(2) France: Military History and Notable Events

1033 - Aquitaine Famine (All Facts)

• Famine that arose in the namesake location in France due to the torrential thunderstorms which flattened crops by springtime

• Famine in which fear swept through France, in which the French believed the end of the world was near as it took place close to the 1,000th anniversary of the death of Jesus Christ

• Famine that spurred huge crowds of French people to

  • make public displays of repentance

  • make pilgrimages to the Holy Land in Jerusalem

  • swear to keep the peace of God

1194 - Battle of Freteval (All Facts)

• Battle in which Philip II / Philip Augustus and his forces were defeated by Richard of England and his forces, thus losing the French territory in England called the Vexin

• Battle after which the truce of Verneuil was made between the two belligerents

1212 - Children’s Crusade (All Facts)

• Crusade led by Stephen of Cloyes, a 12-year old shepherd boy, who rode in a decorated cart with his bodyguard of young noblemen while many priests, peasants, women, and assorted adventurers joined him

  • Crusade that comprised a variety of people including landless peasants, poor aristocrats, some from the namesake group, and essentially anyone who had no real voice in society but who were nonetheless attracted to the crusading missions

• Crusade in which Stephen of Cloyes and the voiceless set out by sea from Marseilles in France, determined to deliver the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem from the infidels

• Crusade which was supported by Pope Innocent III and by two merchants named Hugh Ferreus and William of Posqueres, the two latter of whom provided transport

• Crusade which was attacked and attempted to be banned by King Philip Augustus / Philip II of France

• Crusade which takes its title from the Latin word “infans” which literally means “unable to speak” but really refers to the voiceless in society during the times of the Crusades

1213 - Battle of Muret (All Facts)

• Battle in which Simon de Montfort and his forces defeated Raymond VI of Toulouse and his forces and Peter II of Aragon and his forces

• Battle which was a shock defeat, as the namesake fortress was only defended by 30 horsemen and a few foot soldiers

• Battle which left Simon de Montfort in control of southern France unchallenged and became the pope’s supreme commander

1214 - Battle of Bouvines (All Facts)

• Battle in which Philip II / Philip Augustus and his forces defeated John and his forces

1247 - Valreas Blood Libel (All Facts)

• Incident prompted by stories that Jews were ritually murdering Christian children, propagated by two Franciscans who began an inquisition in the French diocese of Vienne

• The two Franciscans were eventually disowned by Pope Innocent IV

1248 - 1254 - The Seventh Crusade (All Facts)

• Crusade during the reign of King Louis IX

1250 - Battle of Mansurah (All Facts)

• Battle in which the Ayyubid Sultanate defeated Louis IX and his French Crusader forces during The Seventh Crusade

• Battle after which Louis IX was taken prisoner by the Ayyubid Sultanate

1250 - Battle of Fariskur (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Louis IX and the Crusaders were defeated by Turanshah and the Ayyubid Sultanate

1251 - Shepherds’ Crusade (All Facts)

• Crusade in which a ragged army of several thousands called “Pastoureaux” (French for the namesake)

  • dressed as the namesake

  • marched into towns bearing pitchforks, hatchets, daggers, and pikes

  • begged for food, and took it by force if they did not get enough from their begging

  • frightened and terrorized Picardy in France and other regions of Europe on their way to the Holy Land

• Crusade led by a renegade Hungarian monk named Jacob

  • Jacob began preaching for a new crusade, in which he played on local fears that arose from the continued imprisonment of King Louis IX in the Holy Land by the Ayyubid Sultanate in which people were saying that Mohammed the Great Prophet was stronger than Christ

  • Jacob claimed that God was angry at the pride of the nobles and churchmen and claimed that God had called him to lead a crusade of the lowly namesake group, which had first brought the glad tidings of the Nativity of Christ

  • Jacob was gradually joined by thieves and murderers as well

  • Jacob led these crusaders in a march to towards the Holy Land, and he told them that the sea will part for them so that they can walk all the way there

• Crusade in which the people who followed Jacob treated him like a messiah

  • He was said to heal the sick

  • He claimed that their food will never grow less, like the loaves and fishes distributed by Jesus Christ

  • He married some of his followers and divorced them too

  • He even married 11 men once to one woman

1259 - Treaty of Paris / Treaty of Abbeville (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between King Henry III of England and King Louis IX of France

• In it, King Henry III of England received the Agenais, Saintonge, and parts of Quercy, Limousin, and Perigord from King Louis IX of France

  • In return, King Henry III of England gave all claims to the Plantagenet fiefs of Normandy, Anjou, Touraine, Maine, and Poitou to King Louis IX of France

• This treaty marked a turning point in European politics; leading to new political dynamics, cultural exchanges, and social changes

1297 - 1305 - Franco-Flemish War (All Facts)

• Series of conflicts between the Kingdom of France and the County of Flanders prompted by King Edward of England’s rallying up of Flemish peoples to rebel against their French overlords

1302 - Battle of the Golden Spurs (All Facts)

• Battle in which Robert II, the Count of Artois, and his French forces were defeated and routed by Pieter de Conninck and his rebellious forces of Flemish pikemen during the Franco-Flemish War

1315 - 1317 - Great Famine (All Facts)

• Brought on by the depression of the farming economy by prolonged rainy spells which had ruined the harvests

  • The bad harvests there brought on the namesake event, thus slowing population growth considerably

• 10% of the population died of malnutrition and / or disease

• Only the West Country escaped disaster

• On top of bad harvests, there was now a shortage of salt, as salt pans had failed to evaporate

• Moreover, livestock had been hit by disease

• During this difficult time

  • the rise in wheat prices hit the poor the hardest

  • almsgiving was cut

• The Churches in France considered this event to be the result of divine retribution for the French and Europeans’ misdeeds

1337 - 1453 - Hundred Years’ War (All Facts)

