The Battle of Ruvo was fought on 23 February 1503 between a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

army under

Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (1 September 1453 – 2 December 1515) was a Spanish general and statesman who led successful military campaigns during the Conquest of Granada and the Italian Wars. His military victories and widespread po ...

and

Diego de Mendoza Diego de Mendoza (Aztec calendar, 4 House (1549)Chimalpahin (1997): pp. 172–173. – Aztec calendar, 5 Rabbit (1562)Chimalpahin (1997): pp. 174–175, 236–237.) was a ''tlatoani'' (king) of the Nahua peoples, Nahua city Tlatelolco (altepetl) ...

, and a French army commanded by

Jacques de la Palice Jacques de La Palice (or de La Palisse) (1470 – 24 February 1525) was a French nobleman and military officer. He was the lord of Chabannes, La Palice, Pacy, Chauverothe, Bort-le-Comte and Héron. In 1511, he received the title of Grand Mas ...

. The battle was part of the

Second Italian War The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

and was fought at the town of Ruvo in the

Province of Bari The Province of Bari ( it, provincia di Bari, nap, pruvincia 'e Bari, nap, label= Barese, provinge de Bare) was a province in the region of Apulia, Italy. Its capital was the city of Bari. It has an area of , and a total population of 1,594,10 ...

, modern-day

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The result was a Spanish victory.

Background

Following the

Treaty of Granada The Treaty of Granada, also known as the Capitulation of Granada or simply the Capitulations, was signed and ratified on November 25, 1491, between Boabdil, the sultan of Granada, and Ferdinand and Isabella, the King and Queen of Castile, Leó ...

signed on 11 November 1500, Spanish monarch Ferdinand ''the Catholic'' and

Louis XII of France Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his 2nd cousin once removed and brother in law at the tim ...

agreed that each power takes a partition of the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

. The deal soon fell through, however, and Spain and France resumed their war over the kingdom. This resulted in the Third Italian War.

Battle

During the end of 1502 and the early part of 1503 the Spanish stood at bay in the entrenched camp at

Barletta Barletta () is a city, '' comune'' of Apulia, in south eastern Italy. Barletta is the capoluogo, together with Andria and Trani, of the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani. It has a population of around 94,700 citizens. The city's territory be ...

near the

Ofanto river The Ofanto (), known in ancient times as Aufidus or Canna, is a river in southern Italy that flows through the regions of Campania, Basilicata, and Apulia, into the Gulf of Manfredonia near Barletta. Geography The river's source is on the Irpi ...

on the shores of the

Adriatic sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

. Upon hearing about the retreat and departure of

Louis d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours Louis d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours (1472; Normandy, France – 28 April 1503; Cerignola, Italy), was a French nobleman, politician and military commander who served as Viceroy of Naples during the Third Italian War (1502-1504). He was known for m ...

, Gonzalo decided to launch an offensive in a

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

guerrilla style on the town of Ruvo which was defended by

. Gonzalo de Córdoba stormed the town at early morning launching a

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

ade offensive. Soon after, he faced a resolute resistance by the French. However, within four hours he opened a breach from where the Spanish soldiers could enter and launch the assault. Fighting with

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

s lasted for seven hours and reached houses and streets until

was wounded and held prisoner.''Historia militar de España'' - Asalto a Ruvo (Primavera de 1503)
The Spanish army soon decided to get back to

while Louis d'Armagnac tried to return to Ruvo to help the French army. Once there he found the

Spanish flag The national flag of Spain ( es, Bandera de España), as it is defined in the Constitution of 1978, consists of three horizontal stripes: red, yellow and red, the yellow stripe being twice the size of each red stripe. Traditionally, the middle ...

already waving in the walls of the city and understood that he arrived behind schedule and stopped to follow ahead.

Footnotes

References

* 1503 in Italy Battles of the Italian Wars Battles involving Spain Battles involving France Conflicts in 1503 Ruvo di Puglia {{spain-battle-stub