Battle of Fornovo The Battle of Fornovo took place southwest of the city of Parma on 6 July 1495 . The League 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 – 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 - Comté . 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 field supremacy , gaining wealthy prisoners to be ransomed , and minimizing casualties , as it was basically a business . These tactics were going to be put to shame when the motivated armies of France and Spain descended upon the Italian peninsula . Campaign . Charles VIII was on good terms with the two powers in northern Italy , Milan and Venice , and both had encouraged him to make good his claims over the Kingdom of Naples . Thus he assumed he would have their support when he moved against Alfonso II of Naples , especially as the rival claimant was Ferdinand II of Aragon , King of Spain . At the end of August 1494 Charles VIII led a powerful French army with a large contingent of Swiss mercenaries and the first train of artillery seen in history into Italy . He was granted free passage through Milan , but was vigorously opposed by Florence , Pope Alexander VI , and Naples . On his way to Naples , Charles crushed every small army that the Pope and Naples could send against him and massacred any city that resisted him . This shocked the Italians , who were accustomed to the relatively bloodless wars of the Condottieri . On 22 February 1495 Charles VIII , with his general Louis II de La Trémoille , entered Naples almost without opposition . The speed and violence of the campaign left the Italians stunned . Realization struck them , especially the Venetians and the new Duke of Milan , Ludovico Sforza , that unless Charles was stopped Italy would soon be another province of France . On 31 March in Venice the Holy League was proclaimed ; the signatories were the Republic of Venice , the Duke of Milan , the Pope , the Spanish King , the English King , and Maximilian I , Holy Roman Emperor . The League engaged a veteran Condottiero , Francesco II of Gonzaga , Duke of Mantua to gather an army and expel the French from Italy . By 1 May this army was threatening the garrisons that Charles had left in a trail down Italy to guard his communications with France . On 20 May Charles left Naples leaving behind a garrison to hold the country and proclaiming that he only desired a safe return to France . As a footnote , Charles ' army had picked up a terrible malady while in Naples . While it is unclear whether it was imported from the New World or a more virulent strain of an Old World disease , the first known epidemic of syphilis had broken out in the city . As the French Army returned north this malady would be spread across Italy , and eventually all of Europe . Spread by the returning soldiers , it would be known through most of Europe as the " French disease " . Besides syphilis , Charles was taking with him both his large siege train and a baggage train that was loaded with the rich booty from Florence , Rome , and Naples . On 4 July the French reached the village of Fornovo and found their passage blocked by the main League army camped just north of the village . Battle . The battle was described by physician Alessandro Beneditti in his " Diaria de Bello Carolino ' On 27 June the Venetians and their allies established camp near Fornovo di Taro ( ) , some 30 km southwest of Parma , to wait for the French . They would not have to wait long , but the Venetian Senate was not unanimous on fighting the French . Some members wanted to attack the rear guard of the French to try to seize the money , while others cautioned that Italy was risking too much in this battle , while for the French it was just one army . They had plenty more to draw upon . On 4 July , Ercole d ' Este , Duke of Ferrara , Charles ' strongest ally in Italy , wrote to Charles to tell him that the Senate had not yet decided . But Charles was anxious , seeing the enemy numbers growing , while he had no hope of reinforcements . When an effort to sway the undecided forces of Parma was thwarted by the Venetians , Charles instead sent a messenger to request free passage to return to France , but the Venetians replied that he would have to restore all his conquests before such could be considered . The messenger , having scouted the troops , reported back to Charles . The forty soldiers Charles subsequently sent to reconnoiter were quickly routed by the Stradioti , mercenaries from Balkans . Two days later , 6 July , Charles decided to offer battle because the French were short on provisions . The League armies , mostly Venetians , were at the right side of the Taro river , and the French decided to keep the left side of the river . The French position was deemed to be good for defense because the Venetians had not cleared the field , and the rain had made the river banks slippery and impassable for the cavalry . Charles organized his army in battle groups . The first group , a troop of about 2 , 500 , was led by Gian Giacomo Trivulzio . The second , the largest , was led by Charles himself . The final group , of about 1 , 400 , was led by Francesco Secco , who rode in conversation with prisoner Count Niccolò di Pitigliano . There was in addition a large phalanx of spear soldiers . Artillery ranged before the first line and protected the second line on the side of the Taro . Melchiorre Trevisan promised the League soldiers the spoils of battle if they were victorious , igniting their combat ardor . Francesco Gonzaga divided his forces in nine lines . His battle plan was to distract the first and middle groups of the French by two lines while flanking the rear . Once the French groups were disorganized , the rest of the Italian troops would attack . The light cavalry attack on the French front was impeded by the terrain conditions , as the French anticipated , and its result indecisive . While the battle was at its most delicate point , the Stradioti saw that the French guarding the baggage train were being driven out by the assigned Italian light cavalry , and they immediately left their positions to fell upon the rich baggage to plunder it . What had been a battle slowly evolving towards the Venetian advantage now turned into a bloody exchange . The French artillery did not play a role because the rain wetted the powder . The Venetian reserve entered battle . Niccolò di Pitigliano , managing to reach the Venetians , told them that the French were demoralized . A number of the Italians were fleeing the battle , but Pitigliano and the Venetian proveditors were instrumental in turning back many by convincing them that the battle was being won or that , even if it were not , it would be better to die in battle than be executed for the loss . After over an hour of fighting , the French were forced back to a hilltop . Both sides took to camp . The French had lost about a thousand men , while the Venetians lost twice that many . Many nobles had died . The French had lost the booty of the Italian expedition . A day ' s truce was declared for burial of the dead . The dead and even the wounded were looted by the victorious League infantry and then the local peasantry . The following evening , Doge Agostino Barbarigo and the Venetian Senate received a report in which they were told that the Venetian army had not been destroyed , but that the result of the battle was uncertain because they had many casualties and deserters , but they did not know the enemy casualties . Due to the lack of details in this and due to other private correspondences , the Italians first believed they were in worse position than before , but the next day ' s detailed report declared victory . Though expressing dismay at his financial losses , Charles also voiced pride at the conduct of his soldiers and in the limited loss of soldiers . Consequences . Charles left Italy , without having gained anything . He attempted in the next few years to rebuild his army , but was hampered by the serious debts incurred by the previous one , and he never succeeded in recouping anything substantive . He died two - and - a - half years after his retreat , of an accident — striking himself on the head while passing through a doorway , he succumbed to a sudden coma several hours later . Charles bequeathed a meagre legacy : he left France in debt and in disarray as a result of an ambition most charitably characterized as unrealistic , and having lost several important provinces that would take centuries to recover . On a more positive side , his expedition did broaden contacts between French and Italian humanists , energizing French art and letters in the latter Renaissance . Charles proved the last of the elder branch of the House of Valois , and upon his death at Amboise the throne passed to a cousin , the duc d ' Orléans , who reigned as King Louis XII of France , who would try to make good his clearer claim to the Duchy of Milan . However , for Italy the consequences were catastrophic . Europe knew now , from the French and German soldiers in Charles ' expedition , of an incredibly rich land , divided into easily conquerable principalities , and defended only by mercenary armies that refused to fight at the slightest disadvantage . Italy was to be the scene of a dispute between the main continental powers , where the Italians were left with only a secondary role in their own destiny . Basically only Venice with its exemplary ( for the time ) system of government was going to survive the invasion of Italy as a completely independent state , but with the greatest difficulties , and at the cost of her strength and impulse .