Michael Anton (Saluzzo)
Michele Antonio del Vasto (born March 26, 1495 in Saluzzo , † October 18, 1528 in Aversa ) was a Piedmontese nobleman, Margrave of Saluzzo and military in the service of the French King Francis I.
biography
Michele Antonio was the eldest son of Ludovico II. Del Vasto , Margrave of Saluzzo, and Marguerite de Foix-Candale, daughter of Jean IV. De Foix-Grailly , who was regent of Saluzzo until 1526. Michele Antonio was raised at the French court ( Michel Antoine de Saluces ).
On March 26, 1515, just 20 years old, he became the governor of Asti . Two years later, in April 1517, he became Capitaine de 100 hommes d'armes des ordonnances , which he remained for exactly ten years until April 1527.
Like his father Ludovico II, he took part in the Italian wars that Louis XII. and Franz I. were led. On September 15, 1524 he became governor of Milan , on February 24, 1525 he fought as governor of Savona in the battle of Pavia .
On May 7, 1525 he became governor of the Dauphiné , on January 30, 1526 he became Count of Castres and Admiral of Guyenne . In March 1526 he became governor of Paris and Île-de-France, succeeding François Bourbon, Comte de Saint-Pol, who in turn succeeded him in the Dauphiné.
Also in 1526 he was the captain of a unit of 6000 French soldiers with whom he conquered Piacenza , which was occupied by imperial troops . On April 17, 1527 he was appointed lieutenant-général for Italy (he was now a knight in the Ordre de Saint-Michel ); he conquered Bologna and Florence , and tried the Sacco di Roma (from May 6, 1527) by marauding German mercenaries who were under the command of Charles III. de Bourbon-Montpensier stood to prevent.
On August 28, 1528 he was defeated by the Spaniards in the battle of Aversa at the head of the remains of the French army from the siege of Naples. He himself was badly wounded when the house he was in came under fire. He died on October 18, 1528.
According to his wishes, his body was buried in the Roman basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli , but his heart was brought back to Piedmont. This testament was taken up in the ballad Il Testamento del Marchese di Saluzzo , in which, as he died, he dictated his last will to the soldiers who surrounded him. This ballad was popular with the Alpini of the First World War four centuries later as Il Testamento del Capitano .
literature
- Delfino Muletti, Carlo Muletti, Memorie storico-diplomatiche appartenenti alla città ed ai marchesi di Saluzzo , Volume 6, Book 15 (1504–1528), Domenico Lobetti-Bodoni, Saluzzo, 1883.
- Jean Duquesne Dictionnaire des Gouverneurs de Province , Éditions Christian, Paris 2002, ISBN 2864960990
- Anthony Stokvis, Manuel d'histoire, de généalogie et de chronologie de tous les États du globe, depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours , Brill , Leiden, 1890–1893, new edition 1966, volume 3, chapter 12, § 11 Saluces and Plate 16, pp. 731-732
Remarks
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Michael Anton |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Vasto, Michele Antonio del |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Piedmontese nobleman, Marquis of Saluzzo, Governor of Paris, Governor of the Dauphiné, Lieutenant General |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 26, 1495 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Saluzzo |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 18, 1528 |
| Place of death | Aversa |