| First siege of Pontevico | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Wars in Lombardy | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Duchy of Milan |  Republic of Venice | ||||||
The first siege of Pontevico was fought between 6 and 8 June 1452 at Pontevico (Lombardy) between the armies of the Duchy of Milan and that of Republic of Venice, an episode of the Wars in Lombardy.
During the Wars in Lombardy, Brescia and its province get conquered by the Republic of Venice. In 1448, Venice and Milan stipulated a truce: then, Francesco Sforza, a milanese commander, besieged Milan and took the power on February 26, 1452. Due to his past service for the Republic of Venice, he knew the strategic importance of Pontevico, located long the Oglio river and he decided to besiege his castle. [1]
Francesco Sforza could count on a big part of his army. [2]
The venetian forces in Pontevico were exiguous. However, the people of Ponteviche, trusting in their own valor, wanted to attempt resistance in any way. [2]
After having built a bridge over the river and set up a camp on both Oglio shores, on June 6 the Milanese began the siege of the fortress; the bombardments were aimed against the bastions of the castle while Sforza ordered the guerrillas not to give the castle lords any respite. In fact, the duke feared that reinforcements would arrive from Venice in the future. This was, on the contrary, the hope of the castellans, which vanished after two days of repeated attacks, when the Pontevichesi signed the surrender with the Milanese. [2]
During the siege of Pontevico, the venetian army passed the Oglio river near Soncino and conquered the County of Cremona. After a winter rest, in March 1453 the war started again. On May 29th, Jacopo Piccinino brought back Pontevico under Serenissima. In October, Francesco Sforza joined with René of Anjou and his army, besieged the castle again, which fell on the third day and was destroyed with the whole village.
In the end, with the Peace of Lodi Pontevico returned under Republic of Venice which rebuilt the town and his fortress. [3]
Francesco I Sforza was an Italian condottiero who founded the Sforza dynasty in the duchy of Milan, ruling as its (fourth) duke from 1450 until his death.
Ludovico Maria Sforza, also known as Ludovico il Moro, and called the "arbiter of Italy" by historian Francesco Guicciardini, was an Italian nobleman who ruled as the Duke of Milan from 1494 to 1499.
The Duchy of 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 since 1277.
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Corte de' Frati is a municipality (comune) in the province of Cremona, in the Lombardy Italian region.
Pontevico is a comune in the province of Brescia in Lombardy. It is on the left bank of the river Oglio. As of 2021 Pontevico had a population of 7,038.
The Golden Ambrosian Republic was a short-lived republic founded in Milan by members of the University of Pavia with popular support, during the first phase of the Milanese War of Succession. With the aid of Francesco Sforza they held out against the forces of the Republic of Venice, but after a betrayal Sforza defected and captured Milan to become Duke himself, abolishing the Republic.
The First Italian War, or Charles VIII's Italian War, was the opening phase of the Italian Wars. The war pitted Charles VIII of France, who had initial Milanese aid, against the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and an alliance of Italian powers led by Pope Alexander VI, known as the League of Venice.
Bartolomeo Colleoni was an Italian condottiero, who became captain-general of the Republic of Venice. Colleoni "gained reputation as the foremost tactician and disciplinarian of the 15th century". He is also credited with having refurbished the Roman baths at Trescore Balneario.
The Wars in Lombardy were a series of conflicts between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan and their respective allies, fought in four campaigns in a struggle for hegemony in Northern Italy that ravaged the economy of Lombardy. They lasted from 1423 until the signing of the Treaty of Lodi in 1454. During their course, the political structure of Italy was transformed: out of a competitive congeries of communes and city-states emerged the five major Italian territorial powers that would make up the map of Italy for the remainder of the 15th century and the beginning of the Italian Wars at the turn of the 16th century. They were Venice, Milan, Florence, the Papal States and Naples. Important cultural centers of Tuscany and Northern Italy—Siena, Pisa, Urbino, Mantua, Ferrara—became politically marginalized.
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Prospero Colonna (1452–1523), sometimes referred to as Prosper Colonna, was an Italian condottiero who was active during the Italian wars and served France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and various Italian states.
Biagio Assereto was an Italian admiral at the service of the Republic of Genoa.
Taddeo d'Este was a condottiere, a freelance military leader, who was known for his defense of the Republic of Venice in 1439 against Milanese forces under Niccolò Piccinino. Unlike many other condottieri of the day, who often changed sides, he served Venice almost exclusively throughout his thirty-year military career. During most of this period Venice was constantly at war with one or more of the neighboring states in northern Italy.
Soncino Castle is a military fortress in Soncino, northern Italy. It was built in the 10th century, and it was active since the years around 1500.
The Milanese War of Succession was a war of succession over the Duchy of Milan from the death of duke Filippo Maria Visconti on 13 August 1447 to the Treaty of Lodi on 9 April 1454.
The siege of Novara took place in the summer and autumn of 1495 during the Italian War of 1494–1495. While king Charles VIII of France was retreating to the north after facing rebellions in the recently conquered Kingdom of Naples, and managed to escape the destruction of his army at the Battle of Fornovo, his cousin and future king Louis d'Orleans opened a second front by attacking the Duchy of Milan and occupying the city of Novara. In an effort to retrieve it, the Milanese army and their League of Venice allies besieged Novara for three months and fourteen days. Suffering from severe starvation and disease, the French lost about 2000 soldiers before Louis had to surrender and withdraw.
The second siege of Pontevico was fought between 25 and 29 may 1453 at Pontevico (Lombardy) between the armies of the Duchy of Milan and that of Republic of Venice, an episode of the Wars in Lombardy.
The third siege of Pontevico was fought between 16 and 19 October 1453 at Pontevico (Lombardy) between the armies of the Duchy of Milan and that of Republic of Venice, an episode of the Wars in Lombardy.
The Castle of Pontevico is a former fortification built at the height of the early Middle Ages in Pontevico, Province of Brescia, currently used as a neuropsychiatric institute. It has also been remodeled several times over the centuries, due to the continuous sieges suffered over time. It was completely rebuilt in 1844, and the current version dates from the second half of the 20th century.