Misplaced Pages

#44955

77-468: This is the bridge type for which Chicago engineers are most well-known. The trunnion bascule has two bridge leaves with pivots on the opposing riverbanks and are raised on large trunnion bearings by large counterweights which offset the weight of the leaves. They take their names from the French word bascule , meaning seesaw , and the counterweights. Unlike most of the subsequent bascule bridges of Chicago,

154-411: A certain journey planned by King Ferrante to Genoa, where, accompanied by his nephew Ferdinand II of Naples , he was supposed to meet Ludovico and Beatrice to persuade them to peace, but stopped in those days, he died on January 25, 1494, according to some more of sorrow than of illness. Ascending the throne, Alfonso I accepted the prayers of his daughter Isabella and occupied, as a first act of hostility,

231-520: A daughter; he declared that he loved both granddaughters equally and urged them to be prudent, so that the situation remained stable until the king was alive. In May Ludovico Sforza sent his wife Beatrice as his ambassador to Venice and communicated to the Signoria, through her, some of his secret practices with Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg to obtain the investiture to the Duchy of Milan, as well as

308-407: A few days he prepared a fairly fine army, with which he entered Novara and took it, and in a few days he also had the castle, which caused great fear to Ludovico Sforza and he was close to despair over his fate, had he not been comforted by his wife Beatrice [...] O little glory of a prince, to whom the virtue of a woman must give him courage and make war, for the salvation of the domain! On June 29,

385-572: A fight, and the Neapolitan nobles opened the doors to him and crowned him king of Naples. The French occupation, however, quickly incited the hatred of the Neapolitans, who suffered continuous abuses. By May, equipped with fresh troops and the support of allies, Ferdinand II of Naples was able to return to the peninsula, acclaimed by cries of "Ferro! Ferro!" and began, from [Puglia], the difficult reconquest of his kingdom. Despite his defeat in

462-591: A fortunate coincidence, he obtained from Pope Alexander VI a peaceful entry into the Eternal City. The pope's mistress Giulia Farnese , wife of his ally Orsino Orsini , had been taken prisoner by French soldiers while traveling from Bassanello to the Vatican with her mother-in-law Adriana Mila. Charles used them as bargaining chips: the women were freed within a month and the French army was able to parade into Rome . The agreement did not, however, spare Rome from

539-466: A growing number of cities giving their allegiance to the invaders, Ferdinand made the drastic decision to abandon Naples in search of reinforcements. Before leaving, however, he made a public promise that he would return within 15 days, and that if he did not do so they could all be considered free from the oath of fidelity and obedience made to him. He went with the royal family to Ischia, then to Messina. On February 22, King Charles occupied Naples without

616-823: A half million ducats . In December Ludovico led his wife to see him and promised her that, if he gave him a son, he would make her a lady and mistress of everything; conversely, dying him, she would have very little left. Already in January 1492 Beatrice predicted to the Florentine ambassador that within a year she and her husband would be dukes of Milan, and the hostility between the two cousins became so intense that in February Ludovico, strong of some rumors coming from France, accused King Ferrante of having spurred Charles VIII to wage war against him, in order to free Gian Galeazzo from his tyranny; he also refused to meet

693-616: A large surface contact area between the trunnion and the cylinder. In airframe engineering, these are self-contained concentric bearings that are designed to offer fluid movement in a critical area of the steering. The term is also used to describe the wheel that a rotating cylinder runs on. For example, a lapidary (stone-polishing) cylinder runs on a pair of rollers, similar to trunnions. The sugar industry uses rotating cylinders up to 22 feet (7 m) in diameter, 131 ft (40 m) long, and weighing around 1,000 tons . These rotate at around 30 revolutions per hour. They are supported on