• Series of conflicts with England that included the

  • Battle of Sluys

  • War of the Breton Succession

  • Crecy Campaign

    • Battle of Crecy

  • Siege of Calais

  • Battle of Poitiers

  • Battle of La Rochelle

  • Battle of Agincourt

  • Siege of Orleans (turning point)

  • Battle of Formigny

  • Battle of Castillon

• Series of conflicts with England ended by

  • Truce of Esplechin

  • First Treaty of London

  • Treaty of Bretigny

  • Treaty of La Bruges

  • Treaty of Troyes

  • Congress of Arras

    • Treaty of Arras

  • Treaty of Picquigny

• War caused by

  • Disputes over the French feudal sovereignty over Aquitaine and the English claims over the French royal title

  • The rival claims to the French throne that broke out between King Philip VI of France and King Edward III of England

• England’s archers armed with longbows helped win several early victories

• War in which England profited from pillage and the ransom of captives of France

• By the end of the conflict, England was only able to retain the port of Calais from France

• As a result of the war,

  • serving under a monarch fostered a sense of unit among English soldiers who spoke distinct languages or dialects

  • the people of England identified themselves more so as “English” rather than from the particular region in which they lived

  • the use of gunpowder weapons developed and spread in Europe, having already been invented by the Chinese and used by the Mongols

1340 - Battle of Sluys (All Facts)

• Battle in which the French were defeated by King Edward III of England and his forces off the Flemish coast during the Hundred Years’ War

• Battle in which the French naval fleet was completely destroyed by King Edward III of England and his forces, which gained control of the sea

1340 - Truce of Esplechin (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between Philip VI of France and King Edward III of England

• Treaty signed due to the inability by either party to pay their troops during the Hundred Years War

1341 - 1365 - War of the Breton Succession (All Facts)

• War caused by a succession crisis caused by the death of the Duke of Brittany in which

  • Philip VI of France supported Charles de Blois, the stepfather of the dead duke, to succeed him

  • Edward III of England supported John de Montfort, the half-brother of the dead duke, to succeed him

• War that occurred during the Hundred Years’ War between France and England

1346 - 1347 - Crecy Campaign (All Facts)

• Military Campaign consisting of a series of large-scale raids conducted under the reign of King Philip VI of France throughout northern France that devastated the French countryside on a wide front and that ended in the Battle of Crecy during the Hundred Years’ War

1346 - Battle of Crecy (All Facts)

• Battle in which Philip VI and his French forces were defeated by King Edward III and his English forces during the namesake campaign during the Hundred Years’ War

• Battle in which Philip VI and his French and Genoese forces outnumbered King Edward III and his English forces, despite King Edward III and his English forces killing 1,500 French troops and forcing Philip VI of France to flee

• Battle in which two factors contributed to King Philip VI’s defeat, in which

  • The first was French pride and vanity, with Philip VI’s knights having ignored orders and having vied with each other to be first to confront the English invaders

    • Thus, confusion reigned in the darkness and when the first ranks finally came across the English, the French turned and ran into their own allies

  • The second was the invention and implementation of the English longbow and negative effect of the weather on the Genoese mercenaries of the French

    • Philip VI had relied on 15K Genoese crossbowmen and ordered them to attack while he was still sorting out his divisions from their inner turmoil

    • After an all-night march, the Genoese were fatigued and at first refused to advance onto the English troops

    • When they finally made their move it was during a heavy rainstorm, which rendered their weapons useless as their bow-strings were soaked

    • Only then did the English longbowmen take one step forward and then began a rain of arrows on the helpless Genoese who fled into the swords of their allied French troops

    • In the melee that followed, the French presented a perfect target for the English longbowmen

  • By the time the French began hand-to-hand combat against the well-prepared English knights and their bands of infantrymen, they were exhausted and were decimated by the English

    • From there, the English troops silenced and pillaged the French with their swords and battle-axes

• Battle after which the French-Norman port city of Calais was besieged by Edward III and his English forces during the Hundred Years’ War

1347 - Siege of Calais (All Facts)

• Battle in which the namesake French city was defeated and captured by Edward III and his English forces, ending the Crecy Campaign

  • In so doing, many of the namesake city’s citizens died of hunger

  • Sir Jean Vienne, governor of the city, offered to surrender to the namesake so long as King Edward III of England spared their lives

  • Edward III agreed on the condition that six principal citizens or “burghers,” with heads and feet bare and halters round their necks, deliver to him the keys of the city and throw themselves upon his mercy

  • Even Edward III’s own knights appealed to him for clemency, which he rejected

  • The six burghers begged for mercy not to be killed by him and it was not until Edward III’s wife Philippa of Hainault sank to her knees and cried to her husband and king, begging him not to kill them, which moved him so deeply and softened his heart, leading him to spare their lives

1356 - Battle of Poitiers (All Facts)

• Battle in which John II of France and his forces were defeated by Edward the Black Prince, son of King Edward III of England, and his forces, during the Hundred Years’ War

• Battle which began with a large-scale raid and scorched earth campaign from the British base at Aquitaine into Northern France

• Battle in which the English archers used the longbow to great effect against King John II of France and his forces and the Duke of Orleans

• Battle in which Edward the Black Prince had “fought like a raging lion” all day and, hearing that victory was certain, he placed his banner on a bush to rally his army

  • He then proceeded to erect a red tent, bring drinks, and retire from the field of battle with his lords

  • At this point in the battle, a mob of English troops appeared over a hillock with John II of France in their midst

  • Edward the Black Prince and his forces systematically massacred the French until they surrendered outside the gates of the namesake city

  • Upon French surrender, in the true tradition of chivalry cultivated in England during that time, John II of France was invited into Edward the Black Prince’s tent where he two men drank wine and discussed the namesake battle

  • He held a banquet with John II of France and allowed him and his captured courts and barons to be honored guests

  • Edward the Black Prince refused to be seated in King John II’s presence, even serving at the table as a mark of humility

  • After the banquet, and after Mass, he and his captives and a mass of booty left the namesake city for London

