Battle of Ceresole
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Ceresole (or Cérisoles) was an encounter between a French army and the combined forces of Spain
and the Holy Roman Empire
during the Italian War of 1542–46. The lengthy engagement took place on April 11, 1544, outside the village of Ceresole d'Alba
in the Piedmont
region of Italy; the French, under François de Bourbon, Count of Enghien
, defeated the Spanish-Imperial army of Alfonso d'Avalos d'Aquino, Marquis del Vasto. Despite having inflicted substantial casualties on the Imperial troops, the French subsequently failed to exploit their victory by taking Milan
.
Enghien and d'Avalos had arranged their armies along two parallel ridges; because of the topography
of the battlefield, many of the individual actions of the battle were uncoordinated with one another. The battle opened with several hours of skirmishing between opposing bands of arquebus
iers and an ineffectual artillery
exchange, after which d'Avalos ordered a general advance. In the center, Imperial landsknecht
s clashed with French and Swiss
infantry, with both sides suffering terrific casualties. In the southern part of the battlefield, Italian infantry in Imperial service were harried by French cavalry
attacks and withdrew after learning that the Imperial troops of the center had been defeated. In the north, meanwhile, the French infantry
line crumbled, and Enghien led a series of ineffectual and costly cavalry charges against Spanish and German infantry before the latter were forced to surrender by the arrival of the victorious Swiss and French infantry from the center.
Ceresole was one of the few pitched battle
s during the latter half of the Italian Wars
. Known among military historians chiefly for the "great slaughter" that occurred when columns of intermingled arquebusiers and pikemen
met in the center, it also demonstrates the continuing role of traditional heavy cavalry on a battlefield largely dominated by the emerging pike and shot
infantry.
had been marked by the fall of Nice
to a combined Franco-Ottoman army
in August 1543; meanwhile, Spanish-Imperial forces had advanced from Lombardy
towards Turin
, which had been left in French hands at the end of the previous war in 1538. By the winter of 1543–44, a stalemate had developed in the Piedmont
between the French, under the Sieur de Boutières
, and the Imperial army, under d'Avalos. The French position, centered on Turin, reached outward to a series of fortified towns: Pinerolo
, Carmagnola
, Savigliano
, Susa
, Moncalieri
, Villanova
, Chivasso
, and a number of others; d'Avalos, meanwhile, controlled a group of fortresses on the periphery of the French territory: Mondovì
, Asti
, Casale Monferrato
, Vercelli
, and Ivrea
. The two armies occupied themselves primarily with attacking each others' outlying strongholds. Boutières seized San Germano Vercellese
, near Vercelli, and laid siege to Ivrea; d'Avalos, meanwhile, captured Carignano
, only fifteen miles south of Turin, and proceeded to garrison
and fortify
it.
As the two armies returned to winter quarters, Francis I of France
replaced Boutières with François de Vendôme, Count of Enghien, a prince with no experience commanding an army. Francis also sent additional troops to the Piedmont, including several hundred heavy cavalry, some companies of French infantry from Dauphiné
and Languedoc
, and a force of quasi-Swiss from Gruyères
. In January 1544, Enghien laid siege to Carignano, which was defended by Imperial troops under the command of Pirro Colonna
. The French were of the opinion that d'Avalos would be forced to attempt a relief of the besieged city, at which point he could be forced into a battle; but as such pitched battles were viewed as very risky undertakings, Enghien sent Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de Montluc
, to Paris to ask Francis for permission to fight one. Montluc apparently convinced Francis to give his assent—contingent on the agreement of Enghien's captains—over the objections of the Comte de St. Pol
, who complained that a defeat would leave France exposed to an invasion by d'Avalos's troops at a time when Charles V
and Henry VIII of England
were expected to attack Picardy
. Montluc, returning to Italy, brought with him nearly a hundred volunteers from among the young noblemen of the court, including the young Gaspard de Coligny
.
D'Avalos, having waited for the arrival a large body of landsknecht
s dispatched by Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V, set off from Asti towards Carignano. His total force included 12,500–18,000 infantry, of which perhaps 4,000 were arquebusiers or musketeer
s; he was only able to gather about 800–1,000 cavalry, of which less than 200 were gendarmes
. D'Avalos recognized the relative weakness of his cavalry, but considered it to be compensated by the experience of his infantry and the large number of arquebusiers in its ranks.
Enghien, having learned of the Imperial advance, left a blocking force at Carignano and assembled the remainder of his army at Carmagnola, blocking d'Avalos's route to the besieged city. The French cavalry, shadowing d'Avalos's movements, discovered that the Imperial forces were headed directly for the French position; on April 10, d'Avalos occupied the village of Ceresole d'Alba, about five miles (8 km) southeast of the French. Enghien's officers urged him to attack immediately, but he was determined to fight on ground of his own choosing; on the morning of April 11, 1544, the French marched from Carmagnola to a position some three miles (5 km) to the southeast and awaited d'Avalos's arrival. Enghien and Montluc felt that the open ground would give the French cavalry a significant tactical advantage. By this point, the French army consisted of around 11,000–13,000 infantry, 600 light cavalry
, and 900–1,250 heavy cavalry
; Enghien and d'Avalos each had about twenty pieces of artillery
. The battle came at a fortunate time for Enghien, as his Swiss troops were—as they had before the Battle of Bicocca
—threatening to march home if they were not paid; the news of the impending battle restored some calm to their ranks.
