The Battle of Arbedo was fought on 30 June 1422 between the

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan ( it, Ducato di Milano; lmo, Ducaa de Milan) was a state in northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti family, which had been ruling the city sin ...

and the

Swiss Confederation ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and ended with a Milanese victory. In 1419, the

Swiss cantons The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss C ...

Uri Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), an island off Malakula Islan ...

and

Unterwalden Unterwalden, translated from the Latin ''inter silvas''(''between the forests''), is the old name of a forest-canton of the Old Swiss Confederacy in central Switzerland, south of Lake Lucerne, consisting of two valleys or ''Talschaften'', now t ...

bought the fortified town of

Bellinzona Bellinzona ( , , Ticinese ; french: Bellinzone ; german: Bellenz ; rm, Blizuna )is a municipality, a historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its three castles (Castelgrande, Montebell ...

from the

House of Sax The noble family von Sax (originally ''de Sacco'') were a medieval noble family in eastern Switzerland. They owned estates and castles on both sides of the Alps in the modern cantons of St. Gallen, Graubünden and Ticino. The origin of the fami ...

but were unable to defend it adequately. When they rejected a Milanese proposal to purchase Bellinzona in 1422, a Milanese force under the command of the

condottiero ''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other Europe ...

Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola Francesco Bussone, often called Count of Carmagnola (c. 1382 – 5 May 1432), was an Italian condottiero. Life Bussone was born at Carmagnola, near Turin, in a humble peasant family. He began his military career when twelve years old under Facin ...

attacked and defeated the Swiss garrison and occupied the town. A Swiss attempt to recapture Bellinzona with the support of other cantons including

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

and

Zug , neighboring_municipalities = Cham, Baar, Walchwil, Steinhausen, Unterägeri , twintowns = Fürstenfeld (Austria), Kalesija (Bosnia-Herzegowina) Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; french: Zoug it, Zugo r ...

led to the battle at the village of

Arbedo Arbedo-Castione is a municipality in the district of Bellinzona in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Geography Arbedo-Castione has an area, , of . Of this area, or 6.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 77.6% is forested. Of ...

, north of the town. Zug2

The Swiss were mainly equipped with

halberds A halberd (also called halbard, halbert or Swiss voulge) is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The word ''halberd'' is cognate with the German word ''Hellebarde'', deriving from ...

and were initially successful in repelling two Milanese cavalry charges. Carmagnola then brought up his

crossbowmen An arbalist, also spelled arbelist, is one who shoots a crossbow. Background An extensive list of archaic words for medieval crossbowmen is given by Payne-Gallwey. Richardson, in his 1839 dictionary, did not make specific reference to the cross ...

on the Swiss flanks and ordered his

men-at-arms A man-at-arms was a soldier of the High Medieval to Renaissance periods who was typically well-versed in the use of arms and served as a fully-armoured heavy cavalryman. A man-at-arms could be a knight, or other nobleman, a member of a knig ...

to dismount and fight on foot with their

lance A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier ( lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike si ...

s, which outreached the halberds. The Milanese forced the Swiss back onto a nearby hill, but the appearance of a band of foragers, whom the Milanese mistakenly thought were reinforcements, saved the Swiss from total defeat. When the Milanese force pulled back to reform, the Swiss withdrew from the battlefield, both sides having taken heavy casualties. In a historiographical tradition of Zug, the bearer of the cantonal banner, Peter Kälin, was slain, and the banner was taken up by his son, who was slain in his turn. The banner was saved by one Hans Landwing, and was later lost against the French.''Illustrirte Zeitung'' No. 1360, 24 July 1869
p. 72f
The victory secured Bellinzona and the

Leventina The Leventina District is one of the eight districts of the largely Italian-speaking canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The capital of the district is Faido but the largest town is Airolo on the southern flank of the Gotthard Pass. Situated to the ...

for the Duchy. In addition, the Duchy regained the

Val d'Ossola The Ossola (, also Valle Ossola or Val d’Ossola) is an area of Italy situated to the north of Lago Maggiore. It lies within the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. Its principal river is the Toce, and its most important town Domodossola. Et ...

, thus the Swiss lost all their territorial gains. The defeat discouraged Swiss expansion towards

Lake Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; it, Lago Maggiore ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh Maggior; pms, Lagh Magior; literally 'Greater Lake') or Verbano (; la, Lacus Verbanus) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest la ...

for a long time. However, it was this defeat at Arbedo that led to the Swiss increasing the number of

pikemen A pike is a very long thrusting spear formerly used in European warfare from the Late Middle Ages and most of the Early Modern Period, and were wielded by foot soldiers deployed in pike square formation, until it was largely replaced by bayonet ...

in their armies.

Sources

*P. Pieri: ''Il Rinascimento e la crisi militare italiana'' *M. Mallett: ''Mercenaries and their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy'' *E. Pometta: ''Come il Ticino venne in potere degli Svizzeri. Bellinzona'' *A. Battistella: ''Il conte di Carmagnola''

References

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arbedo, Battle Of Battles involving the Duchy of Milan Battles involving Switzerland 1422 in Europe 1420s in the Holy Roman Empire 15th century in Italy Conflicts in 1422

See also

Sources

References

Footnotes