Battle of Anghiari (1440)
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Anghiari was fought on June 29, 1440, between Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 and the Italian League led by Republic of Florence
Republic of Florence
The Republic of Florence , or the Florentine Republic, was a city-state that was centered on the city of Florence, located in modern Tuscany, Italy. The republic was founded in 1115, when the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon Margravine Matilda's death. The...

 in the course of the Wars in Lombardy
Wars in Lombardy
The wars in Lombardy were a series of conflicts fought in central-northern Italy between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan, and their different allies. They lasted from 1425 until the signing of the Treaty of Lodi in 1454...

.

The League's army concentrated on Anghiari, a small centre of Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....

, and comprised: 4,000 Papal
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...

 troops, under Cardinal Ludovico Trevisan; a Florentine contingent of around the same size, and a company of 300 men-at-arms (knights) from Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, led by Micheletto Attendolo
Micheletto Attendolo
thumb|350px|The decisive attack of Micheletto Attendolo at San Romano, part of The Battle of San Romano triptych by [[Paolo Uccello]]. [[Musée du Louvre]], [[Paris]].Micheletto Attendolo was an Italian condottiero....

. Other men joined for the occasion from the Anghiari itself.

The numerically superior Milanese force was led by the famous condottiero
Condottieri
thumb|Depiction of [[Farinata degli Uberti]] by [[Andrea del Castagno]], showing a 15th century condottiero's typical attire.Condottieri were the mercenary soldier leaders of the professional, military free companies contracted by the Italian city-states and the Papacy, from the late Middle Ages...

Niccolò Piccinino
Niccolò Piccinino
Niccolò Piccinino was an Italian condottiero.-Biography:He was born at Perugia, was the son of a butcher.He began his military career in the service of Braccio da Montone, who at that time was waging war against Perugia on his own account, and at the death of his chief, shortly followed by that of...

 in the name of Duke Filippo Maria Visconti
Filippo Maria Visconti
Filippo Maria Visconti was ruler of Milan from 1412 to 1447.-Biography:Filippo Maria Visconti, who had become nominal ruler of Pavia in 1402, succeeded his assassinated brother Gian Maria Visconti as Duke of Milan in 1412. They were the sons of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Gian Maria's predecessor, by...

 and reached the area on the night of June 28. Some 2,000 men from the nearby town of Sansepolcro
Sansepolcro
Sansepolcro , is a town and comune in Tuscany, Italy, in the province of Arezzo.Situated on the upper reaches of the Tiber river, Borgo was the birthplace of the painters Piero della Francesca, Raffaellino del Colle and Angiolo Tricca...

 joined the Milanese. Confident in his superior manpower, and on the element of surprise Piccinino ordered an attack in the afternoon of the following day. However the dust lifted by the Milanese on the Sansepolcro-Anghiari road was noticed by Micheletto and the League's forces were made ready for battle.

Micheletto's Venetian knights blocked the Milanese vanguard on the only bridge over the channel protecting the League's camp. Micheletto and the Venetians held the bridge allowing the greater part of the League's army to form for battle but were eventually pushed back by Milanese reinforcements led by the two captains Francesco Piccinino
Francesco Piccinino
260px|thumb|Latin epitaph of Francesco Piccinino.Francesco Piccinino was an Italian condottiero.He was the adoptive son of the condottiero Niccolò Piccinino and the brother of Jacopo Piccinino. At Niccolò's death , he had been already established as a gallant warrior under the Duchy of Milan and...

 and Astorre II Manfredi
Astorre II Manfredi
Astorre II Manfredi was lord of Imola from 1439 and of Faenza from 1443.He was born in Faenza, the son of Gian Galeazzo I Manfredi. Apart Faenza and Imola, he was Papal vicar at Fusignano and other lands in Romagna together with his brother Gian Galeazzo II...

. The Milanese advanced but their right flank was soon ferociously engaged by the Papal troops and were obliged to retreat to the bridge. The battle continued for four hours, until a surrounding manoeuvre managed to cut off a third of the Milanese on the League side of the channel.

The battle continued into the night but ended with a victory for the League army.
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