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Enghien's troops were positioned along the crest of a ridge that was higher in the center than on either side, preventing the wings of the French army from seeing each other. The French army was divided into the traditional "battle", "vaward", and "rearward" corps, corresponding to the center and right and left wings of the French line. On the far right of the French position was a body of light cavalry, consisting of three companies under Des Thermes, Bernadino, and Mauré, with a total strength of around 450–500 men. To their left was the French infantry under De Tais, numbering around 4,000, and, farther to the left, a squadron of 80 gendarmes under Boutières, who was nominally the commander of the entire French right wing. The center of the French line was formed by thirteen companies of veteran Swiss
, numbering about 4,000, under the joint command of William Frülich of Soleure
and a captain named St. Julian. To their left was Enghien himself with three companies of heavy cavalry, a company of light horse, and the volunteers from Paris—in total, around 450 troopers. The left wing was composed of two columns of infantry, consisting of 3,000 of the recruits from Gruyères
and 2,000 Italians, all under the command of Sieur Descroz. On the extreme left of the line were about 400 mounted archers
deployed as light cavalry; they were commanded by Dampierre, who was also given command of the entire French left wing.
The Imperial line formed up on a similar ridge facing the French position. On the far left, facing Des Thermes, were 300 Florentine
light cavalry under Rodolfo Baglioni
; flanking them to the right were 6,000 Italian infantry under Ferrante Sanseverino, Prince of Salerno. In the center were the 7,000 landsknechts under the command of Eriprando Madruzzo. To their right was d'Avalos himself, together with the small force of about 200 heavy cavalry under Carlo Gonzaga
. The Imperial right wing was composed of around 5,000 German and Spanish infantry under Ramón de Cardona
; they were flanked, on the far right, by 300 Italian light cavalry under Philip de Lannoy, Prince of Sulmona
.
, observing the engagement, described it as "a pretty sight for anyone who was in a safe place and unemployed, for they played off on each other all the ruses and stratagems of petty war." As the extent of each army's position was revealed, Enghien and d'Avalos both brought up their artillery. The ensuing cannonade continued for several hours, but had little effect because of the distance and the considerable cover available to the troops on both sides.
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The skirmishing finally came to an end when it seemed that Imperial cavalry would attack the French arquebusiers in the flank; Montluc then requested assistance from Des Thermes, who advanced with his entire force of light cavalry. D'Avalos, observing the French movement, ordered a general advance along the entire Imperial line. At the southern end of the battlefield, the French light cavalry drove Baglioni's Florentines back into Sanseverino's advancing infantry, and then proceeded to charge directly into the infantry column. The Italian formation held, and Des Thermes himself was wounded and captured; but by the time Sanseverino had dealt with the resulting disorder and was ready to advance again, the fight in the center had already been decided.
—had meanwhile started down the slope towards Sanseverino. Montluc, noting that the disorder of the Italians had forced them to a standstill, suggested that De Tais attack Madruzzo's advancing column of landsknechts instead; this advice was accepted, and the French formation turned left in an attempt to strike the landsknechts in the flank. Madruzzo responded by splitting his column into two separate portions, one of which moved to intercept the French while the other continued up the slope towards the Swiss waiting at the crest.
The pike and shot
infantry had by this time adopted a system in which arquebusiers and pikemen were intermingled in combined units; both the French and the Imperial infantry contained men with firearm
s interspersed in the larger columns of pikemen. This combination of pikes and small arms
made close-quarters fighting extremely bloody. The mixed infantry was normally placed in separate clusters, with the arquebusiers on the flanks of a central column of pikemen; at Ceresole, however, the French infantry had been arranged with the first rank of pikemen followed immediately by a rank of arquebusiers, who were ordered to hold their fire until the two columns met. Montluc, who claimed to have devised the scheme, wrote that:
until the squadron of heavy cavalry under Boutières charged into the landsknechts' flank, shattering their formation and driving them down the slope. The Imperial heavy cavalry, which had been on the landsknechts' right, and which had been ordered by d'Avalos to attack the Swiss, recoiled from the pikes and fled to the rear, leaving Carlo Gonzaga to be taken prisoner.
The Swiss and Gascon infantry proceeded to slaughter the remaining landsknechts—whose tight order precluded a rapid retreat—as they attempted to withdraw from the battlefield. The road to Ceresole was littered with corpses; the Swiss, in particular, showed no mercy, as they wished to avenge the mistreatment of the Swiss garrison of Mondovì the previous November. Most of the landsknechts' officers were killed; and while contemporary accounts probably exaggerate the numbers of the dead, it is clear that the German infantry had ceased to exist as a fighting force. Seeing this, Sanseverino decided that the battle was lost and marched away to Asti with the bulk of the Italian infantry and the remnants of Baglioni's Florentine cavalry; the French light cavalry, meanwhile, joined in the pursuit of the landsknechts.
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On the first charge, Enghien's cavalry penetrated a corner of the Imperial formation, pushing through to the rear and losing some of the volunteers from Paris. As Cardona's ranks closed again, the French cavalry turned and made a second charge under heavy arquebus fire; this was far more costly, and again failed to break the Imperial column. Enghien, now joined by Dampierre's light cavalry, made a third charge, which again failed to achieve a decisive result; fewer than a hundred of the French gendarmes remained afterwards. Enghien believed the battle to be lost—according to Montluc, he intended to stab himself, "which ancient Romans might do, but not good Christians
"—when St. Julian, the Swiss commander, arrived from the center of the battlefield and reported that the Imperial forces there had been routed.
The news of the landsknechts' defeat reached Cardona's troops at about the same time that it had reached Enghien; the Imperial column turned and retreated back towards its original position. Enghien followed closely with the remainder of his cavalry; he was soon reinforced by a company of Italian mounted arquebusiers, which had been stationed at Racconigi and had started towards the battlefield after hearing the initial artillery exchange. These arquebusiers, dismounting to fire and then remounting, were able to harass the Imperial column sufficiently to slow its retreat. Meanwhile, the French and Swiss infantry of the center, having reached Ceresole, had turned about and returned to the battlefield; Montluc, who was with them, writes:
. A few, including the Baron of Seisneck, who had commanded the German infantry contingents, managed to escape.