770-806: A pathring, which runs on trunnions. Similar devices called rotary kilns are used in cement manufacturing. In mining, some refining plants utilise drum scrubbers in the process that are supported by a large trunnion and associated trunnion bearings at each end. Italian War of 1494%E2%80%931498#French invasion Kingdom of France Duchy of Milan (before 1495) England (1496–98) Margraviate of Mantua Charles VIII Duke of Orléans Count of Montpensier Louis de la Trémoille Gian Francesco Sanseverino and Gaspare Sanseverino (before 1495) Ferdinand II of Naples Frederick of Naples Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba Francis II of Mantua Galeazzo Sanseverino (after 1495) 25,000 men The First Italian War , or Charles VIII's Italian War ,

847-551: A psychological effect on the battlefield; owning these giant mortars did not guarantee any army a victory. The French saw the limitations of these massive weapons and focused their efforts on improving their smaller and lighter guns, which used smaller, more manageable projectiles combined with larger amounts of gunpowder. Equipping them with trunnions was key for two reasons. First, teams of horses could now move these cannons fast enough to keep up with their armies and no longer had to stop and dismount them from their carriages to achieve

SECTION 10

#1732772078045

924-445: A shaft (the trunnion) is inserted into (and turns inside) a full or partial cylinder. In a cannon , the trunnions are two projections cast just forward of the center of mass of the cannon and fixed to a two-wheeled movable gun carriage . As they allowed the muzzle to be raised and lowered easily, the integral casting of trunnions is seen by military historians as one of the most important advances in early field artillery . With

1001-531: A splendid feast to please the king, but on that same day Charles fell seriously ill with an evil that at that time was mistaken for smallpox, but which was more likely a first manifestation of syphilis. For this event the very continuation of the war was questioned: many members of the king's retinue wished to return to France. The indisposition, however, was short-lived: already on September 21 King Charles got out of bed, and Louis d'Orleans fell ill with double Quartan fever. Duke Ercole d'Este counted, perhaps through

1078-769: A team of men or horses could pull them. Due to its capabilities, the French- and Burgundy-designed siege gun, equipped with its trunnions, required little significant modification from around 1465 to the 1840s. King Charles VIII and the French army used this new gun in the 1494 invasion of Italy . Although deemed masters of war and artillery at that time, Italians had not anticipated the innovations in French siege weaponry. Prior to this, field artillery guns were huge, large-caliber bombards: superguns that, along with enormous stones or other projectiles, were dragged from destination to destination. These behemoths could only be used effectively in sieges, and more often than not provided just

1155-538: A trunnion which extends into the mass of the dam or lock. The Tainter gate is used in water control dams and locks worldwide. The Upper Mississippi River basin alone has 321 Tainter gates, and the Columbia River basin has 195. In mechanical engineering, it is one part of a rotating joint where a shaft (the trunnion) is inserted into (and turns inside) a full or partial cylinder. Often used in opposing pairs, this joint allows tight tolerances and strength from

1232-416: Is a cylindrical protrusion used as a mounting or pivoting point. First associated with cannons, they are an important military development. Alternatively, a trunnion is a shaft that positions and supports a tilting plate. This is a misnomer, as in reality it is a cradle for the true trunnion. In mechanical engineering (see the trunnion bearing section below), it is one part of a rotating joint where

1309-515: Is today, because, despite the League having numerical superiority and the command of one of the most skilled leaders of the time, Francesco Gonzaga, the army of Charles VIII remained more powerful from a technological point of view, and in the number and quality of artillery. At the time both the Italians and the French claimed to have won. Both parties strove to present themselves as the victors in

1386-506: The Battle of Seminara , Ferdinand's campaign ultimately proved to be a success. On July 7, after defeating the last French garrisons, he was able to return to Naples, welcomed by the festive population. The speed of the French advance, together with the brutality of their sack of Mordano, left the other states of Italy in shock. Ludovico Sforza, realizing that Charles had a claim to Milan as well as Naples, and would probably not be satisfied by

