2nd Edition
The Italian Wars 1494-1559 War, State and Society in Early Modern Europe
The Italian Wars 1494–1559 outlines the major impact that these wars had, not just on the history of Italy, but on the history of Europe as a whole. It provides the first detailed account of the entire course of the wars, covering all the campaigns and placing the military conflicts in their political, diplomatic, social and economic contexts.
Throughout the book, new developments in military tactics, the composition of armies, the balance between infantry and cavalry, and the use of firearms are described and analysed. How Italians of all sectors of society reacted to the wars and the inevitable political and social change that they brought about is also examined, offering a view of the wars from a variety of perspectives.
Fully updated and containing a range of maps as well as a brand-new chapter on propaganda and images of war, this second edition of The Italian Wars 1494–1559 is essential reading for all students of Renaissance and military history.
Introduction
1. The genesis of the wars and the first French expedition
Charles VIII and his inheritance
French interests in Italy
King Ferrante of Naples and the other Italian powers
Preparations for the Italian enterprise
The final months
The reactions of the Italian powers
The march to Naples
The French in Naples
The French retreat and the Battle of Fornovo
The French loss of Naples
2. Milan and Naples overwhelmed, 1496-1503
Maximilian’s expedition to Italy, 1496
The Pisan War, 1495-9
Preparations for the French invasion of Milan
The French conquest of Milan, 1499-1500
France as an Italian power
The conquest of Naples
The Spanish expulsion of the French from Naples
3. The conflict widens
Florence and Pisa
Ferdinand in Naples
Louis in Italy, 1507
The genesis of the League of Cambrai
The beginning of the War of the League of Cambrai
The Battle of Agnadello and its consequences
The Venetian rally
The campaign against Venice in 1510
Julius II and the French
The campaign in the Veneto in 1511
The Holy League
The Battle of Ravenna
The expulsion of the French from Italy
4. New orders struggling to be born, 1512-1519
The restoration of the Medici to Florence
The settlement in Milan
The Venetians stand apart
The French invasion of Milan, 1513
War in the Veneto
Diplomatic conflict over Lombardy
The advent of Francis I and the conquest of Milan, 1515
The invasion of Milan by Maximilian and the Swiss, 1516
Final stages of the war against Venice, 1515-16
The quest for a Medici principate
The Imperial election
5. The contest for supremacy in Italy, 1520-1529
The expulsion of the French, 1521-2
The claims of the Empire
The French return to Milan, 1523-4
Francis I’s second expedition to Italy, 1524-5
The Battle of Pavia
The aftermath of the Battle of Pavia
The Imperial takeover of the Duchy of Milan
The League of Cognac
The Sack of Rome
The war in Lombardy, 1527-8
The invasion of Naples, 1528
The last campaign in Lombardy, 1528-9
The Treaties of Barcelona and Cambrai
6. Testing the boundaries, 1529-47
Charles V and Clement VII in Bologna, 1529-30
The siege of Florence, 1529-30
The second Congress of Bologna, 1532-3
Francis I’s designs on Italy
The devolution of Milan
The French invasion of Savoy and Piedmont, 1536
Charles V’s journey through Italy, 1535-6
Charles V and Francis I again at war in Italy, 1536-7
Truce and peace
The renewal of the war in Piedmont, 1542-4
The Peace of Crépy, 1544
The promotion of Spanish interests in Italy
7. The French challenge, 1547-1559
The War of Parma and Mirandola, 1551-2
The war in north-west Italy, 1551-2
Charles V at bay
The War of Siena, 1552-5
The transfer of power in Italy from Charles to Philip
War from the sea
Corsica
The war in north-west Italy, 1552-6
The alliance between France and the papacy
Alba’s invasion of the Papal States, 1556
The expedition of the duc de Guise, 1557
The final phase of the wars
The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis
8. The transformation of war
Weapons and the balance of arms
The impact of gunpowder weapons
Fortifications and siegecraft
Permanence and professionalism
Training and skills
Tactics and strategy
Leadership
The war at sea
The experience of war
9. The resources of war
Recruitment and mobilization
The ordinances: muster and control
Billeting
Supply
Pay
Naval resources
The costs of war
10. Propaganda and images of war
French Italy
Imperial Italy
The papacy at war
The woes of Italy
11. The legacies of the wars
Economic consequences
A new state system
An oppressed nation?
The transformation of military society
Italy in the Spanish Empire
Index
Biography
Christine Shaw is Associate Member of the Faculty of History at the University of Oxford. She has published extensively on the political and military society of Renaissance Italy and her previous books include Julius II: The Warrior Pope (1993), Italy and the European Powers: The Impact of War (as editor, 2006) and Barons and Castellans: The Military Nobility of Renaissance Italy (2015).
The late Michael Mallett was Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Warwick and a distinguished historian of fifteenth- and sixteenth century Italy. His books included Mercenaries and their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy (1974), and (with J.R.Hale) The Military Organization of a Renaissance State: Venice c.1400 to 1617 (1984).
"This revised edition of the 2012 collaboration between Dr. Shaw (Oxford) and the late Prof. Mallett (Warwick) is a masterful overview of the protracted conflict between France and Spain for control of Italy that came to involve virtually every major European power, including the Ottoman Empire, with everyone demonstrating a remarkable flexibility in their loyalties and alliances. In a clear, highly readable account, the authors managed to integrate in an almost seamless fashion complex matters of dynastic ambition, personalities, diplomatic interactions, strategic maneuvering, war finance, and military operations, including some good battle pieces."
NYMAS Review