Despite the collapse of the Imperial army, the battle proved to be of little strategic significance. At the insistence of Francis I, the French army resumed the siege of Carignano, where Colonna held out for several weeks. Soon after the city's surrender, Enghien was forced to send twenty-three companies of Italian and Gascon infantry—and nearly half his heavy cavalry—to Picardy
, which had been invaded by Charles V. Left without a real army, Enghien was unable to capture Milan
. D'Avalos, meanwhile, routed a fresh force of Italian infantry under Pietro Strozzi and the Count of Pitigliano at the Battle of Serravalle. The end of the war saw a return to the status quo in northern Italy.
and Blaise de Montluc
, both of whom were present at the scene. The Sieur de Tavannes
, who accompanied Enghien, also makes some mention of the events in his memoirs. The most extensive account from the Imperial side is that of Paolo Giovio
. Despite a number of inconsistencies with other accounts, it provides, according to historian Charles Oman
, "valuable notes on points neglected by all the French narrators".
The interest of modern military historians in the battle has centered primarily on the role of small arms and the resulting carnage among the infantry in the center. The arrangement of pikemen and arquebusiers used was regarded as too costly, and was not tried again; in subsequent battles, arquebuses were used primarily for skirmishing
and from the flanks of larger formations of pikemen. Ceresole is also of interest as a demonstration of the continuing role of traditional heavy cavalry on the battlefield. Despite the failure of Enghien's charges—the French, according to Bert Hall, held to their belief in "the effectiveness of unaided heavy cavalry to break disciplined formations"—a small body of gendarmes had been sufficient, in the center, to rout infantry columns that were already engaged with other infantry. Beyond this tactical utility, another reason for cavalry's continued importance is evident from the final episode of the battle: the French gendarmes were the only troops who could reasonably be expected to accept an opponent's surrender, as the Swiss and French infantry had no inclination towards taking prisoners. The cavalry was, according to Hall, "almost intuitively expected to heed these entreaties without question".
Habsburg Spain
Habsburg Spain refers to the history of Spain over the 16th and 17th centuries , when Spain was ruled by the major branch of the Habsburg dynasty...
and the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
during the Italian War of 1542–46. The lengthy engagement took place on April 11, 1544, outside the village of Ceresole d'Alba
Ceresole Alba
Ceresole Alba is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 30 km southeast of Turin and about 50 km northeast of Cuneo...
in the Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
region of Italy; the French, under François de Bourbon, Count of Enghien
François de Bourbon, Count of Enghien
François de Bourbon, Count of Enghien was a French prince of the blood. He was the son of Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme....
, defeated the Spanish-Imperial army of Alfonso d'Avalos d'Aquino, Marquis del Vasto. Despite having inflicted substantial casualties on the Imperial troops, the French subsequently failed to exploit their victory by taking Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
.
Enghien and d'Avalos had arranged their armies along two parallel ridges; because of the topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
of the battlefield, many of the individual actions of the battle were uncoordinated with one another. The battle opened with several hours of skirmishing between opposing bands of arquebus
Arquebus
The arquebus , or "hook tube", is an early muzzle-loaded firearm used in the 15th to 17th centuries. The word was originally modeled on the German hakenbüchse; this produced haquebute...
iers and an ineffectual artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
exchange, after which d'Avalos ordered a general advance. In the center, Imperial landsknecht
Landsknecht
Landsknechte were European, predominantly German mercenary pikemen and supporting foot soldiers from the late 15th to the late 16th century, and achieved the reputation for being the universal mercenary of Early modern Europe.-Etymology:The term is from German, Land "land, country" + Knecht...
s clashed with French and Swiss
Swiss mercenaries
Swiss mercenaries were notable for their service in foreign armies, especially the armies of the Kings of France, throughout the Early Modern period of European history, from the Later Middle Ages into the Age of the European Enlightenment...
infantry, with both sides suffering terrific casualties. In the southern part of the battlefield, Italian infantry in Imperial service were harried by French cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
attacks and withdrew after learning that the Imperial troops of the center had been defeated. In the north, meanwhile, the French infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
line crumbled, and Enghien led a series of ineffectual and costly cavalry charges against Spanish and German infantry before the latter were forced to surrender by the arrival of the victorious Swiss and French infantry from the center.
Ceresole was one of the few pitched battle
Pitched battle
A pitched battle is a battle where both sides choose to fight at a chosen location and time and where either side has the option to disengage either before the battle starts, or shortly after the first armed exchanges....
s during the latter half of the Italian Wars
Italian Wars
The Italian Wars, often referred to as the Great Italian Wars or the Great Wars of Italy and sometimes as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts from 1494 to 1559 that involved, at various times, most of the city-states of Italy, the Papal States, most of the major states of Western...
. Known among military historians chiefly for the "great slaughter" that occurred when columns of intermingled arquebusiers and pikemen
Pike (weapon)
A pike is a pole weapon, a very long thrusting spear used extensively by infantry both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a counter-measure against cavalry assaults. Unlike many similar weapons, the pike is not intended to be thrown. Pikes were used regularly in European warfare from the...
met in the center, it also demonstrates the continuing role of traditional heavy cavalry on a battlefield largely dominated by the emerging pike and shot
Pike and shot
Pike and shot is a historical method of infantry combat, and also refers to an era of European warfare generally considered to cover the period from the Italian Wars to the evolution of the bayonet in the late seventeenth century...
infantry.