1463-631: The Republic of Venice . (Venice's ostensible purpose in joining the League was to oppose the Ottoman Empire , while its actual objective was French expulsion from Italy.) This alliance was known as the Holy League of 1495, or as the League of Venice, and was proclaimed on 31 March 1495. England joined the League in 1496. The League gathered an army under the condottiero Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua . Including most of

1540-719: The Angevin line of Neapolitan succession. Casus belli of the conflict was the rivalry that arose between the Duchess of Bari, Beatrice d'Este , wife of Ludovico Sforza , known as the Moor, and the Duchess of Milan, Isabella of Aragon , wife of Gian Galeazzo , who both aspired to control of the Duchy of Milan and to the hereditary title for their children: since 1480 Ludovico Sforza ruled that duchy as regent of his little nephew Gian Galeazzo, not being therefore duke by right, but only de facto . The situation remained calm until 1489, when

1617-553: The Aragonese King of Naples. The looming danger of looting and violence of the French army (emphasized by the impassioned sermons of Girolamo Savonarola) that heightened the resentment of most citizens against the Medici came to pass when Charles VIII entered Fivizzano on October 29. Later, Charles laid siege to the fortress of Sarzanello, demanding that they open the way to Florence. Piero, having taken new counsel, went to meet

SECTION 20

#1732772078045

1694-626: The Duchy of Milan, which he considered his right, being a descendant of Valentina Visconti. On 11 June he occupied with his troops the city of Novara , which was given to him by treason, and went as far as Vigevano . Ludovico il Moro then took refuge with his family in the Rocca del Castello in Milan but, not feeling equally safe, he meditated on abandoning the duchy to take refuge in Spain. The firm opposition of his wife Beatrice d'Este and some members of

1771-610: The Duke of Ferrara Ercole I d'Este and cousin of Isabella on her mother's side. Determined and ambitious young woman, Beatrice was soon associated by her husband with the government of the state, nor Isabella, "angry and desperate for envy", could bear to see herself surpassed in all honors by her cousin. The Duchy of Milan was at the time the richest state in Italy after the Republic of Venice and its treasury amounted to as many as one and

1848-814: The Duke of Ferrara, Beatrice's father, together with the Florentines kept King Charles informed every day of everything that was being done in Venice as in Lombardy, then secretly supplying the Duke of Orleans in Novara, as he sought the king's help in the recovery of the Polesine , stolen from him by the Venetians at the time of the Salt War. In addition the leader Fracasso  [ it ] , Galeazzo's brother,

1925-492: The Florentines facilitated the invasion of Charles VIII, considering him restorer of their freedom and reformer of the Church (whose Pope Alexander VI, who ascended to the papal throne on August 26, 1492, was considered unworthy by Savonarola). In Florence, however, a conflict immediately arose when the liberator Charles made a demand for a huge sum of money that the Florentine government refused. The French king threatened to order

2002-550: The Italian historian Francesco Guicciardini 's judgement was to award the palm of victory to the French. Privately, Gonzaga confessed to his wife that the battle was a near run thing and that if the French had turned on them, the League's forces would have been destroyed. A week later, Bernardino Fortebraccio spoke to the Venetian senate, stating the League's army could have defeated the French if their troops would have stayed in

2079-486: The Neapolitan orator, except behind a very large armed escort, claiming that he was sent by the Duke of Calabria to assassinate him. To make the suspicions more concrete was added, at the end of the year, the attempted poisoning, perpetrated by Isabella of Aragon rea confesses, against Galeazzo Sanseverino , dear son-in-law and captain general of the Moro, as well as the danger that this was repeated against some other member of

2156-590: The Neapolitans but most of the fighting involved the Milanese and Neapolitans. The artillery French then concentrating the shot on the Aragonese defeated them, forcing them to flee or surrender. The Orsini and the Campofregoso were taken prisoner. The Swiss also massacred those who intended to surrender and even the wounded, then sacked the city of Rapallo. This battle annihilated the Neapolitan fleet and opened