• Battle after which John II of France was captured and imprisoned

  • When his son, Louis of Anjou, who was a hostage in his place, escaped, John II returned to captivity in England to uphold his word, where he died

• Battle which marked the end of the First Phase of the Hundred Years’ War

  • Battle which was the second of the three great English victories over the French in the Hundred Years’ War

1358 - Jacquerie Revolt (All Facts)

• Peasant Revolt in France during the reign of King John II of France

• Revolt caused by

  • Neglect of the Peasants in France by the nobility due to

    • The defeat of John II of France and his forces to Edward the Black Prince of England and his forces in the Battle of Poitiers during the Hundred Years War, in which the French nobility was seen as having abandoned the French peasantry as a result

    • The aristocracy’s failure to protect the French countryside from English mercenaries and bandits

    • The aristocracy’s demanding more dues instead

    • The order from the nobility requiring that peasants reinforce noble and aristocratic castles despite the lack of protection provided by those nobles

  • Severe economic hardship experienced by peasants throughout France due to

    • High taxes imposed on the peasants to pay for the Hundred Years’ War

    • King John II of France’s paid ransom via the First Treaty of London passed in the same year, which also contributed to high taxes

    • The aftermath of the Black Death

  • Political instability

• Revolt which

  • occurred over the course of three months, beginning after the ransom was paid to release King John II of France via the First Treaty of London and Treaty of Bretigny

  • began when, allegedly, via one widely circulated report, suggested that peasants killed a French knight, roasted him on a spit, gang-raped his wife and forced her to eat some of her husband’s flesh

    • With stories like this circulating from castle to castle throughout France, terror and fear became the norm

  • involved terror and rumors of rape, murder, and even cannibalism; which spread rapidly throughout northern France with the speed of the Black Death

  • ended when knights slaughtered all the peasants, starting in the town of Meaux and following suit elsewhere

• Revolt during which mobs roamed freely throughout the land, in which noblemen were helpless to act as the mobs

  • broke into their homes, stealing food and wine

  • burned the owners of homes that trembled behind locked doors

  • held entire towns hostage, forced to lay on feasts for their growing army of peasants

• Revolt in which France’s nobles united with one another to violently suppress the peasant revolt with savage ferocity in which

  • Towns were sacked

  • Farmland laid waste

  • 20K rebels were killed

1358 - First Treaty of London (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between John II of France and Edward III of England in which it was agreed that

  • Edward III of England would let John II of France be released if a ransom of 4M French ecus was paid unto him

  • Extensive French territories would be ceded to England

1360 - Treaty of Bretigny (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between John II of France and Edward III of England in which John II was freed from captivity by Edward III of England and upon which he returned to France

1365 - Treaty of Guerande (All Facts)

• Treaty passed during the reign of King Charles V of France

• Treaty which ended the War of the Breton Succession

• Treaty in which the House of Blois ceded its rights in Brittany to the Montforts, specifically John IV de Montfort

1372 - Battle of La Rochelle (All Facts)

• Battle in which Castilian fleet, which supported the French forces, defeated a fleet of English forces during the Hundred Years’ War

• Battle which essentially reversed the effect of the prior Battle of Sluys

1375 - Treaty of Bruges (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between the French and the English during the Hundred Years’ War in which

  • The English retained the port of Calais and a coastal strip of Gascony

1382 - 1384 - Maillotin Revolt (All Facts)

• Revolt in Paris during the reign of King Charles VI of France against the king’s harsh tax policies

• Revolt which began when a woman street merchant fought a male tax collector off with a cry of “down with taxes” after he tried to seize her goods

  • Others quickly took up the chant and seized mallets stored in the Hotel de Ville

  • They proceeded to chase tax-collectors throughout Paris with the mallets, hence the namesake

• Revolt which crumbled after news of the rebel defeat in the Battle of Roosebeke in Flanders during the Ghent Revolt

  • Revolt whose leaders were executed after it was stamped out

1378 - 1384 - Tuchin Revolt (All Facts)

• Revolt during the reign of King Charles VI of France against the king’s harsh tax policies

• Revolt in which peasants and artisans (craftsmen) who were driven by the cities due to taxation loosely organized into groups of no more than 20 and made a living from robbery

  • The groups were bound together by bloodcurdling oaths

  • They claimed patriotic motives

  • They stole livestock, jewelry, and cash

  • They captured churchmen and nobles for ransom

  • Some of them were upperclassmen like Pierre de Bres, who was connected to many leading families of the Auvergne and Languedoc

    • He joined the anarchic movement after robbing his uncle, a bishop; and discovering his wife having an affair with his squire

1382 - Battle of Roosebeke (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Charles VI of France, Louis II of Flanders, and Olivier de Clisson defeated Philip van Artevelde and his rebels during the Ghent Revolt

1407 - 1435 - Armagnac-Burgundian Civil War (All Facts)

• Civil War in France during the Hundred Years’ War in which the namesake former party, supporters of Louis the Duke of Orleans; and the namesake latter party, supporters of John “The Fearless,” the Duke of Burgundy; fought over who would control and assume the French throne given that King Charles VI of France could not maintain the throne due to his bouts of madness

  • Civil War in France which derived from Burgundian ambitions

• Civil War in France which began when John, the Duke of Burgundy; had Louis, the Duke of Orleans, assassinated

• Civil War during which demands for reform of finance and justice made by Parisian craftsmen under the patronage of the latter namesake party result in the “Cabochien ordinance” that all officials, both central and local should be elected

  • However, this utopian measure was overturned as soon as the former namesake party seized control of Paris

• Civil War in which the latter namesake party was likely motivated by their English allies to burn St. Joan of Arc at the stake after trying and convicting her of being a witch

1415 - Battle of Agincourt (All Facts)

• Battle in which France was defeated by King Henry V of England and his forces during the Hundred Years’ War

• Battle in which the French forces (60K) severely outnumbered the English forces (12K)

  • The French were so confident that they had paraded a cart in which they intended to drag the English king through Paris

  • It seems the French learned little since their previous disaster in the Battle of Crecy

