The Battle of Rapallo, was fought between Swiss mercenaries on French pay and their Genoese-Milanese allies led by Louis d'Orleans against

Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...

forces led by

Giulio Orsini Giulio Orsini (died 1517) was an Italian condottiero and a member of the Orsini family. In the 1480s Giulio fought alongside his brother Paolo against the rival Colonna in the Lazio, as well as working for the Medici family.Caroline P. Murphy, '' ...

on 5 September 1494 near

Rapallo Rapallo ( , , ) is a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, located in the Liguria region of northern Italy. As of 2017 it had 29,778 inhabitants. It lies on the Ligurian Sea coast, on the Tigullio Gulf, between Portofino and Chiavar ...

. Rapallo was occupied by 4,000 Neapolitan troops on 3 September 1494 with Giulio Orsini, Obietto Fieschi, and Fregosino Campofregoso in command, their plan being to force a rebellion in Genoa. Later the Neapolitan fleet was forced away by bad weather. On 5 September, Louis d'Orleans landed with 1,000 Swiss mercenary infantry which was later reinforced overland by 2,000 more Swiss mercenaries and a contingent of Genoese-Milanese infantry. A skirmish broke out between the Swiss mercenaries and Neapolitan forces, though the terrain did not allow for the Swiss to form up their pike squares. However, the battle was mainly fought between the Genoese-Milanese and Neapolitan infantry. Following concentrated artillery fire from the French fleet, the Neapolitans were routed. The Swiss massacred Neapolitans trying to surrender, although Orsini and Campofregoso were captured in the retreat. After the battle the Swiss mercenaries killed the enemy wounded and sacked the town of

. Though a small battle, it was seen as a significant victory which halted Neapolitan attempts to incite a rebellion in Genoa against the French.

References

Sources

* * * {{coord missing, Italy 1494 in Europe 15th century in the Kingdom of Naples

Rapallo 1494 Rapallo 1494 Rapallo 1494 Rapallo