2233-418: The Neapolitans had already offered the crown of Naples to René II, who set an expedition to gain possession of the realm, but he was then halted by Charles VIII of France, who intended to claim Naples himself. Charles VIII was arguing that his grandmother Marie of Anjou, the sister of René of Anjou, had a closer connection than Rene II's mother Yolande, the daughter of René of Anjou, and therefore he came first in

2310-525: The States themselves) shortly after the clash, and this, regardless of how the military outcome of the battle of Fornovo had been, showed what and how great was the real weakness of the Italians: the internal divisions. Even if Fornovo had not been a total victory, every European sovereign would have hesitated in the face of the prospect of fighting in a foreign land and against a rich coalition (as we know, war

2387-542: The advent of these new weapons. Defensive tactics and fortifications had to be altered since these new weapons could be transported so speedily and aimed with much more accuracy at strategic locations. Two significant changes were the additions of a ditch and low, sloping ramparts of packed earth ( glacis ) that would surround the city and absorb the impact of the cannonballs, and the replacement of round watchtowers with angular bastions . These towers would be deemed trace Italienne. Whoever could afford these new weapons had

Cortland Street Drawbridge - Misplaced Pages Continue

2464-566: The aims of Ludovico Sforza and to renounce the conquest of his father's kingdom, all in the presence of Ludovico himself. The king was moved by that scene, and promised to protect his son, but replied that he could not stop a war that had begun. A month after this meeting Gian Galeazzo Sforza died, he said he was poisoned, and Ludovico il Moro became lord of Milan. The meeting of Charles VIII and Gian Galeazzo Sforza in Pavia in 1494, Pelagio Palagi. In front of her dying husband's bed, Duchess Isabella begs

2541-576: The annexation of Naples alone, turned to Pope Alexander VI , who was embroiled in a power game of his own with France and various Italian states over his attempts to secure secular fiefdoms for his children. The Pope formed an alliance of several opponents of French hegemony in Italy: himself; Ferdinand of Aragon , who was also King of Sicily ; the Emperor Maximilian I ; Ludovico in Milan ; and

2618-459: The army of the League followed Charles's retreat northwards through Rome , which had been abandoned to the French by Pope Alexander VI on 27 May 1495. The king's cousin, Louis d'Orléans , had not followed Charles on his march to Naples, but had remained in his own fief of Asti, having fallen ill with malaria in September of the previous year. He now threatened to implement his plan to conquer

2695-557: The bans before dying in 1492, but the offer to Charles remained an apple of discord in Italian politics. Ferdinand died on 25 January 1494 and was succeeded by his son Alfonso II . A third claimant to the Neapolitan throne was René II, Duke of Lorraine . He was the oldest son of Yolande, Duchess of Lorraine (died 1483), the only surviving child of René of Anjou (died 1480), the last effective Angevin King of Naples until 1442. In 1488

2772-409: The battle and left the baggage train alone. The French had won their battle, fighting off superior numbers and proceeding on their march to Asti. The League took much higher casualties and could not prevent the French army from crossing Italian lands on its way back to France. On the political level the States of the Holy League divided and resumed their policy against each other, (even within

2849-477: The battle. The battle was reported in Venice as a victory, and was recorded and celebrated as such, which included the capture of Mathieu de Bourbon. Regardless of the self-proclamations of victory by League commanders, Domenico Malipiero recognized that the League failed to stop the French from reaching Asti. Francesco Gonzaga claimed victory and the ordered the portrait of the Madonna della Vittoria , while

2926-472: The behest of King Charles, who was returning to France, and the enterprise ended in nothing. Charles, wanting to avoid being trapped in Campania, on May 20 left Naples and marched north to reach Lombardy, but met the army of the League in the Battle of Fornovo , 30 km (19 miles) southwest of the city of Parma , on 6 July 1495. The result of the battle was however uncertain, and, in some ways, it still