• Battle during which

  • The French began their advance, into a rain of English arrows

  • The French cavalry panicked, smashing their way through their own infantrymen, causing great breaches in the forward ranks

  • The English soldiers then quickly filled these breaches, wielding swords and axes

  • The French pushed one final time, only to have the English cut the throats of some 1K French prisoners

1420 - Treaty of Troyes (All Facts)

• Treaty of “perpetual peace” signed between Philip III of Burgundy and King Henry V of England in which

  • They brought England and France under one crown, following King Henry V’s victory in the Battle of Agincourt

  • King Henry V was to marry Catherine of Valois, the daughter of the King of France at the time

  • King Henry V believed the agreement would bring “perpetual peace” between the two kingdoms despite the customs and kingdoms being completely separate, the union of the two crowns was to be personal

  • King Henry V and Philip III of Burgundy failed to tackle the question of succession as no woman could succeed to the French throne

• Treaty which ended the second and final phase of English dominance during the Hundred Years’ War

1428 - 1429 - Siege of Orleans (All Facts)

• Battle in which Joan of Arc and her French forces defeated the Earl of Salisbury Thomas Montagu and his English forces during the Hundred Years’ War

• Battle which marked the turning point in the Hundred Years’ War, in which the French began to win more victories and regain territories they lost to England

• Battle in which the English army of 5K had initially sought to established a foothold on the Loire River and open up Anjou to occupation

  • However, they clearly failed to reckon with a revitalized, well-disciplined French army, spiritually transformed by Joan of Arc’s voices of conviction

1435 - Congress of Arras (All Facts)

• Peace Conference between England, France, and Burgundy, in which

  • Philip III of Burgundy broke with the English and recognized King Charles VII as the only King of France

• It thus ended the Armagnac-Burgundian Civil War in France

• However, it led to the expulsion of the English from France

1450 - Battle of Formigny (All Facts)

• Battle in which the French defeated the English during the Hundred Years’ War

• Battle in which the French regained control of Normandy entirely from the English

• Battle in which field artillery was recorded to have been used for the first time

1453 - Battle of Castillon (All Facts)

• Battle in which Jean Bureau and the French defeated John Talbot and the English during the Hundred Years’ War

• Battle which ended the Hundred Years’ War, in which the French defeated the English

• Battle in which

  • Bordeaux and the namesake walled city were threatened with siege

  • a reluctant John Talbot had planned to take on all three French armies that approached Bordeaux upon Talbot and his English expeditionary forces being welcomed into Bordeaux

  • Jean Bureau and the French succeeded in drawing John Talbot and the English between Bureau’s artillery and the Dordogne River

  • the French had brought 600 cannons with them, producing firepower with which John Talbot and the English could not reckon

• Battle after which

  • only Calais remained under English control

  • French troops rounded up English survivors

1475 - Treaty of Picquigny (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between King Louis XI of France and King Edward IV of England, which formally ended the Hundred Years’ War

• Treaty which was signed due to Edward IV of England having been bought off by Louis XI of France and the French

1474 - 1477 - Burgundian Wars (All Facts)

• Series of conflicts between the Swiss and Burgundians which effectively ended the dukedom of Burgundy under the Kingdom of France

1476 - Battle of Grandson (All Facts)

• Battle in which Charles Martin and his forces were defeated by the Swiss during the Burgundian Wars

• Battle in which the Swiss pikemen bore down the heavily-armored Burgundian cavalry

1476 - Battle of Morat (All Facts)

• Battle in which Rene II and his French forces and the Swiss defeated Charles Martin and his forces during the Burgundian Wars

• Battle in which Charles sought revenge for “shameful defeat” by besieging the namesake city, only to again be routed by the Swiss

• Battle in which half of Charles Martin’s army died

• Battle after which Charles Martin fled

1477 - Battle of Nancy (All Facts)

• Battle in which the Rene II of Lorraine and the French and the Swiss defeated Charles Martin and his Burgundian forces, thus ending the Burgundian Wars and ending the Dukedom of Burgundy

• Battle after which Charles Martin’s body was found naked on a frozen pond, half eaten by wolves, and his skull cloven by a Swiss battle-axe; having been completely unrecognizable and identifiable only by the scars on his body

1482 - Treaty of Arras (All Facts)

• Treaty in which Burgundy and Picardy were absorbed into France

• Treaty in which Artois became the dowry of the two-year-old Margaret of Burgundy, daughter of Mary and Maximillian, who had been promised in marriage to Charles VIII

1492 - Peace of Etaples (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between King Charles VIII of France and King Henry VII of England in which Charles VIII of France agreed

  • to pay the money due to England via the Treaty of Picquigny

  • to not aid anyone who rebelled against Henry VII of England’s rule

• Treaty prompted by King Henry VII of England’s preparations for an invasion of France

1493 - Treaty of Barcelona (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between King Charles VIII of France and King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain

• Treaty in which King Charles VIII of France agreed to return Cerdagne and Roussillon to Spain

1494 - 1559 - Italian Wars (All Facts)

• Series of conflicts between the Valois (France) and the Habsburgs (Spain and Holy Roman Empire) that began with the First Italian War

1494 - 1498 - First Italian War (All Facts)

• Conflict in which the Habsburgs (Spain), with support from the Papacy and League of Venice, defeated the Valois (France)

• Conflict that began with King Charles VIII of France’s invasion of the Kingdom of Naples

• Conflict in which King Charles VIII and his army infected the Kingdom of Naples with the “French Pox” disease

• Conflict in which King Charles VIII and his army was forced to retreat from Italy, thus halting French expansion and preventing France from securing a permanent foothold in the Kingdom of Naples

1495 - Battle of Fornovo (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Charles VIII of France and his forces were defeated by the Italians and Swiss

• Battle which left the French army exhausted, emaciated, and riddled with disease, limping its way home to France after its defeat

1499 - 1501 - Second Italian War (All Facts)