Prelude
The opening of the war in northern ItalyNorthern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...
had been marked by the fall of Nice
Siege of Nice
The Siege of Nice occurred in 1543 and was part of the Italian War of 1542–46 in which Francis I and Suleiman the Magnificent collaborated in a Franco-Ottoman alliance against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and Henry VIII of England. At that time, Nice was under the control of Charles III, Duke...
to a combined Franco-Ottoman army
Franco-Ottoman alliance
The Franco-Ottoman alliance, also Franco-Turkish alliance, was an alliance established in 1536 between the king of France Francis I and the Turkish ruler of the Ottoman Empire Suleiman the Magnificent. The alliance has been called "the first non-ideological diplomatic alliance of its kind between a...
in August 1543; meanwhile, Spanish-Imperial forces had advanced from Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
towards Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, which had been left in French hands at the end of the previous war in 1538. By the winter of 1543–44, a stalemate had developed in the Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
between the French, under the Sieur de Boutières
Guigues Guiffrey
Guigues Guiffrey, lord of Boutières , was a French soldier in the Italian Wars. He married Gasparde Berlioz in 1526....
, and the Imperial army, under d'Avalos. The French position, centered on Turin, reached outward to a series of fortified towns: Pinerolo
Pinerolo
Pinerolo is a town and comune in north-western Italy, 40 kilometres southwest of Turin on the river Chisone.-History:In the Middle Ages, the town of Pinerolo was one of the main crossroads in Italy, and was therefore one of the principal fortresses of the dukes of Savoy. Its military importance...
, Carmagnola
Carmagnola
Carmagnola is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located 29 km south of Turin. As of July 11, 2007, it had a population of 27,043 and an area of 96.4 km²....
, Savigliano
Savigliano
Savigliano is a comune of Piedmont, northern Italy, in the Province of Cuneo, c. 50 kilometers south of Turin by rail....
, Susa
Susa, Italy
Susa is a city and comune in Piedmont, Italy. It is situated on at the confluence of the Cenischia with the Dora Riparia, a tributary of the Po River, at the foot of the Cottian Alps, 51 km west of Turin.-History:...
, Moncalieri
Moncalieri
Moncalieri is a town and comune of approximately 58,000 inhabitants about eight kilometers directly south of downtown Turin , in Piedmont, Italy. It is notable for its castle, built in the 12th century and enlarged in the 15th century, which later became the favorite residence of Maria Clotilde...
, Villanova
Villanova d'Asti
Villanova d'Asti is a town and comune in the province of Asti, Piedmont, northern Italy. It has around 5,000 inhabitants. The economy is based on a mixture of agriculture and industry.Villanova d'Asti was founded in the Middle Ages....
, Chivasso
Chivasso
Chivasso is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 20 km northeast of Turin. Chivasso has a population of about 25,000...
, and a number of others; d'Avalos, meanwhile, controlled a group of fortresses on the periphery of the French territory: Mondovì
Mondovì
Mondovì is a town and comune of Piedmont, northern Italy, located c. 80 km from Turin....
, Asti
Asti
Asti is a city and comune of about 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River...
, Casale Monferrato
Casale Monferrato
Casale Monferrato, population 36,058, is a town and comune in the Piedmont region of north-west Italy, part of the province of Alessandria. It is situated about 60 km east of Turin on the right bank of the Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montferrato hills. Beyond the river lies the...
, Vercelli
Vercelli
Vercelli is a city and comune of about 47,000 inhabitants in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around the year 600 BC.The city is situated on the river Sesia in the plain of the river...
, and Ivrea
Ivrea
Ivrea is a town and comune of the province of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley , it straddles the Dora Baltea and is regarded as the centre of the Canavese area. Ivrea lies in a basin that, in prehistoric times, formed a great lake...
. The two armies occupied themselves primarily with attacking each others' outlying strongholds. Boutières seized San Germano Vercellese
San Germano Vercellese
San Germano Vercellese is a comune in the Province of Vercelli in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 50 km northeast of Turin and about 14 km northwest of Vercelli...
, near Vercelli, and laid siege to Ivrea; d'Avalos, meanwhile, captured Carignano
Carignano
Carignano is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 20 km south of Turin. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 8,777 and an area of 50.2 km².-Geography:...
, only fifteen miles south of Turin, and proceeded to garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
and fortify
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
it.
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
replaced Boutières with François de Vendôme, Count of Enghien, a prince with no experience commanding an army. Francis also sent additional troops to the Piedmont, including several hundred heavy cavalry, some companies of French infantry from Dauphiné
Dauphiné
The Dauphiné or Dauphiné Viennois is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of :Isère, :Drôme, and :Hautes-Alpes....
and Languedoc
Languedoc
Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...
, and a force of quasi-Swiss from Gruyères
Gruyères
Gruyères is a town in the district of Gruyère in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. Its German name is Greyerz.The medieval town is an important tourist location in the upper valley of the Saane river, and gives its name to the well-known cheese. In this town, a trackless train is the only...
. In January 1544, Enghien laid siege to Carignano, which was defended by Imperial troops under the command of Pirro Colonna
Pirro Colonna
Pirro Colonna was an Italian military leader in the service of Charles V during the Italian War of 1542. He commanded the garrison of Carignano during the French sieges of the city before and after the Battle of Ceresole.-References:...
. The French were of the opinion that d'Avalos would be forced to attempt a relief of the besieged city, at which point he could be forced into a battle; but as such pitched battles were viewed as very risky undertakings, Enghien sent Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de Montluc
Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de Montluc
Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de Montluc was a marshal of France.He was born at the family seat near Condom in the modern département of Gers. Despite being the eldest son of a good family, he had, like most gentlemen of Gascony, to rely on his sword. He was the brother of Jean de...
, to Paris to ask Francis for permission to fight one. Montluc apparently convinced Francis to give his assent—contingent on the agreement of Enghien's captains—over the objections of the Comte de St. Pol
Francis de Bourbon, Count of St. Pol
Francis I de Bourbon-Saint-Pol, Count of St. Pol and of Chaumont , was a French nobleman, Count of Saint-Pol, Duke of Estouteville and important military commander during the Italian Wars.Francis was the second son of Francis, Count of Vendôme and Marie of Luxembourg, Countess of Vendôme.He was...
