ORDER OF BATTLE // October 17, 1513
Battle of La Motta
Estimated force strength by side, with confidence labels per surviving record.
Forces engaged
2 sides catalogued · combined 14,000 estimated
Spain
4,000
Medium-confidence figure
Republic of Venice
10,000
Medium-confidence figure
Battle context
The Battle of La Motta was a significant engagement of the War of the League of Cambrai, pitting a Venetian army under Bartolomeo d'Alviano against a combined Spanish and Imperial force commanded by Ramón de Cardona and Fernando d'Ávalos at Schio in the Veneto. Despite fielding a force of roughly 10,000 against an opposing army of approximately 4,000, Venice suffered a decisive defeat, with casualties recorded at 4,500. The scale of Venetian losses relative to the size of the engagement underscored the severity of the reverse. Within the broader War of the League of Cambrai — a conflict in which a coalition of European powers sought to check Venetian territorial ambitions in northern Italy — the battle represented a further blow to the Republic's military position in the region. Venice's inability to convert numerical superiority into battlefield success reflected the persistent difficulties it faced against Spanish and Imperial forces during this phase of the conflict.
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