3003-660: The bridge, subsequently abandoning the remainder of the Armitage Avenue streetcar line in June. Electric trolley buses also crossed the bridge, starting on February 1, 1953, when CTA replaced the motor buses on route 73. Trolley buses operated until October 15, 1966, when the agency converted the route to diesel buses. The Cortland Street Bridge is currently used for two-way vehicle traffic, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic. Trunnion#Trunnion bearings A trunnion (from Old French trognon  'trunk')

3080-445: The camp moved to Cassolnovo , a direct possession of Beatrice. The woman supervised the order of the troops and the camp, then returned to Vigevano, where she remained housed, so as to keep herself immediately informed of the operations. According to Sanudo, however, she was disliked by everyone for the hatred they brought to her husband Ludovico, who was safe in the castle of Milan and from there made his measures. Finally recovering from

3157-577: The center of mass to allow the barrel to be elevated to any desired angle, without having to dismount it from the carriage upon which it rested. Some guns had a second set of trunnions placed several feet back from the first pair, which could be used to allow for easier transportation. The gun would recoil causing the carriage to move backwards several feet but men or a team of horses could put it back into firing position. It became easier to rapidly transport these large siege guns, maneuver them from transportation mode to firing position, and they could go wherever

Cortland Street Drawbridge - Misplaced Pages Continue

3234-571: The city of Bari. From this came the reaction of Ludovico who, in order to respond to his threats, gave a free hand to the French monarch to go down to Italy. Charles was also being encouraged by his favorite, Étienne de Vesc , as well as by Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere , the future Pope Julius II , who hoped to settle a score with the incumbent Pope, Alexander VI. Charles was preceded in Italy by his cousin Louis d'Orleans , who in July 1494 arrived in

3311-565: The city-states of northern Italy, the League of Venice threatened to shut off King Charles's land route by which to return to France. Charles VIII, not wanting to be trapped in Naples, marched north to Lombardy on 20 May 1495, leaving Gilbert, Count of Montpensier , in Naples as his viceroy , with a substantial garrison. After Ferdinand of Aragon had recovered Naples, with the help of his Spanish relatives with whom he had sought asylum in Sicily,

3388-491: The council convinced him to desist. However, the state was suffering from a severe financial crisis, there was no money to pay for the army and the people threatened the revolt. Comines writes that, if the Duke of Orleans had advanced only a hundred paces, the Milanese army would have crossed the Ticino again, and he would have managed to enter Milan, since some noble citizens had offered to introduce him. Ludovico did not resist

3465-540: The creation of larger and more powerful siege guns in the early 15th century, a new way of mounting them became necessary. Stouter gun carriages were created with reinforced wheels, axles, and “trails” which extended behind the gun. Guns were now as long as 2.5 metres (8 ft) in length and they were capable of shooting iron projectiles weighing from 10 to 25 kilograms (25 to 50 lb). When discharged, these wrought iron balls were comparable in range and accuracy with stone-firing bombards . Trunnions were mounted near

3542-477: The disease, in early August the latter went with his wife Beatrice to the Camp of Novara, where they resided in the following weeks. Meanwhile the city was decimated by famine and epidemics that decimated the enemy army. The Duke of Orleans, also ill with malarial fevers, urged his men to resist with the false promise that the king's help would soon come. He was finally forced to cede the city on 24 September 1495 at

3619-406: The ducal family. The point of definitive rupture, however, took place in January 1493, with the birth of Hercules Maximilian , eldest son of Moro and Beatrice: the possession of a legitimate descent was what was still missing for the spouses to be able to aspire to the ducal title. Rumors spread that Ludovico intended to appoint his son Count of Pavia – a title belonging exclusively to the heir to

3696-448: The duchy – in place of Isabella's son, Francesco. The latter, feeling threatened, asked for the intervention of her father Alfonso of Aragon, whose impetus was however restrained by the wiser King Ferrante, who repudiated the war by officially declaring: ""if the wife of the Duke of Milan is my nephew, the wife of the Duke of Bari is also my nephew". He, moreover, had been affectively very close to Beatrice, whom until 1485 he had raised as