• Conflict in which the Valois (France), with support from the Papacy, Venice, Florence, and Switzerland, defeated the Habsburgs (Spain)

• Conflict in which King Louis XII of France, with the help of Gian Giacomo Trivulzio and his forces, seized and conquered the Duchy of Milan

• Conflict after which Ludovico Sforza fled

• Conflict in which the Milanese rebel against Gian Giacomo Trivulzio and the French, thus Sforza returned and took advantage of the revolt and attached the French back

  • He was deserted by his troops, however, and handed over to the enemy and imprisoned by the French

1500 - Battle of Novara (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Louis XII and his forces defeated Ludovico Sforza and the Italians (Milanese) during the Second Italian War

• Battle which began when Ludovico Sforza, after having fled Milan, returned and corralled his troops and took advantage of the prior revolt against Gian Giacomo Trivulzio and the French and attacked the French

• Battle which ended when Ludovico Sforza’s troops deserted him and he was sent by Milan to be imprisoned by France

1502 - 1504 - Third Italian War (All Facts)

• Conflict in which King Ferdinand and the Habsburgs (Spain) defeated the King Louis XII and the Valois (France)

• Conflict in which King Ferdinand and the Habsburgs (Spain) took back the Kingdom of Naples from King Louis XII and France

1508 - 1516 - Fourth Italian War / War of the League of Cambrai / War of the Holy League (All Facts)

• Conflict in which the Valois (France) and Venice defeated the Habsburgs (Spain and the Holy Roman Empire) and England

• Conflict which began when King Louis XII of France, Pope Julius II and the namesake league sought to punish the Republic of Venice for annexing papal provinces on the Adriatic Sea and thus attacked and defeated the Republic of Venice as a result in the Battle of Agnadello

• Conflict in which Pope Julius II and the namesake league (including Venice, Spain, and Switzerland) then turned against France, whose foothold in northern Italy became too strong for the papacy and namesake league

  • Conflict in which Pope Julius II raised the cry to “clear the Barbarians out of Italy” (the French under King Louis XII), turning against the King of France after previously lifting the excommunication of Venice

• Conflict which saw protracted war in Lombardy, the Romagna, and Veneto in northern Italy

• Conflict in which King Francis of France secured the Duchy of Milan for the French

• Conflict which saw the following battles take place including

  • Battle of Agnadello

  • Siege of Mirandola

  • Battle of Ravenna

  • Battle of the Spurs

  • Siege of Tournai

  • Battle of Novara

  • Battle of Marignano

• Conflict which ended with

  • The Treaty of Fribourg

  • The Concordant of Bologna

1508 - 1511 - League of Cambrai (All Facts)

• (Temporary, short-lived) Military Alliance between King Louis XII of France, Maximilian of the Holy Roman Empire, Pope Julius II and the Papacy, and King Ferdinand of Spain aimed at conquering the Republic of Venice and its Italian possessions that initiated the Fourth Italian War / namesake War

• Alliance which was the brainchild of Pope Julius II, ostensibly set up as a “Holy League” against the Ottoman Turks

  • The pope’s more immediate use for the league was to recover for the papacy the towns of the Romagna region under Venetian rule

  • However, the French gained too strong a foothold in northern Italy; and the namesake league eventually turned against France during the Fourth Italian War / namesake War

1509 - Battle of Agnadello (All Facts)

• Battle in which Louis XII and his French forces, with support from France’s allies in the League of Cambrai (the Holy Roman Empire, the Papacy, and Spain) defeated the Republic of Venice during the Fourth Italian War / War of the League of Cambrai

• Battle which allowed Pope Julius II to reoccupy the Romagna

• Venice would eventually ally with France in the Fourth Italian War / War of the League of Cambrai

• Battle which gave France a much stronger foothold in northern Italy

• Battle after which the League of Cambrai turned against France, recognizing how strong it was becoming in the region of northern Italy

1511 - Siege of Mirandola (All Facts)

• Battle in which Pope Julius II and his forces, with help from the Habsburgs (Spain) and the Republic of Venice, defeated France during the Fourth Italian War / War of the League of Cambrai

• Battle that was part of Pope Julius II's campaign to keep France from dominating northern Italy during the Fourth Italian War / War of the League of Cambrai

1512 - Battle of Ravenna (All Facts)

• Battle in which France defeated Spain and the League of Cambrai / Holy League during the Fourth Italian War

• Battle in which honors were declared even

1513 - Battle of the Spurs (All Facts)

• Battle in which Henry VIII of England and Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian and their forces defeated France during the Fourth Italian War / War of the League of Cambrai

• Battle which began Henry VIII of England and Maximilian and the Holy Roman Emperor’s invasion of France, to check France’s expansion into northern Italy

1513 - Siege of Tournai (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Henry VIII and England and Maximilian and the Holy Roman Empire defeated France during the Fourth Italian War / War of the League of Cambrai

• Battle in which the namesake city, along with the city of Therouanne was captured

1513 - Battle of Novara (All Facts)

• Battle in which Milan, with help from Pope Leo X and his “Holy League, along with Switzerland, defeated France and the Republic of Venice during the Fourth Italian War / War of the League of Cambrai

1515 - Battle of Marignano (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Francis and France defeated Cardinal Matthias Schiner and Switzerland during the Fourth Italian War / War of the League of Cambrai

• Battle in which King Francis

  • initially tried to bribe the Swiss to avoid fighting them, but that approach failed and cemented the legacy of French kings as bad at bribing

  • thus planned to fight against the Swiss carefully knowing he was forced to fight

  • negotiated treaties with England, Austria, and Venice prior to it

  • assembled an army of 40K French artilleryman and German light infantry

  • crossed the Alps with his forces and drove the Swiss back into Lombardy, where he tried but failed to set up a last-ditch negotiation with the Swiss at Gallarate where he demanded the recognition of French claims to Lombardy and Milan and the withdrawal of the Swiss from Italy

• Battle after which King Francis and his forces marched towards and seized Milan in Italy

