The Battle of Maclodio was fought on 11 October 1427, resulting in a victory for the Venetians under

Carmagnola Carmagnola (; pms, Carmagnòla ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located south of Turin. The town is on the right side of the Po river. The nature of the soil determined over t ...

over the

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

ese under

Carlo I Malatesta Carlo I Malatesta (June 1368 – 13 September 1429) (also Carlo of Rimini) was an Italian condottiero during the Wars in Lombardy and lord of Rimini, Fano, Cesena and Pesaro. He was a member of the powerful House of Malatesta. Carlo's wife was ...

. The battle was fought at

Maclodio Maclodio (Brescian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia The Province of Brescia ( it, provincia di Brescia; Brescian: ) is a Province in the Lombardy administrative region of northern Italy. It has a population of some 1,265,9 ...

(or Macalo), a small town near the

River Oglio A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wat ...

, fifteen kilometres (nine miles) south-west of

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

. This battle, fought during the second campaign, was the only decisive victory for Venice in the

Wars in Lombardy The Wars in Lombardy were a series of conflicts between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan and their respective allies, fought in four campaigns in a struggle for hegemony in Northern Italy that ravaged the economy of Lombardy and ...

. This battle forced the Milanese into a treaty, conceding Brescia in 1428, though fighting of the wars in Lombardy was to resume later, continuing until the

Treaty of Lodi The Treaty of Lodi, or Peace of Lodi, was a peace agreement between Duchy of Milan, Milan, Kingdom of Naples, Naples and Republic of Florence, Florence that was signed on 9 April 1454 at Lodi, Lombardy, Lodi in Lombardy, on the banks of the Adda ...

in 1454. The war began with a pact between Venice and

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

to oppose

Filippo Maria Visconti Filippo Maria Visconti (3 September 1392 – 13 August 1447)

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 elect ...

, and his territorial ambitions. The Venetian commander for the battle, Carmagnola, had recently been under the employ of Milan but defected to Venice when Filippo Maria gave him governorship of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

rather than further military duty in an attempt to lessen his power. The

doge A doge ( , ; plural dogi or doges) was an elected lord and head of state in several Italian city-states, notably Venice and Genoa, during the medieval and renaissance periods. Such states are referred to as " crowned republics". Etymology The ...

of Venice,

Francesco Foscari Francesco Foscari (19 June 1373 – 1 November 1457) was the 65th Doge of the Republic of Venice from 1423 to 1457. His reign, the longest of all Doges in Venetian history, lasted 34 years, 6 months and 8 days, and coincided with the inception o ...

, was seriously considering helping Florence in their conflict against Milan, and Carmagnola spurred this on, persuading the doge to name him general in a new war against Milan. Carmagnola quickly took Brescia for Venice, then made sure he campaigned very slowly, doing very little for a long time, forcing Venice to pay incredible amounts in upkeep for the almost useless army. Eventually the public was starting to catch on to this, so Carmagnola decided he needed another big victory to keep in command. He finally moved into enemy territory and met the army of Filippo Maria, under Carlo Malatesta, at Maclodio. The town itself was virtually destroyed in the battle, and the result was a decisive victory for Venice. Carmagnola was heavily praised and rewarded, being given a palace at

San Stae San Stae is a church in central Venice, in the sestiere of Santa Croce. San Stae, an abbreviation for Saint Eustachius, was founded at the beginning of the 11th century and reconstructed in the 17th century, and has a main facade (1709) on the ...

that used to be the property of the Malatesta family, a fief in

no, and a letter of appreciation from the doge. Public opinion of Carmagnola quickly soured again, however, as he released all 8,000 prisoners captured and decided not to advance on the defenceless

Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...

. He then retired his army for the winter against Venetian wishes. A short truce was offered by Milan, eventually granted by Venice on 19 April 1428, on the condition that Milan cede

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

and the surrounding area to them. This was the largest permanent land holdings that Venice would have for the rest of its history.''A History of Venice'', First Vintage Books Edition, Vintage Books, 1989. The Wars in Lombardy resumed two years later.

References

{{coord, 45.4833, N, 10.0500, E, source:wikidata, display=title 1427 in Europe 1420s in the Holy Roman Empire 15th century in the Republic of Venice