3773-477: The gear rack that moves this bridge is visible above the roadway, on the curved arcs at each end of the superstructure. The bridge was built under the supervision of Mayor Carter Harrison, Jr. , and Frederick W. Blocki, the Commissioner of Public Works. This is the second bridge built on this site, which replaced a swing bridge with a mid-river pier supporting the swing span. The current bridge eliminated

3850-532: The intercession of his daughter and son-in-law, to be appointed captain general of the army French, but since he realized that the project would not go through, on September 22 he left discontent for Ferrara. Leaving Asti, Carlo was hosted in Vigevano by the Dukes of Bari, then in Pavia, where he wanted to meet Gian Galeazzo Sforza dying in bed. His wife Isabella of Aragon at first refused with absolute rigor to meet

3927-410: The king to negotiate, and was forced to grant him the fortresses of Sarzanello, Sarzana and Pietrasanta, the cities of Pisa and Livorno with their ports useful to French ships in support of the army, and the green light for Florence. Returning to Florence on November 8, Piero was forced to flee from citizens who accused him of a cowardly and servile attitude and proclaimed the Republic. At the same time

SECTION 50

#1732772078045

4004-458: The king, threatening suicide with a knife in front of the astonished Ludovico Sforza and Galeazzo Sanseverino, in case they wanted to force her, saying: "first I will kill myself, that never go to his presence of who goes to the ruin of the King my father!"; at a later time she went of her own free will to her husband's room, threw herself on her knees at the feet of King Charles and, showing him her son Francesco, begged him to protect his family from

4081-494: The looting of French troops. To avoid a further stay in the city, on January 6, 1495, Alexander VI welcomed Charles VIII and authorized his passage through the Papal States towards Naples, alongside his son Cesare Borgia as cardinal legate. Charles VIII besieged and conquered the castle of Monte San Giovanni, killing 700 inhabitants, and Tuscania (Viterbo), destroying two terzieri and killing 800 inhabitants. Knowing that he

4158-602: The looting of the city by the blowing of trumpets, to which the gonfalonier Pier Capponi replied that Florence would respond by ringing the city bells to call the people to resist. Rather than face the dangerous threat of a revolt, Charles chose instead to continue towards Rome. Charles, however, fearful of antagonizing the European powers, did not intend to depose the Borgia from the papacy. He marched to Rome and first took Civitavecchia, and on December 31, 1494, taking advantage of

4235-440: The marriage between Gian Galeazzo and Isabella of Aragon, granddaughter of King Ferrante of Naples as the daughter of Alfonso Duke of Calabria, took effect. Isabella immediately realized that all power was reduced to the hands of Louis and suffered from the ineptitude of her husband, listless and totally disinterested in the government; nevertheless he endured in silence until, in 1491, Ludovico married Beatrice d'Este, daughter of

4312-640: The necessary measures for the defense and abolished some taxes in hatred of the people. The army of the league had meanwhile moved near Vigevano. Captain General of the Sforza army was then Galeazzo Sanseverino , while the Serenissima sent Bernardo Contarini, provveditore of the stradiotti, to the rescue of Milan. However, in June the Lordship of Venice – according to Malipiero – had meanwhile discovered how

4389-551: The need for the mid-river pier, allowing more room in the shipping channel. While the machinery of the current bridge is intact, the bridge is no longer operable and the leaves are clamped together. The bridge was traversed by streetcars of Line 73-Armitage Avenue, in addition to other traffic until February 25, 1951. The following day the bridge was temporarily closed for repairs and the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) substituted buses for streetcars east of

4466-505: The nobility began to pay their taxes and more closely follow their ruler’s mandates. With siege guns mounted on trunnions, stronger and larger states were formed, but because of this, struggles between neighboring governments with consolidated power began to ensue and would continue to plague Europe for the next few centuries. A common floodgate used in dams and canal locks is the Tainter gate . This gate opens and closes by pivoting on