• Battle after which King Francis of France and Switzerland signed the Treaty of Fribourg

1515 - Treaty of Fribourg (All Facts)

• Peace Treaty signed between King Francis of France and Switzerland (the Swiss Confederated) that ended the Battle of Marignano and ended French-Swiss conflict in the Fourth Italian War / War of the League of Cambrai

1516 - Concordant of Bologna (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between King Francis of France and Pope Leo X of the Papacy which

  • made peace between France and the Papacy and thus ended French-Papal conflict in the Fourth Italian War / War of the League of Cambrai

  • regulated the French church

1521 - 1526 - Fifth Italian War / Four Years’ War (All Facts)

• Conflict in which Charles V and the Habsburgs (the Holy Roman Empire and Spain) defeated King Francis and the Valois (France)

  • Conflict upon which King Francis of France lost his war with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V for supremacy in Europe

• Conflict which saw the

  • Holy Roman Empire’s invasion of Champagne

  • Battle of Bicocca

  • Siege of Marseilles

  • Battle of Pavia

• Conflict which saw

  • a modernization of European military forces, especially with regards to new arms (guns), defenses (Bastion Fort), and tactics / strategies

  • new tactics being developed for mounted troops using new carbines (arquebus) and horse pistols, which became the masters of the battlefield, replacing and eventually contributing to the elimination of armored cavalry and knights in armor

  • the implementation of the Bastion / Star Fort (“trace italienne;” a circuit of low, thick walls punctuated by square bastions), which

    • replaced the high and thin walls of the Middle Ages as new defenses

    • were designed to absorb the punishment of the heavy siege guns which were a part of every successful army by that time

    • changed the entire pattern of warfare because the cities protected by them could no longer be taken by traditional methods of blowing a hole in the walls and pouring infantry through the breach and instead forced towns to be encircled by siege-works and batteries and starved and frightened into submission

    • essentially made warfare more a matter of engineering and logistics

  • the advent of the gun bring about great changes at sea since

    • ships no longer rammed and boarded each other, but pounded each other with formidable arrays of guns firing through ports in ships’ sides

    • gunships eventually set the pattern which all maritime nations must have followed if they wanted to avoid facing inevitable defeat

• Conflict which ended with the Treaty of Madrid

1520 - The Field of the Cloth of Gold (All Facts)

• Summit meeting between King Francis of France and King Henry VIII of England in which they

  • swore to build a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Friendship on the spot where they met

  • were attended only by their ministers, Wolsey and Bonivet, respectively

  • talked in a pitched tent between their two luxurious camps for several hours

  • knew King Francis owed King Henry VII two million crowns because he was the guarantor of the French debt to England at the time

  • displayed their opulence, in which the French pavilions were made of the namesake materials and King Henry VIII spent a seventh of his annual income on the meeting (his tent was a two-story palace of wood and glass)

• Summit meeting between King Francis of France and King Henry VIII of England in which

  • Henry VIII appeared as Hercules while his knights jousted and fought on foot

  • There were banquets and dances as chivalry ruled the namesake

  • The two kings wrestled, with King Francis having won the match

• Summit meeting between King Francis of France and King Henry VIII of England in which

  • Henry VIII reluctantly agreed to ally with King Francis, but the alliance soon shattered

  • Henry VIII believed it would have been better for him to ally himself with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V rather than King Francis

1522 - Battle of Bicocca (All Facts)

• Battle in which the Habsburgs (Spain and the Holy Roman Empire), supported by the Papacy and the Duchy of Milan, defeated the Valois (France), supported by the Republic of Venice and Switzerland, during the Fifth Italian War / Four Years’ War

• Battle after which the imperial army of the Holy Roman Empire occupied the Republic of Genoa, where a doge who supported Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was appointed

1524 - Siege of Marseilles (All Facts)

• Battle in which Charles de Bourbon, a Frenchman, became lieutenant for Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the Habsburgs and defeated the Valois (France) after invading Provence

1525 - Battle of Pavia (All Facts)

• Battle in which the Habsburgs (Spain and the Holy Roman Empire) defeated King Francis and the Valois (France) during the Fifth Italian War / Four Years’ War

• Battle which took place in Lombardy in Italy

• Battle before which

  • Pope Clement VII tried and failed to mediate between its two parties and battle was joined before first light in the morning

• Battle which began when

  • King Francis of France decided to lay siege to the namesake city; with an army of French and Italian infantry, German and Swiss mercenaries, and a strong train of artillery

• Battle during which

  • the siege initially went well; the French guns having broke down the defenses and King Francis’s regiments having stormed into the breaches

  • Antonio de Levya, the Spanish governor of the namesake town, had built new fortifications inside the walls, making it so that the French were routed by the namesake town’s defenders

  • the French forces retreated to mount a classic siege throughout the winter

  • King Francis, reinforced by Venetian troops, became sure of victory as the namesake town ran short of food and ammunition

  • the imperial forces of the Holy Roman Empire had been gathering at the town of Lodi, near the namesake, and had had marched on the namesake earlier in the month catching King Francis between the anvil of the namesake and the hammer of the attacking imperial army

  • the French guns have King Francis and France the advantage at first, but, he eventually ordered his forced to cease fire, since he believed in chivalry rather than guns

  • King Francis led his knights in a disorganized charge without waiting for the infantry and in the shambles that ensued 6K Frenchmen died

• Battle which ended when

  • King Francis of France had his horse shot from under him by an arquebus (a new type of gun at the time) and demounted, fought on foot, only to have his face blooded and his having surrendered his sword to the enemy

• Battle after which

  • King Francis of France was held captive by Lannoy (the viceroy of the Kingdom of Naples)

  • King Francis of France essentially lost his war with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V for supremacy in Europe

  • King Francis of France was forced to sign a humiliating peace treaty with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V

1526 - Treaty of Madrid (All Facts)

• Peace Treaty signed between King Francis of France (Valois) and Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain (Habsburgs), which ended the Fifth Italian War / Four Years’ War

