(Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
An engraving by the Dutch artist Dirck Volkertsz. Coornhert (1522-1590), after a design by the Dutch artist Maarten van Heemskerck (1498-1574). Depicted is a pivotal moment during the battle of Pavia, 24 February 1525: the capture of king Francis I of France. The battle of Pavia was a part of the so-called Italian wars (1494-1559) which involved most of the city-states of Italy, France, England, Scotland, Spain, The Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire. The Italian wars started when the duchy of Milan asked France for military aid against the kingdom of Naples. In 1494, a French army invaded Italy and quickly crushed Neapolitan resistance, occupied Naples and proclaimed the French king Charles VII as king of Naples. The ambition of Charles VII was not satisfied with Naples, and he subsequently laid claim to Milan itself. Seeing the danger the French posed, Milan and other Italian city-states joined together and called in another Major European power: the Holy Roman Empire. This coalition finally managed to drove out Charles' army out of Italy but the war continued for about 50 years, the wars becoming a struggle for power and territory among their various participants. The French king Francis I (reign 1515-1547) inherited this war from his predecessors. when France lost its control of Lombardy, Francis crossed the alps in 1524 and invaded Italy. At first the campaign was successful for the French as they managed to take Milan. The French army then advanced on Pavia where a sizable Imperial garrison was of about 9000 men. when the initial attack by the French was repulsed, the French army surrounded Pavia to lay siege to the city. On 24 February 1525 Fernando Francesco d'Ávalos, chief commander of the Imperial armies in Italy, attacked the besieging French army. The resulting battle proved to be disastrous French as they were defeated in about 4 hours. The French lost about 15,000 dead, wounded or captured and Francis himself was taken prisoner in battle. Although the engraving shows Francis surrounded by knights, in reality his horse was killed from under him by an Italian Condottiere and was surrounded by Spanish arquebusiers. King Francis I was forced to sign a humiliating Treaty of Madrid in which he lost significant territory to his captor Holy Roman emperor Charles V. The outcome of the battle ensured Habsburg ascendancy in Italy which lasted until Napoleon. The engraving forms part of a set which is dedicated to the victories of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of Habsburg. Engraving from 1555-1556.