4543-581: The order and to animate her captains to move against the Duke of Orleans, who in those days was constantly making raids in that area. Guicciardini's opinion is that if the latter had attempted the assault immediately, he would have taken Milan, since the defense resided only in Galeazzo Sanseverino, but Beatrice's demonstration of strength was able to confuse him in making him believe the defenses superior to what they were, so that he did not dare to try his luck and retired to Novara. The hesitation

4620-519: The papacy, excommunicated and deposed Ferdinand by a bull of 11 September 1489. Innocent then offered the Kingdom of Naples to Charles VIII of France , who had a remote claim to its throne because his grandfather, Charles VII , King of France, had married Marie of Anjou of the Angevin dynasty , the ruling family of Naples until 1442. Innocent later settled his quarrel with Ferdinand and revoked

4697-445: The proper range before firing; second, the capability to adjust firing angle without having to lift the entire weight of the gun allowed tactical selection and reselection of targets rather than being deployed solely on the first target chosen. Francesco Guicciardini , an Italian historian and statesman, wrote that the cannons were placed against town walls so quickly, spaced together so closely and shot so rapidly and with such force that

SECTION 60

#1732772078045

4774-541: The secret news just communicated to him that Charles VIII, signed the peace with the emperor, was determined to carry out his enterprise against the kingdom of Naples and to appoint Ludovico head and conductor of said enterprise. The spouses therefore wished to know the opinion of the Signoria in this regard, and indirectly asked for its support. The Venetians replied that what was reported was very serious and limited themselves to vague reassurances, keeping out of these maneuvers. Francesco Guicciardini spoke at this point of

4851-582: The side of the French. Ferdinand and his whole army were forced to leave Cesena in a hurry. Charles had at first intended to travel the Via Emilia to Romagna, but changed his plans and, after a stop in Piacenza, headed towards Florence. The city was traditionally pro-French, but the uncertain policy of its lord, Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, had deployed it in defense of

4928-484: The sovereign Charles VIII on his knees not to want to continue the war against Alfonso her father and entrusts him with her son Francesco. Next to the king, with a shady face, stands Duke Ludovico, presumed responsible for the poisoning. The King of Naples, Alfonso of Aragon, entrusted the general command of the Neapolitan army to his son Ferdinand who, although young, was endowed with exceptional qualities in both war and politics. In September and October he stopped with

5005-497: The tactical advantage over their neighbors and smaller sovereignties, which could not incorporate them into their army. Smaller states, such as the principalities of Italy, began to conglomerate. Preexisting stronger entities, such as France or the Habsburg emperors, were able to expand their territories and maintain a tighter control over the land they already occupied. With the potential threat of their land and castles being seized,

5082-482: The tension and fell ill, perhaps due to a stroke (according to the hypothesis of some historians), since, as reported by the chronicler Malipiero, he had become paralytic of a hand, he never left the bedroom and was rarely seen. The government of the state was then taken over by the Duchess Beatrice, appointed for the occasion governor of Milan, who secured the support and loyalty of the Milanese nobles, took

5159-464: The territories of the Duchy of Milan with the vanguards of the French army, benevolently welcomed in Vigevano by the Dukes of Bari Ludovico Sforza and Beatrice d'Este, then settled in his fief of Asti. Only on 3 September 1494 King Charles moved to Italy through Montgenèvre, with an army of about 30,000 troops, of which 5,000 were Swiss mercenaries, equipped with modern artillery. Arriving in Piedmont he

5236-427: The time for a significant amount of damage to be inflicted went from a matter of days (as with bombards) to a matter of hours. For the first time in history, as seen in the 1512 battle of Ravenna and the 1515 Battle of Marignano , artillery weaponry played a very decisive part in the victory of the invading army over the city under siege. Cities that had proudly withstood sieges for up to seven years fell swiftly with

