The Battle of Serravalle took place on 2–4 June 1544 in

Serravalle Scrivia Serravalle Scrivia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about southeast of Alessandria. Serravalle Scrivia borders the following municipalities: Ar ...

, in the

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

, between the Imperial-Spanish army commanded by Don Alfonso d'Avalos, Marquis del Vasto, and a force of freshly raised Italian mercenaries in French service, led by

Pietro Strozzi Piero (or Pietro) Strozzi (c. 1510 – 21 June 1558) was an Italian military leader. He was a member of the rich Florentine family of the Strozzi. Biography left, Portrait of Piero Strozzi Born in Florence, Piero Strozzi was the son of Filip ...

, member of the rich and famous Florentine family of the

Strozzi Strozzi is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Numerous members of the Strozzi family, an ancient later ennobled family from Florence ** Alessandra Macinghi Strozzi (c. 1408–1471), an Italian businesswoman and aristocr ...

, and Giovan Francesco Orsini, Count of Pitigliano, during the

Italian War of 1542–1546 The Italian War of 1542–1546 was a conflict late in the Italian Wars, pitting Francis I of France and Suleiman the Magnificent, Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire against the Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Hen ...

Background

Despite the collapse of the

Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texa ...

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, Cana ...

army under Alfonso d'Avalos at the

Battle of Ceresole The Battle of Ceresole (; also Cérisoles) took place on 11 April 1544, during the Italian War of 1542–1546, outside the village of Ceresole d'Alba in the Piedmont region of Italy. A French army, commanded by François de Bourbon, Count of ...

(''

: Cerisoles''), the battle proved to be of little strategic significance.Black. ''"Dynasty Forged by Fire"'' p.43 At the insistence of

Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...

, the French army resumed the Siege of Carignano, where

Pirro Colonna Pirro Colonna (1500 – November 1552) was an Italian military leader in the service of Charles V during the Italian War of 1542. He commanded the garrison of Carignano Carignano may refer to: Places * Carignano, Piedmont, a municipality in th ...

held out for several weeks. Soon after the city's surrender, the impending invasion of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

itself by the forces of the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

and

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

, forced

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

to recall much of his army from

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, leaving the Count of Enghien without the troops he needed to take

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 ...

. The Spaniards, holding all the strong places of

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, were enabled to prevent d'Enghien from any further success.Leathes p.77

The battle

, an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

military leader in French service, who had collected an army of over 10,000 soldiers at

Mirandola Mirandola ( Mirandolese: ) is a city and ''comune'' of Emilia-Romagna, Italy, in the Province of Modena, northeast of the provincial capital by railway. History Mirandola originated as a Renaissance city-fortress. For four centuries it was ...

, advanced boldly to Milan, in the hopes of joining d'Enghien there, but on 2–4 June, the Imperial-Spanish army commanded by Don Alfonso d'Avalos intercepted and defeated the Franco-Italian army of Pietro Strozzi and the Count of Pitigliano. The Strozzi's army was destroyed and the Spaniards obtained the total control of the

, ending the French offensive of the

François de Bourbon, Count of Enghien François de Bourbon, Count of Enghien (23 September 1519 – 23 February 1546) was a French '' prince du sang'' from the House of Bourbon-Vendôme, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon (itself a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty). He wa ...

, to try to capture 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 ...

. The brilliant French victory at Ceresole occurred two months earlier, finally resulted useless.

Consequences

The

Milanese Milanese (endonym in traditional orthography , ') is the central variety of the Western dialect of the Lombard language spoken in Milan, the rest of its metropolitan city, and the northernmost part of the province of Pavia. Milanese, due to t ...

would remain in the hands of the Emperor Charles, and in the end of the war saw a return to the status-quo in northern

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 ...

. In May, the Emperor invaded France with two armies. One of them, led by the Imperial commander Ferrante Gonzaga, Viceroy of Sicily, captured

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

and moved towards

Commercy Commercy () is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The 18th-century Lorraine historian Nicolas Luton Durival (1713–1795) was born in Commercy. History Commercy dates back to the 9th century, and at that time ...

and

Ligny Ligny ( wa, Lignè) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Sombreffe, located in the province of Namur, Belgium. Previously its own municipality, a 1977 fusion of the Belgian municipalities made it an '' ancienne commune'' ...

.Knecht p.491 On 8 July, Ferrante Gonzaga besieged

Saint-Dizier Saint-Dizier () is a subprefecture Of the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France. It has a population of 23,382 (2018 figure) and is a subprefecture of the department. Although Saint-Dizier is marginally the most populous commune in Haute ...

, and the second army led by the Emperor Charles stationed in the

Electorate of the Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...

, soon joined him.Blockmans. ''Emperor Charles V (1500–1558)'' Meanwhile,

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

, had sent an army of some 40,000 men to

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

under the command of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, and Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.Knecht p.491

Notes

References

* Scotto, Andrea. ''Serravalle, 4 giugno 1544. La Battaglia dimenticata e la conclusione delle Guerre d'Italia''. Genoa: Erga Edizioni, 2009 *Blockmans, Wim. ''Emperor Charles V (1500–1558)''. Translated by Isola van den Hoven-Vardon. New York: Oxford University Press (2002) . *Oman, Charles. ''A History of the Art of War in the Sixteenth Century''. London: Methuen & Co. (1937) * Modesto Lafuente. ''Historia General de España'' (Volume 12

*Denieul-Cormier, Anne. ''The Renaissance in France.'' Trans. Anne and Christopher Fremantle. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd 1969. *Black, Jeremy. ''"Dynasty Forged by Fire" MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History'' 18, no. 3 (Spring 2006): 34–43. ISSN 1040-5992. *Stanley Leathes. ''The Cambridge Modern History. The Reformation: The end of the Middle Ages'' Chapter 2–3 (I) (II) ''Habsburg and Valois'' (1903) *Knecht, Robert J. ''Renaissance Warrior and Patron: The Reign of Francis I.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1994) . {{DEFAULTSORT:Serravalle, Battle Of (1544) 1544 in France 1544 in Italy 1544 in Spain Conflicts in 1544 Battles of the Italian Wars Battles involving France Battles involving the Holy Roman Empire Battles involving Spain

Background

The battle

Consequences

See also

Notes

References