Battle of Cerignola
1503 battle in the Third Italian War
Battle of Cerignola
The Battle of Cerignola was fought on 28 April 1503 between Spanish and French armies outside the town of Cerignola, Apulia, Kingdom of Naples (now in modern-day Italy), approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Bari. The Spanish force under the command of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (El Gran Capitán) comprising around 9,000 men, including 2,000 Landsknecht pikemen, 1,000 arquebusiers and 20 cannons, defeated the French force of 9,000 men, mainly gendarme heavy cavalry and Swiss mercenary pikemen, with about 40 cannons, led by Louis d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours, who was killed during the battle. Cerignola was probably the first European battle to be won by small firearms, as the attacks by the French cavalry and Swiss pikemen were shattered by the fire of Spanish arquebusiers. It also demonstrated the renewed value of fortifications, with Córdoba employing a defensive ditch to maximize the effect of his battleplan. Military historian and British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery described...
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