The Battle of Pavia (February 24, 1525) was a decisive event in the Sixth Italian War (1521-1526). It marks the defeat of the kings of France in their attempt to dominate northern Italy.
Following the failure of the imperial troops of Charles V in Provence in 1523, the King of France, François I, wanted to push the advantage in an attempt to retake Milan lost in 1521.
At the end of October 1524, Milan fell into the hands of the French who then decided to continue on Pavia, the former capital of Lombardy, which was besieged from October 27, 1524. At the end of January 1525, imperial reinforcements commanded by a Frenchman, Charles de Lannoy , 1st adviser to Charles V, presented themselves before Pavia and each camp entrenched itself for nearly three weeks.
On the night of February 23 to 24, the Imperials opened a breach in the French enclosure and surprised the besiegers. They are led by the constable Charles de Bourbon who had distinguished himself alongside François I during the battle of Marignan in 1515, and who has since changed sides.
Consequences of the French defeat
The rout is total. The French lost about 10,000 men [1]. A large number of army officers, including Guillaume Gouffier de Bonnivet and Jacques de La Palice, were killed in the battle. Clément Marot is injured in the arm.
Francis I is taken prisoner by an Italian knight, César Hercolani, from the city of Forlì, who will be nicknamed the conqueror of Pavia.
The royal prisoner is embarked at Villefranche near Nice for Spain, where he will be detained for a year awaiting the payment of a ransom by France and the signing of a treaty committing him to abandon the claim of the Artois, Burgundy and Flanders and to renounce his claims to Italy. And he left his sword as king of France and his son in Spain, and never returned to seek them.