The Battle of Crevola was fought in the spring of 1487, between a marauding

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

army from the

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...

and

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

and troops from 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 sinc ...

, for the supremacy of 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. ...

''(Eschental)'' .

Prelude

In the year 1487, for unknown but petty reasons, Bishop Jost von Silenen entered into dispute with the

Count of Arona Arona (; pms, Aron-a ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Aruna ) is a town and ''comune'' on Lake Maggiore, in the province of Novara (northern Italy). Its main economic activity is tourism, especially from Milan, France and Germany. History Archae ...

, whose seignory was the

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, t ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

. The

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

Albin von Silenen, brother of Bishop Jost von Silenen, was appointed the leader of this military expedition. As soon as the

Simplon pass The Simplon Pass (french: Col du Simplon; german: Simplonpass; it, Passo del Sempione, Lombard: ''Pass del Sempiün'') () is a high mountain pass between the Pennine Alps and the Lepontine Alps in Switzerland. It connects Brig in the canton o ...

was passable, the Swiss crossed into the

; here they were joined by another 1,000 Swiss, who were returning from

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. ...

Battle

The

besieged

Domo Domo may refer to: * Domo (company), American software company which specializes in business intelligence software * Domo (NHK), the mascot of Japan's NHK television station ** '' Domo TV'', a television series featuring NHK's character * Domo (c ...

, occupied the castle of Mattarella, and terribly ravaged the impoverished valleys. The

Duke of Milan The following is a list of rulers of Milan from the 13th century to 1814, after which it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia by the Congress of Vienna. Before elevation to duchy Until 1259, Milan was a free commune that elec ...

, however, ordered the

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. ...

ni to keep the Swiss inactive with false peace negotiations, until the duchy could dispatch a sufficient army. Once the troops were assembled, they were split into three separate

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

under the command of Renato Trivulzio, Count Borromeo, and Gio. Pietro Bergamino. The Swiss were once again marauding in the villages of the

Valle Vigezzo Valle Vigezzo (Vigezzo Valley) is a valley in the Lepontine Alps in northwestern Italy on the border with Canton Ticino of Switzerland. It forms the eastern branch of the Ossola valley. It is also called the Valle dei Pittori (Valley of the Pain ...

, when they were assaulted by the Milanese troops from three sides. The Swiss formed a

square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...

and a murderous combat ensued, in which the Swiss lost 800-1000 men and all their baggage. The rest of the Swiss troops were allowed to flee into the impassable mountain range. The

corpses A cadaver or corpse is a dead human body that is used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a living human being. St ...

of the dead Swiss were desecrated by the local

peasants A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

: the heads and fingers were cut off, the heads put on pikes and the fingers used as hat decorations.

Aftermath

Further bloodshed was however prevented, when a legation of the

Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy or Swiss Confederacy ( Modern German: ; historically , after the Reformation also , "Confederation of the Swiss") was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or In the charters of the 14th century ...

negotiated a peace treaty with the

on July 23, 1487. At ponte di Crevola, the

ni dedicated an Oratory to Martyr Saint Vitalis in honour and remembrance of this victorious battle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crevola, Battle of Crevola Crevola 1487 1487 in Europe 1480s in the Holy Roman Empire 15th century in Italy 15th century in the Old Swiss Confederacy Conflicts in 1487

Prelude

Battle

Aftermath

See also

References