the French, ordered Ramón de Cardona, commander-in-chief of the Holy League armies, to march to the relief of Ravenna.

Cardona marched north in late March or early April. His forces, mainly Spanish, with some German mercenaries and some Papal troops, arrived a mile south of Ravenna on April 10. The Holy League force began to fortify their camp, anticipating an attack from the French besieging Ravenna.

Portrait of Gaston de Foix
Artist unknown, early 16th century
(This work was executed after de Foix's death)

De Foix was almost eager to bring the Papal allies to battle. He had received intelligence from France that England's King Henry VIII was preparing to open a new front in the War of the Holy League, by invading France. De Foix was convinced that King Louis would soon order the French army home to confront Henry's forces. Therefore, De Foix wanted to WIN a victory to put the finishing touches on his legacy in Italy. When he received word of the approach of Cardona's troops, De Foix sent the Spanish commander a formal invitation to meet on the battlefield. Cardona accepted and the two armies began their preparations.[Cardona did not think the Duc de Nemours would attack the next day, as April 11 was Easter Sunday.]

Spanish-Papal Army

The Holy League army consisted of about 16,000 soldiers. At the north end of the camp, near the river, was a unit of heavy cavalry (usually referred to as "men-at-arms" in the sources) consisting of about 670 Papal horsemen. [I; see map below] Farther along the river were two more bodies of men-at-arms, consisting of 565 men [II], and 490 men. [III] The Holy League infantry was arranged in two lines. The front line – both behind and in the entrechment – was divided into four blocks: three divisions of Spanish infantry, each consisting of four colunellas of 500–600 men each (pikemen and arquebusiers), and one formation of Papal infantry of about 2000.[IV] The second line was placed as a reserve, included three Spanish foot regiments[V]. In front of the Holy League infantry, lining the defensive ditch, was 30 cannon [VI]. To the right of the infantry was the allies' light cavalry, consisting of 1500-1700 Spanish jinetes (light cavalry armed mainly with javelins and swords) and Italian mounted arquebusiers. [VII]

French Army

The army under the command of the Duc de Nemours totaled 23,000 men. In the early morning of April 11, French engineers built a pontoon bridge to span the Ronco River, to allow De Foix's forces to more easily take their positions to the east of the Holy League camp. De Foix left a small rear guard/reserve to keep watch on the pontoon bridge. [1] The size and composition of this force is not known, but was likely French. De Foix arranged his forces in a crescent-shaped arc in a plain east of Cardona's fortified camp. Closest to the river were about 900 mounted men-at-arms. [2] On the right side of this cavalry was a unit of 30 French artillery [3]. Next in line was the bulk of the infantry, consisting of three separate units: 3500 Gascon crossbowmen [4], 5000 German landsknechts mercenaries armed with pikes and two-handed swords [5], and 3000 Picards and Gascons wielding mostly pikes [6].

Another unit of mounted men-at-arms, consisting of 780 men, was placed in the arc to the left of the French infantry. [7] Farther to the left of the French line, directly flanking the infantry, was a corps of French allies from nearby Ferrara. It consisted of about 4000 mostly Ferrarese infantry [8], a large unit of 24 artillery – this one supplied by the Ferrarese [9] – flanked, on the extreme left, by about 2000 French light cavalry [10]. The French-Ferrarese army had a huge advantage in artillery, sporting 54 cannon to the Spanish army's 30. This would figure greatly in the battle's outcome.

Initial Dispositions, Battle of Ravenna, April 11, 1512

Battle of Ravenna: Opening Moves

The battle opened with a terrific artillery barrage by the French and Ferrarese, with differing chroniclers saying it lasted between two and three hours. [A] Most of the cannon fire was directed at the Spanish camp. Most of the Spanish and Papal infantry in the front line found shelter in the deep entrenchment, but the artillery fire caused considerable casualties and created disorder among the Holy League's flank cavalry units.[The Ferrarese cannonfire was so intense that some shots went over the Spanish camp and landed among French troops east of the Spanish ditch.] Spanish commander Cordona ordered his own artillery to return fire, but their targets were the Gascon/Picard pike unit and the German landsknechts in the French center.[B] The Spanish bombardment was termed "murderous" by one historian. It was so bad that the Gascon/Picard division nearly broke and ran, but was forced back in line by the neighboring Germans at the points of their pikes. [C]

Opening moves; Battle of Ravenna

Pressed from both sides by the fire of the enemy artillery, the Holy League's cavalry could not hold their positions indefinitely. The first to move was the heavy cavalry of the rearguard under Carvajal, [D] riding out from the entrenchments towards the Ferrarese guns on the French left; the Spanish advance was disorderly and possibly spontaneous. Carvajal was quickly joined by Pescara's light cavalry [E] and by the nearby heavy cavalry [F]. Together, these bodies of cavalry advanced on the French line, the heavies moving directly forward while the light horsemen attempted a flanking movement. The target of the cavalry attack was likely the heavy cavalry of the French center, commanded by Foix, which apparently had moved towards the French left.