5313-601: The troops in Romagna, where he sought the alliance of Caterina Sforza, lady of Forlì and Imola, to secure that important place of transit to Naples. The alliance, however, did not last long because, on 19 October a contingent of Charles' army besieged the fortress of Mordano . After refusing to surrender, the fortress was bombarded, taken by French-Milanese forces, and the surviving inhabitants massacred. Caterina Sforza accused her Neapolitan allies of not having wanted to come to her rescue and therefore changed alliances, passing to

5390-709: The way to Liguria and central Italy to the army of Charles VIII. The French army camped in Asti on September 11, where Charles VIII received the homage of his supporters: first of all Duke Ludovico Sforza with his wife Beatrice d'Este and his father-in-law Ercole d'Este, Duke of Ferrara. Margarita dè Solari, an eleven-year-old girl (in 1495 she dedicated Les Louanges du Mariage to him), staying in her father's Palace in Asti, listened to his hatreds. He immediately recalled his cousin Luigi d'Orleans to Asti from Genoa, who arrived on 15 September. On September 13, Duchess Beatrice had ordered

5467-513: Was accused of double game with the king of France. The suspicions were corroborated by the fact that the latter had responded with little respect to the Marquis Francesco Gonzaga, when the latter during a council of war accused him of not collaborating in war operations. Not being able to count on her father's help, on June 27 Beatrice d'Este went alone, without her husband, to the military camp of Vigevano, both to supervise

5544-600: Was aware that his army, advancing into the long Italian peninsula towards Naples, needed naval help to ensure logistical support from the sea. The Aragonese maneuver was instead precisely to prevent him from freedom of maneuver in the Tyrrhenian Sea; already in July a Neapolitan fleet bombards the Genoese Porto Venere trying in vain to seize the base. On September 5, 1494, the city of Rapallo in Liguria

5621-403: Was deeply hated by the Neapolitan people and their allies, on January 22, 1495, Alfonso II decided to abdicate in favor of his more-popular son Ferdinand, in the hope that this would be enough to improve the political situation. Despite the efforts of the new king to remedy the mistakes made by his predecessors, it was insufficient to avoid the French conquest of Naples. Betrayed by his captains and

5698-630: Was fatal to him, as it allowed Galeazzo to reorganize the troops and surround him, thus forcing him to a long and exhausting siege. Loys duc d'Orleans [...] en peu de jours mist en point une assez belle armée, avecques la quelle il entra dedans Noarre et icelle print, et en peu de jours pareillement eut le chasteau, laquelle chose donna grant peur à Ludovic Sforce et peu près que desespoir à son affaire, s'il n'eust esté reconforté par Beatrix sa femme [...] O peu de gloire d'un prince, à qui la vertuz d'une femme convient luy donner couraige et faire guerre, à la salvacion de dominer! Louis Duke of Orleans [...] in

5775-425: Was greeted festively by the Dukes of Savoy, and then joined his cousin in the controlled County of Asti. Charles VIII gathered a large army of 25,000 men, including 8,000 Swiss mercenaries and the first siege train to include artillery He was aided by Louis d'Orleans victory over Neapolitan forces at the Battle of Rapallo which allowed Charles to march his army through the Republic of Genoa . Charles VIII

5852-457: Was reached by the Aragonese naval fleet that landed 4,000 Neapolitan soldiers commanded by Giulio Orsini, Obietto Fieschi and Fregosino Campofregoso: the intention was to raise the population of Rapallo against Genoa which at that time was subject to the Sforza lordship. Three days later, a French army commanded by Louis d'Orléans arrived in the city, consisting of French soldiers, 3,000 Swiss mercenaries and Milanese contingents. The Swiss attacked

5929-571: Was the opening phase of the Italian Wars . The war pitted Charles VIII of France , who had initial Milanese aid, against the Holy Roman Empire , Spain and an alliance of Italian powers led by Pope Alexander VI , known as the League of Venice. This is an overview of notable events including battles during the war. Pope Innocent VIII , in conflict with King Ferdinand I of Naples over Ferdinand's refusal to pay feudal dues to

#44955