• Peace Treaty in which

  • Holy Roman Emperor Charles V agreed to

    • release King Francis of France from captivity

  • King Francis of France agreed to

    • abandon and concede Burgundy to the Holy Roman Empire

    • give up claims to Flanders, Artois, Tournai, and all of Italy

    • pardon the rebel Charles of Bourbon

• Peace Treaty which was declared null and void by King Francis of France following his release from captivity

1526 - 1530 - Sixth Italian War / War of the League of Cognac (All Facts)

• Conflict in which Charles V and the Habsburgs (the Holy Roman Empire and Spain) defeated King Francis and the Valois (France), supported by the League of Cognac (England, Switzerland, and the Italian city-states of Florence, Venice, Milan, and Genoa)

• Conflict which ended the Republic of Florence (it was no longer a republic after the namesake conflict)

1526 - 1529 - League of Cognac (All Facts)

• Anti-Habsburg military alliance formed by France, Venice, Florence, and Milan to curb the overwhelming dominance of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in Italy

• It was soon joined by England, Switzerland, and Genoa

• It was initially formed by the Papacy, but the Papacy, by the end of the namesake conflict / Sixth Italian War, switched to the side of Charles V and the Holy Roman Empire

1527 - Treaty of Westminster (All Facts)

• Peace Treaty signed between King Francis of France and King Henry VIII of England, in which they agreed to ally themselves against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the Holy Roman Empire

• Peace Treaty in which King Henry VIII and England effectively join France in the League of Cognac

1529 - Treaty of Cambrai / Ladies Peace / “Pax de Daimes” (All Facts)

• Peace Treaty signed between Louise of Savoy (on behalf of King Francis of France) and Margaret of Austria (on behalf of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V) which ended the Sixth Italian War / War of the League of Cognac

1532 - Edict of Union (All Facts)

• Edict issued during the reign of King Francis, it

  • incorporated the duchy of Brittany into the Crown lands of France

  • was thus a critical step in the formation of modern-day France

1534 - Affair of the Placards (All Facts)

• Incident in which anti-Catholic posters appeared in public places in Paris and in four major provincial cities, Blois, Rouen, Tours and Orléans during the reign of King Francis of France

  • These posts violently criticized the Catholic mass

  • Some of them even appeared on the royal chateau at Blois

• Incident which caused a wave of sectarian hatred to engulf Paris

• Incident which represented the beginnings of Protestantism in France and the influence Martin Luther had on France

  • Incident in which there were rumors hat Protestants plan to murder faithful Catholics at Mass

  • Incident after which King Francis of France was expected to take harsh action against the Protestant reformers

1536 - 1538 - Seventh Italian War (All Facts)

• Conflict between King Francis of France (Valois) and Charles V of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire (Habsburgs) which ended indecisively without a victor

• Conflict which began when

  • Charles V’s troops invaded Provence, in pursuit of the army of King Francis, who, in turn, had attempted, with his army, to pursue and seize Piedmont

• Conflict during which

  • Anne of Montmorency drove back Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his forces, having applied scorched-earth tactics

  • The French and Turks fought together against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his forces, in Italy and in the Mediterranean

• Conflict which ended with the Truce of Nice

1536 - Treaty of Friendship and Alliance in Lyons (All Facts)

• (Naval) Treaty signed between King Francis of France and Portugal, it formed an alliance against Spain

1538 - Truce of Nice (All Facts)

• Truce between Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and King Francis of France which ended the Seventh Italian War and saw no significant territorial changes

1539 - Treaty of Toledo (All Facts)

• Treaty between King Francis of France and Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire, in which they agreed that neither of them would form future alliances with England; given King Henry VIII’s split with the Roman Catholic Church

1542 - 1546 - Eighth Italian War (All Facts)

• Conflict between King Francis of France (Valois) and Charles V of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire (Habsburgs) which ended indecisively without a victor

• Conflict which began when

  • King Francis of France reopened hostilities with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V after he had appointed his son Philip to claim the duchy of Milan

  • Holy Roman Emperor Charles V violated the Treaty of Toledo and allied with King Henry VIII of England against King Francis and France

• Conflict which saw the

  • Siege of Nice

  • Battle of Ceresole

  • Siege of Saint-Dizier

  • Siege of Boulogne

• Conflict which contributed to the delay of the convention of the Council of Trent

• Conflict which ended with the Treaty of Crepy

1543 - The Siege of Nice (All Facts)

• Battle in which the Holy Roman Empire defeated France in the namesake French town, the gateway to Italy in France during the Eighth Italian War

• Battle during which Hayreddin Barbarossa and his forces bombarded, besieged, and sacked the namesake Holy Roman imperial town in France

• Battle after which the namesake town was captured and sacked by Hayreddin Barbarossa and Turkish pirates rampaged through its burning ruins, looting and raping and setting it ablaze

• Battle which strained relations between the French and Ottoman Turks given that the pirates violated the agreement made between the governor of the town and the join French and Turkish forces, in which the French blamed the Turks and the Turks blamed the French

• Battle in which the French fight against and defeat the Holy Roman Empire, only for the French’s Ottoman Turkish allies to pillage the French city, straining French-Ottoman relations

1544 - Battle of Ceresole (All Facts)

• Battle in which France defeated the Holy Roman Empire in the namesake, south of Turin, in France, during the Eighth Italian War

1544 - Siege of Saint-Dizier (All Facts)

• Battle in King Henry VIII and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and their combined forces defeated and took the namesake city, having threatened Paris at the time, during the Eighth Italian War

1544 - Siege of Boulogne (All Facts)

• Battle in King Henry VIII and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and their combined forces defeated and took the namesake city, during the Eighth Italian War

1544 - Treaty of Crepy (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between King Francis of France and Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire,

  • which was made in an effort to restore Catholic unity in Europe

  • in which King Francis of France

    • promised to support Holy Roman Emperor Charles V against the Protestants if they rejected the decisions made in the Council of Trent

    • had his son, the Duke of Orleans, be promised to be married to a Habsburg princess, either