, who complained that a defeat would leave France exposed to an invasion by d'Avalos's troops at a time when Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
and Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
were expected to attack Picardy
Picardy
This article is about the historical French province. For other uses, see Picardy .Picardy is a historical province of France, in the north of France...
. Montluc, returning to Italy, brought with him nearly a hundred volunteers from among the young noblemen of the court, including the young Gaspard de Coligny
Gaspard de Coligny
Gaspard de Coligny , Seigneur de Châtillon, was a French nobleman and admiral, best remembered as a disciplined Huguenot leader in the French Wars of Religion.-Ancestry:...
.
D'Avalos, having waited for the arrival a large body of landsknecht
Landsknecht
Landsknechte were European, predominantly German mercenary pikemen and supporting foot soldiers from the late 15th to the late 16th century, and achieved the reputation for being the universal mercenary of Early modern Europe.-Etymology:The term is from German, Land "land, country" + Knecht...
s dispatched by Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
Charles V, set off from Asti towards Carignano. His total force included 12,500–18,000 infantry, of which perhaps 4,000 were arquebusiers or musketeer
Musketeer
A musketeer was an early modern type of infantry soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern armies, particularly in Europe. They sometimes could fight on horseback, like a dragoon or a cavalryman...
s; he was only able to gather about 800–1,000 cavalry, of which less than 200 were gendarmes
Gendarme (historical)
A gendarme was a heavy cavalryman of noble birth, primarily serving in the French army from the Late Medieval to the Early Modern periods of European History...
. D'Avalos recognized the relative weakness of his cavalry, but considered it to be compensated by the experience of his infantry and the large number of arquebusiers in its ranks.
Enghien, having learned of the Imperial advance, left a blocking force at Carignano and assembled the remainder of his army at Carmagnola, blocking d'Avalos's route to the besieged city. The French cavalry, shadowing d'Avalos's movements, discovered that the Imperial forces were headed directly for the French position; on April 10, d'Avalos occupied the village of Ceresole d'Alba, about five miles (8 km) southeast of the French. Enghien's officers urged him to attack immediately, but he was determined to fight on ground of his own choosing; on the morning of April 11, 1544, the French marched from Carmagnola to a position some three miles (5 km) to the southeast and awaited d'Avalos's arrival. Enghien and Montluc felt that the open ground would give the French cavalry a significant tactical advantage. By this point, the French army consisted of around 11,000–13,000 infantry, 600 light cavalry
Light cavalry
Light cavalry refers to lightly armed and lightly armored troops mounted on horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the riders are heavily armored...
, and 900–1,250 heavy cavalry
Heavy cavalry
Heavy cavalry is a class of cavalry whose primary role was to engage in direct combat with enemy forces . Although their equipment differed greatly depending on the region and historical period, they were generally mounted on large powerful horses, and were often equipped with some form of scale,...
; Enghien and d'Avalos each had about twenty pieces of artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
. The battle came at a fortunate time for Enghien, as his Swiss troops were—as they had before the Battle of Bicocca
Battle of Bicocca
The Battle of Bicocca or La Bicocca was fought on April 27, 1522, during the Italian War of 1521–26. A combined French and Venetian force under Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, was decisively defeated by a Spanish-Imperial and Papal army under the overall command of Prospero Colonna...
—threatening to march home if they were not paid; the news of the impending battle restored some calm to their ranks.
Dispositions
Swiss mercenaries
Swiss mercenaries were notable for their service in foreign armies, especially the armies of the Kings of France, throughout the Early Modern period of European history, from the Later Middle Ages into the Age of the European Enlightenment...
, numbering about 4,000, under the joint command of William Frülich of Soleure
William Frülich of Soleure
William Frülich of Soleure was a Swiss military leader; he was the commander of the Swiss mercenaries in French service at the Battle of Ceresole.-References:...
and a captain named St. Julian. To their left was Enghien himself with three companies of heavy cavalry, a company of light horse, and the volunteers from Paris—in total, around 450 troopers. The left wing was composed of two columns of infantry, consisting of 3,000 of the recruits from Gruyères
Gruyères
Gruyères is a town in the district of Gruyère in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. Its German name is Greyerz.The medieval town is an important tourist location in the upper valley of the Saane river, and gives its name to the well-known cheese. In this town, a trackless train is the only...
and 2,000 Italians, all under the command of Sieur Descroz. On the extreme left of the line were about 400 mounted archers
Archery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
deployed as light cavalry; they were commanded by Dampierre, who was also given command of the entire French left wing.
The Imperial line formed up on a similar ridge facing the French position. On the far left, facing Des Thermes, were 300 Florentine
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
light cavalry under Rodolfo Baglioni
Rodolfo Baglioni
Rodolfo Baglioni was an Italian condottiero serving in the Imperial army during the Italian War of 1542. He was the son of Malatesta II Baglioni, from whom he inherited the lordship of Perugia, Bettona, Spello and other lands in Umbria.At the Battle of Ceresole, he commanded the Florentine light...
; flanking them to the right were 6,000 Italian infantry under Ferrante Sanseverino, Prince of Salerno. In the center were the 7,000 landsknechts under the command of Eriprando Madruzzo. To their right was d'Avalos himself, together with the small force of about 200 heavy cavalry under Carlo Gonzaga
Carlo Gonzaga (condottiero)
Carlo Gonzaga was an Italian military leader. At the Battle of Ceresole, he commanded the Imperial heavy cavalry, and was captured by the French when it fled from the field.-References:...
. The Imperial right wing was composed of around 5,000 German and Spanish infantry under Ramón de Cardona
Ramón de Cardona
thumb|250px|Tomb of Ramon de Cardona, by [[Giovanni da Nola]].Ramón Folc de Cardona y Anglesola was a Spanish general and politician, who served as the viceroy of Naples during the Italian Wars and commanded the Spanish forces in Italy during the War of the League of Cambrai...
