Third siege of Pontevico | |||||||
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Part of Wars in Lombardy | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Duchy of Milan Kingdom of France | Republic of Venice | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Francesco Sforza René of Anjou | Jacopo Piccinino | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
20,000 infantrymans 3,500 knights | Some hundred of soldiers Inhabitants of Pontevico |
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.
During the fifth and last phase of the Wars in Lombardy, in 1452 the Province of Brescia was invaded and conquered by the Milanese army, commanded by Francesco Sforza, the Duke of Milan. In the next year, Jacopo Piccinino (at the head of the Serenissima's army), brought back Pontevico after four days of siege.
During the summer, the venetian army, camped at Pontevico, attacked many time the milanese one, situated in his strongholds of Seniga and Robecco d'Oglio, without ever getting an important win. Then, in august after the Battle of Ghedi the Duke get an important win against Piccinino before the autumn, taking control of Ghedi and the Bassa Bresciana Orientale.
In October, Francesco Sforza conjoined with René of Anjou, King of Naples and Count of Anjou, in addition to being commander of the French Army. So, the combined Franco-Milanese army could count on about 25.000 soldiers, starting encircling Pontevico. [1]
The combined army of Duke of Milan and count of Anjou counted 20.000 infantrymen and 3.500 knights. [2]
Jacopo Piccinino could count on few hundreds of soldiers located into the Castle of Pontevico to which were added the Pontevico inhabitants, who supported Serenissima. [3]
On October 16th, the combined Franco-Milanese army started besieging the Castle of Pontevico. The milanese bombards hit hard the fortress' bastions, indeed after two days of siege some Sforza's soldiers saw an opening in the defensive walls and tried to enter in the castle, failing. In the same day, the french, until then placed on the right bank of the Oglio, passed the river and intervened on the front line: so, they climbed the steep shore of the river, being in front of the access to the fortress. However, they found the fierce castellans, who pushed them on the other bank of the river after a sword clash.
On October 19th, under the Sforza's order, the milanese soldiers launched a heavy assault on a single bastion. Then, when a breach has been opened, the soldiers penetrated in the stronghold and, equipped with all kinds of projectiles, they clashed with the castellans, winning the clash. So, after hours of clash, at 22 P.M. Pontevico fell again under the Duchy of Milan. [4]
After the siege, Pontevico get squab looted, burnt and then razed to the ground. The french soldiers were particularly evil, committing many brutal cruelties over the inhabitants. The word spread throughout the territory and in the next 8 days many towns located in province of Brescia surrendered.
In the early 1454, the situation get upset: the french soldiers, jaded by the war, peeved due to the continuous clashes with the milanese ones and aware of the fact that their tactics were inferior to the Italian ones, decided to leave the war, with the accord of the Count of Anjou. So, the french army left the war and Milan and Venice decided to achieve peace. In April, they reached the Treaty of Lodi, who put an end to the wars in Lombardy. [5]
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.
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.
The War of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and several other names, was fought from February 1508 to December 1516 as part of the Italian Wars of 1494–1559. The main participants of the war, who fought for its entire duration, were France, the Papal States, and the Republic of Venice; they were joined at various times by nearly every significant power in Western Europe, including Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, England, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, the Duchy of Ferrara, and the Swiss.
Niccolò Piccinino was an Italian condottiero.
Ghedi is a town and comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on November 24, 2001.
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.
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.
Francesco Piccinino was an Italian condottiero.
Luigi dal Verme (died 1449) was an Italian condottiero.
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.
The War of L'Aquila was a conflict in 15th-century Italy. It started in 1423 as a personal conflict against the condottiero Braccio da Montone and the city of L'Aquila in Abruzzo, but later turned into a national conflict when the forces of the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, the Papal States, and the Kingdom of Naples were also involved. Braccio da Montone was killed in the final battle near L'Aquila.
The Battle of Ghedi was a battle during the long conflict between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan which lasted between the years 1425 and 1454.
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 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.
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 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.