Gaston of Foix , Duke of Nemours Gaston de Foix , duc de Nemours ( 10 December 1489 – 11 April 1512 ) , also known as " The Thunderbolt of Italy , " was a French military commander noted mostly for his brilliant six - month campaign from 1511 to 1512 during the War of the League of Cambrai . Family . Gaston de Foix was born on 10 December 1489 in Mazères , County of Foix . He was a son of John of Foix , Viscount of Narbonne and Marie d ' Orléans . His paternal grandparents were Gaston IV of Foix - Grailly and Queen regnant Eleanor of Navarre . His maternal grandparents were Charles , Duke of Orléans and Marie of Cleves . His only maternal uncle was Louis XII of France . Gaston ' s campaigns . In 1511 , Gaston arrived in Italy as a new commander at the age of 21 . His presence and energy shifted the conflict into much higher levels of activity . French forces had captured Bologna on 13 May 1511 and were under siege from a combined Papal - Spanish army commanded by Ramón de Cardona , the Viceroy of Naples . Gaston marched his army to Bologna and scattered the armies of the Holy League . He then went north and defeated the Venetians at Brescia , which the French later captured ( February 1512 ) after a furious assault . Gaston had established firm control over northern Italy by March 1512 . He then force marched his troops south , intending to besiege Ravenna and dupe the Spanish into battle . Cardona led the Papal - Spanish forces cautiously near the French lines in order to form a strong defensive position . Gaston had about 23 , 000 soldiers , 8 , 500 of which were German landsknecht e , and 54 artillery pieces . Cardona had roughly 16 , 000 troops and 30 artillery pieces ; the garrison of Ravenna could count about 5 , 000 men . Gaston sent a formal invitation for battle to Cardona , who readily accepted . The decisive Battle of Ravenna would be fought on 11 April 1512 . The Spanish had their backs to the Ronco River and maintained a relatively secure front thanks to the strong entrenchments and obstacles prepared by the famous engineer Pedro Navarro . Gaston left 2 , 000 men to watch Ravenna and moved the rest of his force against Cardona . The French army crossed the stream between Ravenna and the Spanish camp without interference , formed in a semicircle around the enemy entrenchments , and started firing from the flanks into the Spanish position . The heavy bombardment did not trouble the well - protected Spanish infantry , but the cavalry could take no more and assaulted the French without orders . These charges were easily beaten back and the French counter - attacked . A bloody one - hour struggle ensued between the landsknechts and the Spanish in the entrenchments . At this moment , two cannons that Gaston had sent behind the Spanish lines opened fire and wrought havoc on the enemy rear . The Spanish withdrew and suffered tremendous casualties . During the pursuit , Gaston led a cavalry charge against a recalcitrant Spanish infantry unit . He was shot and killed . French casualties ran up to 9 , 000 while the Spanish lost nearly their entire army , as well as Pedro Navarro , who was captured . The death of Gaston de Foix was a huge blow to the French . The young and impetuous warrior had displayed an incredible talent for high command in the recent series of French victories . It is possible that the Italian Wars would have taken a very different course had he lived . Tomb . A very elaborate tomb was commissioned for Gaston in Milan from the workshop of Agostino Busti , which despite never being completed and assembled remains a key work in art history , and especially French Renaissance art , with ( as planned ) classicising relief panels of his campaigns around the base of the sarcophagus , surmounted by a more traditional recumbent effigy . Most of the pieces are on display in the Castello Sforzesco .