; they were flanked, on the far right, by 300 Italian light cavalry under Philip de Lannoy, Prince of Sulmona
Philip de Lannoy, Prince of Sulmona
Philip de Lannoy, Prince of Sulmona was an Italian military leader in Spanish service. At the Battle of Ceresole, he commanded the Neapolitan light cavalry.-References:...
.
| French (François de Vendôme, Count of Enghien) |
Spanish Habsburg Spain Habsburg Spain refers to the history of Spain over the 16th and 17th centuries , when Spain was ruled by the major branch of the Habsburg dynasty... –Imperial Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes... (Alfonso d'Avalos d'Aquino, Marquis del Vasto Alfonso d'Avalos Alfonso d'Avalos d'Aquino, 4th Marchese di Pescara e del Vasto was a condottiero of Spanish-Italian origin.He was born in Ischia, the nephew of Francesco Ferdinando I d´Ávalos, inheriting his uncle titles after 1525, fighting the French and the Venetians by his side... ) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit | Strength | Commander | Unit | Strength | Commander |
| Light cavalry | ~400 | Dampierre | Neapolitan Naples Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples... light cavalry |
~300 | Philip de Lannoy, Prince of Sulmona Philip de Lannoy, Prince of Sulmona Philip de Lannoy, Prince of Sulmona was an Italian military leader in Spanish service. At the Battle of Ceresole, he commanded the Neapolitan light cavalry.-References:... |
| Italian infantry | ~2,000 | Descroz | Spanish and German infantry | ~5,000 | Ramón de Cardona Ramón de Cardona thumb|250px|Tomb of Ramon de Cardona, by [[Giovanni da Nola]].Ramón Folc de Cardona y Anglesola was a Spanish general and politician, who served as the viceroy of Naples during the Italian Wars and commanded the Spanish forces in Italy during the War of the League of Cambrai... |
| Gruyères infantry | ~3,000 | Descroz | |||
| Heavy cavalry | ~450 | François de Vendôme, Count of Enghien | Heavy cavalry | ~200 | Carlo Gonzaga Carlo Gonzaga (condottiero) Carlo Gonzaga was an Italian military leader. At the Battle of Ceresole, he commanded the Imperial heavy cavalry, and was captured by the French when it fled from the field.-References:... |
| Swiss | ~4,000 | William Frülich of Soleure William Frülich of Soleure William Frülich of Soleure was a Swiss military leader; he was the commander of the Swiss mercenaries in French service at the Battle of Ceresole.-References:... and St. Julian |
Landsknechts | ~7,000 | Eriprando Madruzzo |
| Heavy cavalry | ~80 | Sieur de Boutières Guigues Guiffrey Guigues Guiffrey, lord of Boutières , was a French soldier in the Italian Wars. He married Gasparde Berlioz in 1526.... |
|||
| French (Gascon) infantry | ~4,000 | De Tais Le Seigneur de Tais Le Seigneur de Tais was a General of the Foot and a Colonel General of the Infantry of France. He was the commander of the French forces who fought at the Battle of Bonchurch. He also commanded the French infantry at the Battle of Ceresole.-References:... |
Italian infantry | ~6,000 | Ferrante Sanseverino, Prince of Salerno |
| Light cavalry | ~450–500 | Des Thermes | Florentine light cavalry | ~300 | Rodolfo Baglioni Rodolfo Baglioni Rodolfo Baglioni was an Italian condottiero serving in the Imperial army during the Italian War of 1542. He was the son of Malatesta II Baglioni, from whom he inherited the lordship of Perugia, Bettona, Spello and other lands in Umbria.At the Battle of Ceresole, he commanded the Florentine light... |
Initial moves
As d'Avalos's troops, marching from Ceresole, began to arrive on the battlefield, both armies attempted to conceal their numbers and position from the other; Enghien had ordered the Swiss to lie on the ground behind the crest of the ridge, while only the left wing of the Imperial army was initially visible to the French. D'Avalos sent out parties of arquebusiers in an attempt to locate the French flanks; Enghien, in turn, detached about 800 arquebusiers under Montluc to delay the Imperial advance. The skirmishing between the arquebusiers continued for almost four hours; Martin Du BellayMartin Du Bellay
Martin Du Bellay, Sieur de Langey was a French nobleman and chronicler. His memoirs of the Italian Wars form one of the most significant primary sources for the period.-Works:...
, observing the engagement, described it as "a pretty sight for anyone who was in a safe place and unemployed, for they played off on each other all the ruses and stratagems of petty war." As the extent of each army's position was revealed, Enghien and d'Avalos both brought up their artillery. The ensuing cannonade continued for several hours, but had little effect because of the distance and the considerable cover available to the troops on both sides.
"A wholesale slaughter"
The French infantry—mostly GasconsGascony
Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...
—had meanwhile started down the slope towards Sanseverino. Montluc, noting that the disorder of the Italians had forced them to a standstill, suggested that De Tais attack Madruzzo's advancing column of landsknechts instead; this advice was accepted, and the French formation turned left in an attempt to strike the landsknechts in the flank. Madruzzo responded by splitting his column into two separate portions, one of which moved to intercept the French while the other continued up the slope towards the Swiss waiting at the crest.