The Spanish right-flank horsemen converged on the French cavalry, which split into two bodies and met both Spanish attacks head-on. [G] The initial Spanish charges were unsuccessful in breaking the French line, probably due to the depleted morale of the Spanish cavalry after the artillery bombardment, the effect of "ditches and vegetation" on the Spanish formations, the better tactics of the French, and the arrival of reinforcements sent from the French right flank The bodies of French and Spanish cavalry then engaged in a lengthy fight along the left of the French positions.

Cavalry engagements; battle of Ravenna

Meanwhile, Fabrizio Colonna and his Papal heavy cavalry, having seen the other Spanish cavalry engaged, rode out between the Ronco and the Spanish trenches and charged the French line; [H] his target is similarly the subject of disagreement but he must have attacked the portion of the French right under La Palice which the latter had not sent to assist Foix in the center. As Colonna and La Palice fought along the French right, d'Alègre, who had earlier been summoned by La Palice, arrived with 400 fresh heavy cavalry, as well as the infantry of the French reserve. These French reinforcements struck the flank of the Papal horsemen. [J] In addition, the French right flank commander moved two heavy guns from the main French battery, sent them over the pontoon bridge to the west side of the Ronco, and set the guns to enfilade the Papal cavalry and to bombard the Spanish camp. [K] Colonna's formation, pressed from multiple directions, began to disintegrate, with some of his men-at-arms fleeing the field, others retreated south to where the other Spanish cavalry was engaged, and others retreated back into the Spanish entrenchments. [L]

As the Spanish cavalry was making its initial attack, Foix had sent orders for the French infantry to advance on the Holy League's camp. A mixed group of 2,000 Gascon crossbowmen and 1,000 Picard pikemen, gathered from Molart's and Bozollo's troops, advanced towards the camp, moving along a path between the embankment and the river, and were shielded from view by the former. [M] The Gascons advanced to the edge of the Spanish entrenchments and began to fire onto the Spanish infantry; according to Oman, they were immediately driven back by "a blistering fire of arquebuses and swivel guns".

The main column of German landsknechts had meanwhile made its way to the edge of the Spanish entrenchments, and begun to force its way into the fortified camp. The leaders of the landsknechts, were both killed in the initial push, but parts of the German column finally crossed the ditch and engaged the waiting Spanish infantry hand-to-hand. The Spanish swordsmen inflicted massive casualties among the landsknechts—who were unable to defend themselves with long pikes at such close quarters—and the German column recoiled back across the trenches, having suffered more than a thousand casualties. [N]

French flanking attempts, as cavalry fights end; Battle of Ravenna

D'Alègre followed the retreating Spanish troops to the center, where the remnants of the Spanish cavalry were engaged in a desperate melee against the French. Finally, when a part of the French vanguard joined the fight as well, the Spanish cavalry broke. [O] Many prisoners were taken, while most of the Spanish horsemen fled south-west towards Cesena. [P] A large part of the French cavalry pursued the retreating Spanish, while the others turned to take part in the infantry fight which had unfolded in the meantime.

Final Stages

The landsknechts and the Gascons proceeded to attack once more, with even greater casualties. [Q] Two companies of Spanish infantry attacked the Gascons engaged on the riverbank, breaking their formation and killing their commander, and pursuing them back towards the French artillery positions. [R] The remaining infantry on both sides continued meanwhile to struggle across the entrenchments.

Final stages, Battle of Ravenna

At this juncture, the French cavalry – both those that had returned from the pursuit of the Spanish horsemen and those that had remained on the field – descended on the Spanish infantry from all sides. [S] Together with the German and Gascon infantry, which had reformed and now renewed its attacks, the French cavalry overwhelmed the Spanish formations, inflicting terrible casualties. A few thousand of the Spanish infantry managed to escape, fleeing towards Cesena and Forlì; the others were "ridden over and trampled down," according to one historical account. [T]

During the rout of the Spaniards and their allies, French commander Gaston De Foix Duc de Nemours and his personal staff of about 15 officers encountered two companies of Spanish troops making an orderly retreat along the road leading south. Rather foolishly, De Foix and his men attacked the enemy troops, and most of the Frenchmen – including De Foix – were killed. It was a sad ending to a brilliantly fought battle.

"The Death of Gaston de Foix in the Battle of Ravenna on April 11, 1512"
Oil on canvas by Ary Scheffer (c. 1824), currently at the State Hermitage Museum,
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Aftermath

The battle had lasted most of the day, and the casualty lists reflected that fact. The French army suffered 3000-4500 killed and about 4500 wounded. The Spanish-Papal army suffered nearly 9000 soldiers killed in action, with an unknown number of wounded. The French then captured and sacked the city of Ravenna. Though a victory, the loss of the Duc of Nemours was a blow to the French. A gifted commander, he was replaced by the less aggressive Jacques de la Palice.

Footnote #1: While the Duc de Namours had conquered much of northern Italy, the French were forced to abandon it by August, as their troops were needed to repel the English.

Footnote #2: The War of the League of Cambrai would last another 4 years, only after the French and Venetians defeated a coalition of Swiss Cantons and the duchy of Milan at the battle of Marignano (September 13-15, 1515). The final peace treaty ending this particular war – as did many such compacts – led to renewed conflict on the Italian peninsula in 1521.
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