Battle of Novara (1513)
| date | June 6, 1513 |
|---|---|
| place | Novara in today's Piedmont region , then Lombardy , Italy |
| output | Victory of the Confederation |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Commander | |
|
Duke Massimiliano Sforza |
|
| Troop strength | |
| approx. 12,000 rice walkers | approx. 20,000 infantrymen (including 6,000 mercenaries) 1200–1400 knights approx. 600 light cavalry 2500 archers 28 guns |
| losses | |
|
about 1500 |
approx. 7000 |
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League of Cambrai (1508–1510)
Agnadello - Padua - Polesella - Mirandola
Holy League (1510 / 11–1516)
Brescia - Ravenna - Navarra - St. Mathieu - Novara - Guinegate - Dijon - Flodden Field - La Motta - Marignano
The Battle of Novara was fought on June 6, 1513 during the Italian Wars between the French under King Louis XII. and the Swiss mercenaries of the Holy League of Cambrai .
leader
After the French army took the city of Milan , the Duke of Milan, Massimiliano Sforza , fled to Novara , the second largest city in the Duchy of Milan , about 40 kilometers west of the capital, under the cover of his 4,000 federal mercenaries (→ Reisläufer ) . There he was surrounded by a French army of about 10,000 men under the general Louis de La Trémoille . In view of the serious situation, the daily statute of the old Confederation sent another army of around 8,000 men across the Alps to rescue the duke. The city had almost fallen under heavy bombardment by French heavy artillery when the arrival of the first half of the relief army forced the French to retreat to Trecate, 4 kilometers away .
course
The leaders of the federal army - Massimiliano Sforza was nominally commander in chief, but the command was in fact with the Swiss captains - decided to attack the French army immediately after their arrival in the early morning hours of June 6, 1513, before the second half of their troops arrived. The French lulled themselves to safety through a ruse by the Swiss, so that they did not take any further security precautions.
The Swiss army consisted almost exclusively of infantry, together with the troops from Novara around 10,000 men. The French army consisted of around 10,000 infantrymen, mostly German mercenaries and gas cogners , as well as around 1,200 French knights, each with two archers. In addition there were around 28 guns, which represented a large number of artillery at the time.
In the morning the confederates attacked the French army in its field camp set up east of the fortress. The attack was carried out from three directions, frontal as well as right and left, with the battle between the main Federal Harst and the German mercenaries being the focus of the battle. The element of surprise prevented a coordinated defense of the French and the use of artillery, the swampy ground prevented an effective use of the French knights.
The German mercenaries initially succeeded in taking up combat formation and stopping the Swiss first impact while the French artillery took up position. Within a few minutes, the Swiss hordes of violence suffered heavy losses, but then undermined the artillery fire, made their way to the battery positions in places, seized the French guns there and thus took the hordes of mercenaries under fire. After two hours the battle was decided and the Confederates had taken the enemy camp. Despite its short duration, the battle was very costly for both sides. Approx. 7,000 men on the French side and around 2,000 on the federal side were killed, and 22 guns fell into the hands of the Swiss. The surviving German mercenaries were killed by the Swiss after the battle.
consequences
The French had to give up the Duchy of Milan and their remaining possessions in Italy after the battle . Duke Massimiliano Sforza was reinstated. Although the confederates had no cavalry that would have allowed the defeated French troops to be pursued effectively, they followed the defeated army as far as Dijon and only left France on payment of war compensation of 400,000 sun crowns .
literature
- Hans Delbrück : History of the Art of War. The Modern Age. Reprint of the first edition from 1920. Nikol Verlag, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-933203-76-7 .
- Hans Rudolf Kurz: Swiss battles . Second, revised and expanded edition. Francke, Bern 1977, ISBN 3-7720-1369-4 , pp. 202-215.
- Ernst Gagliardi : Novara and Dijon. The peak and decline of the great Swiss power in the 16th century . Leemann, Zurich 1907.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Siegfried Fiedler: tactics and strategy of the Landsknechte . Bonn 1985, p. 203