The Italian Wars: Volume 2 - Agnadello 1509, Ravenna 1512, Marignano 1515

The League of Cambrai was an alliance stipulated in December 1508 between the main European powers with the purpose of halting the expansion of the Republic of Venice. The war that followed was one of the major conflicts in the Italian wars: it lasted from 1508 to 1516, and saw several stages. The major States involved were the Kingdom of France, the Pontifical State, and the Republic of Venice. They were sided by the European powers of Spain, England, Scotland, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Kingdom of Hungary, other than several minor States, such as the Dukedom of Milan, the Republic of Florence, the Dukedom of Ferrara, the city of Mantua, and the Swiss cantons.

The authors describe the three phases that followed one another during the conflict, and the alternating alliances among the States involved - the League against Venice in the Battle of Agnadello; the following League against France, declared by Pope Julius II, in the Battle of Ravenna; finally, the last phase of the conflict with the alliance between Venice and France in the Battle of Marignano, also known as the Battle of the Giants.

In this volume, the structure of the armies, the weapons, the battles and their death toll are described. Chronicles, reports, and studies on the subject were compared and contrasted with one another to render a picture as true as possible to the reality of facts, highlighting the often contrasting versions of the chroniclers. Finally, military heraldry, armies’ identification marks, and captains’ emblems displayed on garments, harnesses, and insignias are analyzed. Also in this case, documentary sources were studied and compared with the iconographical sources.