Pike and shot
Pike and shot is a historical method of infantry combat, and also refers to an era of European warfare generally considered to cover the period from the Italian Wars to the evolution of the bayonet in the late seventeenth century...
infantry had by this time adopted a system in which arquebusiers and pikemen were intermingled in combined units; both the French and the Imperial infantry contained men with firearm
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
s interspersed in the larger columns of pikemen. This combination of pikes and small arms
Small arms
Small arms is a term of art used by armed forces to denote infantry weapons an individual soldier may carry. The description is usually limited to revolvers, pistols, submachine guns, carbines, assault rifles, battle rifles, multiple barrel firearms, sniper rifles, squad automatic weapons, light...
made close-quarters fighting extremely bloody. The mixed infantry was normally placed in separate clusters, with the arquebusiers on the flanks of a central column of pikemen; at Ceresole, however, the French infantry had been arranged with the first rank of pikemen followed immediately by a rank of arquebusiers, who were ordered to hold their fire until the two columns met. Montluc, who claimed to have devised the scheme, wrote that:
In this way we should kill all their captains in the front rank. But we found that they were as ingenious as ourselves, for behind their first line of pikes they had put pistoleerThe Swiss, seeing the French engage one of the two columns of landsknechts, finally descended to meet the other, which had been slowly moving up the hillside. Both masses of infantry remained locked in a push of pikePistoleerA pistoleer is a soldier trained to use a pistol, or more generally anyone armed with such a weapon.The earliest kind of pistoleer was the mounted German Reiter, who came to prominence in Europe after the Battle of St. Quentin in 1557. These soldiers were equipped with a number of single-shot,...
s. Neither side fired till we were touching—and then there was a wholesale slaughter: every shot told: the whole front rank on each side went down.
Push of pike
The push of pike was a particular feature of late medieval and Early Modern warfare that occurred when two opposing columns of pikemen collided and became locked in position along a front of interleaved pikes...
until the squadron of heavy cavalry under Boutières charged into the landsknechts' flank, shattering their formation and driving them down the slope. The Imperial heavy cavalry, which had been on the landsknechts' right, and which had been ordered by d'Avalos to attack the Swiss, recoiled from the pikes and fled to the rear, leaving Carlo Gonzaga to be taken prisoner.
The Swiss and Gascon infantry proceeded to slaughter the remaining landsknechts—whose tight order precluded a rapid retreat—as they attempted to withdraw from the battlefield. The road to Ceresole was littered with corpses; the Swiss, in particular, showed no mercy, as they wished to avenge the mistreatment of the Swiss garrison of Mondovì the previous November. Most of the landsknechts' officers were killed; and while contemporary accounts probably exaggerate the numbers of the dead, it is clear that the German infantry had ceased to exist as a fighting force. Seeing this, Sanseverino decided that the battle was lost and marched away to Asti with the bulk of the Italian infantry and the remnants of Baglioni's Florentine cavalry; the French light cavalry, meanwhile, joined in the pursuit of the landsknechts.
Engagements in the north
On the northern end of the battlefield, events had unfolded quite differently. Dampierre's cavalry routed Lannoy's company of light horse; the Italians and the contingent from Gruyères, meanwhile, broke and fled—leaving their officers to be killed—without offering any real resistance to the advancing Imperial infantry. As Cardona's infantry moved past the original French line, Enghien descended on it with the entire body of heavy cavalry under his command; the subsequent engagement took place on the reverse slope of the ridge, out of sight of the rest of the battlefield.Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
"—when St. Julian, the Swiss commander, arrived from the center of the battlefield and reported that the Imperial forces there had been routed.
The news of the landsknechts' defeat reached Cardona's troops at about the same time that it had reached Enghien; the Imperial column turned and retreated back towards its original position. Enghien followed closely with the remainder of his cavalry; he was soon reinforced by a company of Italian mounted arquebusiers, which had been stationed at Racconigi and had started towards the battlefield after hearing the initial artillery exchange. These arquebusiers, dismounting to fire and then remounting, were able to harass the Imperial column sufficiently to slow its retreat. Meanwhile, the French and Swiss infantry of the center, having reached Ceresole, had turned about and returned to the battlefield; Montluc, who was with them, writes:
When we heard at Ceresole that M. d'Enghien wanted us, both the Swiss and we Gascons turned toward him—I never saw two battalions form up so quick—we got into rank again actually as we ran along, side by side. The enemy was going off at quick march, firing salvos of arquebuses, and keeping off our horse, when we saw them. And when they descried us only 400 paces away, and our cavalry making ready to charge, they threw down their pikes and surrenderedPerhaps as many as half of the Imperial infantry were killed as they were attempting to surrender; the remainder, about 3,150 men, were taken prisonerSurrender (military)Surrender is when soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and eventually become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers. A white flag is a common symbol of surrender, as is the gesture of raising one's hands empty and open above one's head.When the...
to the horsemen. You might see fifteen or twenty of them round a man-at-armsMan-at-armsMan-at-arms was a term used from the High Medieval to Renaissance periods to describe a soldier, almost always a professional warrior in the sense of being well-trained in the use of arms, who served as a fully armoured heavy cavalryman...
, pressing about him and asking for quarter, for fear of us of the infantry, who were wanting to cut all their throats.
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
. A few, including the Baron of Seisneck, who had commanded the German infantry contingents, managed to escape.
Aftermath
The casualties of the battle were unusually high, even by the standards of the time, and are estimated at 28 percent of the total number of troops engaged. The smallest numbers given for the Imperial dead in contemporary accounts are between 5,000 and 6,000, although some French sources give figures as high as 12,000. A large number of officers were killed, particularly among the landsknechts; many of those who survived were taken prisoner, including Ramón de Cardona, Carlo Gonzaga, and Eriprando Madruzzo. The French casualties were smaller, but numbered at least 1,500 to 2,000 killed. These included many of the officers of the Gascon and Gruyères infantry contingents, as well as a large portion of the gendarmerie that had followed Enghien. The only French prisoner of note was Des Thermes, who had been carried along with Sanseverino's retreating Italians.Despite the collapse of the Imperial army, the battle proved to be of little strategic significance. At the insistence of Francis I, the French army resumed the siege of Carignano, where Colonna held out for several weeks. Soon after the city's surrender, Enghien was forced to send twenty-three companies of Italian and Gascon infantry—and nearly half his heavy cavalry—to Picardy
Picardy
This article is about the historical French province. For other uses, see Picardy .Picardy is a historical province of France, in the north of France...
