The Battle of Marignano was the last major engagement of the War of the League of Cambrai and took place on 13—14 September , near the town now called Melegnano , 16 km southeast of Milan. It pitted the French army, composed of the best heavy cavalry and artillery in the world, led by Francis I , newly crowned King of France , against the Old Swiss Confederacy , whose mercenaries until that point were regarded as the best medieval infantry force in Europe. With the French were German landsknechts , bitter rivals of the Swiss for fame and renown in war, and their late arriving Venetian allies.
The campaign of Marignano followed years of Swiss successes, during which French fortunes in northern Italy had suffered greatly. The Swiss had taken control of Milan for France the gateway to Italy after their victory at the Battle of Novara , and returned to its ducal throne Massimiliano , son of Ludovico Sforza , to make Milan a protectorate of Switzerland. At Villafranca the French, led by Jacques de la Palice , [ 8 ] surprised and captured the Papal commander, Prospero Colonna , in a daring cavalry raid deep behind the allied lines the Chevalier Bayard providing the impetus and expertise.
Colonna and his staff aside, the French seized a great deal of booty on the raid, including horses. The capture of Colonna, along with the startling appearance of the French army on the plains of Piedmont , stunned the allies. The Pope and the Swiss both sought terms with Francis, while the Spanish allies en route from Naples halted to await developments. The main Swiss army retreated to Milan, while a large faction, tired of the war and eager to return home with the booty of years of successful campaigning, urged terms with the French.
Though the parties reached a peace agreement that gave Milan back to the French, leading large portions of the Swiss army to return home, fresh troops also arrived from the Swiss cantons who refused to abide by the treaty. The Swiss encountered Francis's forces at the little burnt-out village of Marignano on a plain dotted with vineyards, farm fields, small orchards, and pastures. A treaty signed, the French were not expecting battle. Francis was in his tent, trying on a new suit of armor, when scouts reported the coming of the Swiss.
The French army quickly sprang into action, forming up in three divisions. This formation consisted of crossbowmen protected by earthworks and pavise shields on the left, a large square of Landsknecht infantry at the center, and arquebusiers on the right, covering the artillery, which was arrayed in a crescent shape along the south-eastern and eastern edges of the formation.
