Milanese and Neapolitan War, 1499-1504



A.) Causes for the War

Louis XII. in 1498 succeeded his father, Charles VIII., on the French throne. In continuation of the Neapolitan War 1494-1495, preparations for yet another invasion of the Italian peninsula were made.


B.) The War

The French invasion of Italy began in 1499; the city of Milan was taken; Duke Ludovico Sforza was taken prisoner in 1500. Milan remained in French hands until 1512. In 1500, the Treaty of Granada was signed, in which King Ferdinand of Aragon agreed to support the French claim for Naples, which was held by an estranged sideline of the House of Aragon. In 1501, French and Castilian-Aragonese forces invaded Naples. However, the alliance broke apart; while Louis XII. claimed the crown of Naples for himself, the French were defeated in 1503, the city of Naples occupied by the Spanish May 13th 1503, the last French stronghold in the Kingdom of Naples, Gaeta, fell on Jan. 1st 1504. The Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily were united in Dynstic Union, under the crown of Aragon.


C.) The Legacy

France, for the time being (-1512, 1515-1521), held on to Milan, while Spain, in succession of Aragon, would hold on to the two Sicilies. Italy entered a long era of foreign domination. In a 1505 treaty, France renounced her claim on Naples.




EXTERNAL
FILES 		Article Milan, from Encyclopedia of World History
Article Italian Wars, from Encyclopedia of World History
Milan - the Court of the Sforzas, from What, Where, When
Florence and Venice in Renaissance, from Univ. of Warwick, has detailed bibliography
Die Erste Periode der Italienkriege (1494-1504) (The first Phase of the Italian Wars, 1494-1504), from Die Entwicklung der Kriegskunst in den Italienkriegen (The Development of the Art of War in the Italian Wars), in German
Timeline Naples-Sicily 1059-1516, from History 208 at UAlberta
DOCUMENTS
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on June 3rd 2003, last revised on November 16th 2004

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