      • Mary, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V with a dowry that is the Netherlands

      • Anne, daughter of Habsburg King Ferdinand of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia with a dowry that is Milan

    • agreed to support Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in his war against the Ottoman Turks

  • in which a secret between them was agreed in which King Francis of France promised to help Holy Roman Emperor Charles V

    • reform the church

    • work towards bringing the German Protestants back into the Catholic fold, lending his army for the purpose if necessary

1545 - Merindol Massacre (All Facts)

• Massacre carried out against the Waldensians (proto-Protestant group of France) in the namesake area in Provence in France

• Massacre in which villages were pillaged, women were burnt alive in a church, and men were rounded up to be enslaved in the galleys

• Massacre which began with rumors that the Waldensians were plotting sedition; however, these rumors were started deliberately by Jean Meynier, a local baron who coveted the land of a neighbor of his who happened to be Waldensian and he was given the task by King Francis to stamp out such “sedition,” which was done with great cruelty and he ended up seizing the land which he coveted

1546 - 1547 - Siege of St. Andrew’s Castle (All Facts)

• Battle in which the French captured Scottish Protestants and imprisoned them as galley slaves afterwards, including John Knox; whom were not released until the French paid the English 400K crowns via the Treaty of Boulogne

1550 - Treaty of Boulogne (All Facts)

• Peace Treaty signed between England and France

• Peace Treaty which ended the Rough Wooing between England and Scotland

  • After the treat was signed, English troops withdrew from Scotland

• Peace Treaty in which the English surrendered the namesake French city in exchange for 400K crowns and the release of Protestant Scots including John Knox

  • These Protestant Scottish prisoners were originally captured by the French at the Siege of St. Andrews Castle

1551 - 1559 - Ninth Italian War / Habsburg-Valois War (All Facts)

• Conflict in which Charles V and Philip II and the Habsburgs (the Holy Roman Empire and Spain) defeated King Henry II and the Valois (France), ending the Italian Wars

• Conflict which began when

  • King Henry II of France declared war against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, with the intent of recapturing parts of Italy and ensuring French, rather than Habsburg, domination of European affairs

  • King Henry II of France publicly disavowed the Council of Trent

• Conflict which saw

  • The Siege of Metz

  • The Battle of Marciano

  • The Battle of St. Quentin

  • The Siege of Calais

  • The Siege of Thionville

• Conflict which included the Siege of Siena, a brutal 15-month blockade in which Cosimo de Medici and the Habsburgs (Holy Roman Empire) defeated the Valois (France) and took Siena from the French, during the namesake war

1552 - Treaty of Chambord (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between King Henry II of France and Maurice of Saxony, in which they agreed to ally against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V

• Treaty in which

  • Henry II promised to prove Maurice of Saxony with troops and money

  • Maurice of Saxony promised to provide the formal possessions of the bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun; formerly captured by the French in the prior year

• Treaty which forced Charles V to be beaten and forced to flee across the Alps

1552 - Siege of Metz (All Facts)

• Battle in which the French defeated Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his forces, thus preventing the Holy Roman Empire’s capture of the namesake city, during the Ninth Italian War

1553 - Battle of Marciano (All Facts)

• Battle in which the Habsburgs (Holy Roman Empire) defeated the Valois (France) in Tuscany during the Ninth Italian War

1556 - Truce of Vaucelles (All Facts)

• Peace Treaty signed between King Henry II of France and Charles V of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire during the Ninth Italian War

1557 - Battle of St. Quentin (All Facts)

• Battle in which Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy and his Spanish forces defeated Anne de Montmorency and his French forces during the Ninth Italian War

• Battle after which King Philip II of Spain promised to construct a magnificent building to commemorate the victory over the French

1557 - 1559 - Anglo-French War (All Facts)

• War in which the English were defeated by the French, during the Ninth Italian War

• War in which Queen Mary of England, in support of King Philip II of Spain, her new husband at the time, declared war on France

• War which was provoked by Pope Paul IV, a lifelong enemy of (Habsburg) Spain

1558 - Siege of Calais (All Facts)

• Battle in which Francis of Guise and his forces defeated the English and took the namesake city back from the English during the Ninth Italian War

1558 - Siege of Thionville (All Facts)

• Battle in which Francis of Guise and the Valois defeated the Habsburgs and took the namesake city back from the Habsburgs during the Ninth Italian War

1558 - Battle of Gravelines (All Facts)

• Battle in which Count Lamoral of Egmont and the (Spanish) Habsburgs defeated the Valois resoundingly during the Ninth Italian War

1559 - Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis (All Facts)

• Peace Treaty signed between King Henry II of France and the Valois and King Philip II of Spain and the Habsburgs, ending the Ninth Italian War and the Italian Wars altogether

• Peace Treaty in which France

  • agreed to withdraw from Savoy and Piedmont

  • retained Metz, Toul, and Verdun

  • regained Calais from England

• Peace Treaty in which Spain

  • controlled Sicily, Sardinia, Naples, Milan, and Tuscany in Italy

  • won the exclusion of France from Italy

• Peace Treaty in which England

  • agreed to give Calais to France

• Peace Treaty sealed by two dynastic marriages between France and Spain

  • One of these dynastic marriages was between Elizabeth (daughter of King Henry II of France) and (the young) King Philip II of Spain

• Peace Treaty which humiliated the French, bound to cause bitterness amongst the French who shed so much blood for so little

• Peace Treaty prompted by the massive spending, to the point of bankruptcy, by both France and Spain, and their inability to continue fighting one another despite heavy political disagreement

• Peace Treaty in which it was said at its meeting that the only things the delegates agreed upon was the discomfort of their quarters

1560 - Amboise Conspiracy (All Facts)

• Huguenot plot to capture the French court and topple the powerful Guise family that failed because the Guise family was warned

• As a result of the attempted namesake plot, hundreds of Huguenots were arrested or executed and Louis de Bourbon, duke of Conde, was imprisoned