    the battle of fornovo took place  southwest of the city of parma on 6 july 1495. the holy league, an alliance comprising notably the republic of venice, was able to temporarily expel the french from the italian peninsula. it was the first major battle of the italian wars. ==antecedents== charles viii dreamed of his own crusade against the infidel and of recapturing jerusalem for christendom. this was to be preceded by the conquest of the kingdom of naples, to which he had a nebulous claim through his paternal grandmother, marie of anjou (1404&ndash;1463). to have his hands free in italy, charles made ruinous pacts with all his neighbours, so they would not interfere. henry vii was given cash, ferdinand ii of aragon was given roussillon and maximillian was given artois and franche-comtÃ©. this handing out of territory is symptomatic of charles' lack of foresight. however, charles was willing to do this in his attempt to establish his neapolitan base for his crusade. the fighting between the many independent towns of italy was done by establishing a contract, condotta in italian, between the town leaders and the leaders of mercenary bands, who came to be called condottieri. this led to the developing of fighting tactics destined to establish
1495_in_Italy Battles_involving_France Battles_involving_the_Duchy_of_Milan Battles_involving_the_Republic_of_Venice Battles_of_the_Italian_Wars Conflicts_in_1495