, which had been invaded by Charles V. Left without a real army, Enghien was unable to capture Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. D'Avalos, meanwhile, routed a fresh force of Italian infantry under Pietro Strozzi and the Count of Pitigliano at the Battle of Serravalle. The end of the war saw a return to the status quo in northern Italy.
Historiography
A number of detailed contemporary accounts of the battle have survived. Among the French chronicles are the narratives of Martin Du BellayMartin Du Bellay
Martin Du Bellay, Sieur de Langey was a French nobleman and chronicler. His memoirs of the Italian Wars form one of the most significant primary sources for the period.-Works:...
and Blaise de Montluc
Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de Montluc
Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de Montluc was a marshal of France.He was born at the family seat near Condom in the modern département of Gers. Despite being the eldest son of a good family, he had, like most gentlemen of Gascony, to rely on his sword. He was the brother of Jean de...
, both of whom were present at the scene. The Sieur de Tavannes
Gaspard de Saulx
Gaspard de Saulx, sieur de Tavannes was a French military leader during the Italian Wars and the French Wars of Religion.-Biography:He was born in Dijon....
, who accompanied Enghien, also makes some mention of the events in his memoirs. The most extensive account from the Imperial side is that of Paolo Giovio
Paolo Giovio
thumb|Paolo Giovio.thumb|Monument to Paolo Giovo by [[Francesco da Sangallo]], in [[San Lorenzo di Firenze|San Lorenzo]] Basilica, [[Florence]].Paolo Giovio was an Italian physician, historian and biographer, and prelate.He is chiefly known as the author of a celebrated work of...
. Despite a number of inconsistencies with other accounts, it provides, according to historian Charles Oman
Charles Oman
Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman was a British military historian of the early 20th century. His reconstructions of medieval battles from the fragmentary and distorted accounts left by chroniclers were pioneering...
, "valuable notes on points neglected by all the French narrators".
The interest of modern military historians in the battle has centered primarily on the role of small arms and the resulting carnage among the infantry in the center. The arrangement of pikemen and arquebusiers used was regarded as too costly, and was not tried again; in subsequent battles, arquebuses were used primarily for skirmishing
Skirmisher
Skirmishers are infantry or cavalry soldiers stationed ahead or alongside a larger body of friendly troops. They are usually placed in a skirmish line to harass the enemy.-Pre-modern:...
and from the flanks of larger formations of pikemen. Ceresole is also of interest as a demonstration of the continuing role of traditional heavy cavalry on the battlefield. Despite the failure of Enghien's charges—the French, according to Bert Hall, held to their belief in "the effectiveness of unaided heavy cavalry to break disciplined formations"—a small body of gendarmes had been sufficient, in the center, to rout infantry columns that were already engaged with other infantry. Beyond this tactical utility, another reason for cavalry's continued importance is evident from the final episode of the battle: the French gendarmes were the only troops who could reasonably be expected to accept an opponent's surrender, as the Swiss and French infantry had no inclination towards taking prisoners. The cavalry was, according to Hall, "almost intuitively expected to heed these entreaties without question".
Further reading
- Courteault, P. Blaise de Monluc historien. Paris, 1908.
- Du Bellay, Martin, Sieur de LangeyMartin Du BellayMartin Du Bellay, Sieur de Langey was a French nobleman and chronicler. His memoirs of the Italian Wars form one of the most significant primary sources for the period.-Works:...
. Mémoires de Martin et Guillaume du Bellay. Edited by V. L. Bourrilly and F. Vindry. 4 volumes. Paris: Société de l'histoire de FranceSociété de l'histoire de FranceThe Société de l'histoire de France was established on 21 December 1833 at the instigation of the French minister of Public Instruction, François Guizot, in order to contribute to the renewal of historical scholarship fuelled by a widespread interest in national history, typical of the Romantic...
, 1908–19. - Giovio, PaoloPaolo Gioviothumb|Paolo Giovio.thumb|Monument to Paolo Giovo by [[Francesco da Sangallo]], in [[San Lorenzo di Firenze|San Lorenzo]] Basilica, [[Florence]].Paolo Giovio was an Italian physician, historian and biographer, and prelate.He is chiefly known as the author of a celebrated work of...
. Pauli Iovii Opera. Volume 3, part 1, Historiarum sui temporis. Edited by D. Visconti. Rome: Libreria dello Stato, 1957. - Lot, Ferdinand. Recherches sur les effectifs des armées françaises des guerres d'Italie aux guerres de religion, 1494–1562. Paris: École Pratique des Hautes Études, 1962.
- Monluc, Blaise deBlaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de MontlucBlaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de Montluc was a marshal of France.He was born at the family seat near Condom in the modern département of Gers. Despite being the eldest son of a good family, he had, like most gentlemen of Gascony, to rely on his sword. He was the brother of Jean de...
. Commentaires. Edited by P. Courteault. 3 volumes. Paris: 1911–25. Translated by Charles Cotton as The Commentaries of Messire Blaize de Montluc (London: A. Clark, 1674). - ———. Military Memoirs: Blaise de Monluc, The Habsburg-Valois Wars, and the French Wars of Religion. Edited by Ian Roy. London: Longmans, 1971.
- Saulx, Gaspard de, Seigneur de TavanesGaspard de SaulxGaspard de Saulx, sieur de Tavannes was a French military leader during the Italian Wars and the French Wars of Religion.-Biography:He was born in Dijon....
. Mémoires de très noble et très illustre Gaspard de Saulx, seigneur de Tavanes, Mareschal de France, admiral des mers de Levant, Gouverneur de Provence, conseiller du Roy, et capitaine de cent hommes d'armes. Château de Lugny: Fourny, 1653.