Italian Wars

The Battle of Novara, fought on 20 April 1500, was an engagement between forces under Louis XII of France and those of Ludovico Sforza of the Duchy of Milan during the Italian Wars. The confrontation placed the two principal rivals for control of Milan in direct opposition and formed part of the broader French effort to assert dominance over northern Italy following Louis XII's initial conquest of the duchy. Beyond the identities of the commanders, the record does not preserve details of outcome, casualties, or force sizes sufficient to assess the battle's precise effect on the wider campaign.

The Battle of St. Quentin, fought on 20 August 1557 during the Italian Wars, resulted in catastrophic losses for the Kingdom of France. Against a Spanish imperial force reported at between 50,000 and 80,000 men, the French army of 26,000 suffered approximately 10,000 casualties compared to around 1,000 on the Spanish side. The engagement involved senior commanders on both sides, including the French constable Anne de Montmorency and Louis de Gonzague facing Duke Emmanuel Philibert, Ferrante I Gonzaga, the Count of Egmont, and Julián Romero for the Spanish Empire. The disparity in casualties points to a severe French defeat, with consequences that bore directly on the closing phase of the Italian Wars, which ended with the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559 under terms broadly favorable to the Spanish Habsburgs.