The
Battle of Cerignola was fought on April 28, 1503, between
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and
FrenchThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
armies, in
CerignolaCerignola is a town and comune of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Foggia, 40 km southeast from the town of Foggia. It has the third-largest land area of any comune in Italy, at 593.71 km², after Rome and Ravenna.-History:...
, next
BariBari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
, Southern
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It is noted as the first battle in history won by
gunpowderGunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
small arms.
Spanish forces, under
Gonzalo Fernández de CórdobaGonzalo Fernández de Córdoba known as The Great Captain, Duke of Terranova and Santangelo, Andria, Montalto and Sessa, also known as Gonzalo de Córdoba, Italian: Gonsalvo or Consalvo Ernandes di Cordova was a Spanish general fighting in the times of the Conquest of Granada and the Italian Wars...
, formed by 8,000 men, with more than 1000 arquebusiers, and 20 cannon, defeated the French, 32,000 men, mainly heavy cavalry and Swiss mercenary pikemen, with about 40 cannon, and led by
Louis d'Armagnac, Duke of NemoursLouis d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours , known for most of his life as the Count of Guise, was the third son of Jacques d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours and Louise of Anjou....
, who was killed (making him probably the first general killed in action by musketry).
The end of the battle saw the first time a "call to prayer" (toque de oracion) was issued, a practice that was later adopted by most Western armies, when the Great Captain, upon seeing the fields full of French bodies (who, like the Spaniards, were Christian) ordered three long tones to be played and his troops to pray for all the fallen. Cerignola marks the beginning of the hegemony of Spain in the European battlefields until the defeat of
RocroiThe Battle of Rocroi was fought on 19 May 1643, late in the Thirty Years' War. It resulted in a victory of the French army under the Duc d'Enghien, against the Spanish army under General Francisco de Melo.-Prelude:...
in 1643.
Preparations
Despite being outnumbered 4:1,
Gonzalo Fernández de CórdobaGonzalo Fernández de Córdoba known as The Great Captain, Duke of Terranova and Santangelo, Andria, Montalto and Sessa, also known as Gonzalo de Córdoba, Italian: Gonsalvo or Consalvo Ernandes di Cordova was a Spanish general fighting in the times of the Conquest of Granada and the Italian Wars...
, called "El Gran Capitán" (The Great Captain), had many strategic advantages: he had occupied the heights of Cerignola, and entrenched his soldiers with walls, trenches and stakes, and his artillery was better placed than the French artillery. Most of his forces were infantry, which he had formed into new units called "Coronelías," that were the seed of the later Tercios, armed with a mix of pikes, arquebuses and swords. This type of formation had revolutionized the Spanish army, which like the French, had also centred upon cavalry from the tenth to fifteenth centuries, in the battles of the
ReconquistaThe Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
against the Muslims in Spain.
This army faced a professional French army based on the
Ordonnance reforms, relying on the heavily-armoured cavalry of the
Compagnies d'ordonnance and mercenary Swiss pikemen; however, at the same time, this army had more artillery than the Spanish. This paradox would be constant in the French armies through the first half of sixteenth century.
The Battle
The battle began with two charges by the French cavalry, against the centre of the Spanish army, but was dispersed by heavy artillery fire on both occasions. The next assault tried to force the right flank, but it was broken by a storm of fire from the Spanish arquebusiers, which killed the
Duke of NemoursLouis d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours , known for most of his life as the Count of Guise, was the third son of Jacques d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours and Louise of Anjou....
. With the Swiss commander, Chandieu, taking charge, the Swiss infantry attacked along with the cavalry, but this attempt was again driven back by the arquebusiers, during which Chandieu also died. This forced the French army to retire in disorder, the moment in which Spanish infantry countered. The result was a total French defeat.
It is considered the first battle in history won by firearms.