The Third War of Francis I and Charles V (1536–1538)
The capture of Rome in 1527, the successes of the Reformation in Germany and the break with the Catholicism of English King Henry VIII greatly undermined the position of the Pope. He was in complete submission to the emperor and no longer took an active part in the Italian wars. Since the 1530s, the conflict has become a struggle between the Spanish Hapsburgs and the French Valois for hegemony in Europe. A new cause for military confrontation arose with the death of the Duke of Milan Francesco II Sforza in 1535. Charles V immediately declared Lombardy the possession of the Spanish crown. This was opposed by Francis I, who made a reciprocal claim to Milan and Savoy. In 1536, French troops captured Turin and occupied the entire Duchy of Savoy , but they could not reach Milan. In response, Charles V attacked Provence and besieged Marseille. Since the Spaniards could not capture the heavily fortified Avignon, their advance into the French territory stopped. In 1538, France and the emperor concluded the Nice Truce for 10 years, retaining the hegemony of Spain in Italy, but transferring Piedmont under the authority of Francis I.
Fourth War of Francis I and Charles V (1542–1546)
Nice truce proved short-lived. In 1541, Spanish soldiers killed two Frenchmen in Pavia. In response, Francis I renewed the war in 1542, seizing Luxembourg and Roussillon belonging to the Spanish king. At the same time, France made an alliance with Suleiman I, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who threatened the Hapsburgs from the east. In 1543, the combined French-Turkish fleet captured Nice, and the following year, the troops of Francis I defeated the Spaniards in the Battle of Pesole. However, knocking the Spaniards out of Lombardy again failed. Moreover, King Henry VIII of England passed over to the side of Charles V. British troops landed in northern France and captured Boulogne, and the emperor’s army, occupying Soissons, launched an offensive against Paris. Nevertheless, the differences between the British and the Imperials, as well as a series of anti-Spanish uprisings in Italy (in Genoa and Siena) and the ongoing attacks of the Turkish fleet, forced Charles V to negotiate with France. Around the world in Krepi in 1544, the status quo in Italy was restored, although England continued to hold Boulogne.
The Last Italian War (1551–1559)
After the death of King Francis I in 1547, his son Henry II ascended the French throne, who continued his father’s anti-Habsburg policy. In 1548 he succeeded in attaching the Marquis of Saluzzo to Piedmont to France and to get close to Pope Julius III, dissatisfied with the position of the emperor at the Council of Trent . In 1551, Henry II declared war on Charles V and invaded Lorraine. French troops occupied almost all of Lorraine to the Rhine. In 1553, the army of Henry II moved to Italy and attacked the Duchy of Florence. However, in the battle of Marciano, the French were defeated, and in 1554 the French garrison in Siena, besieged by the Spaniards, capitulated. In 1556, Charles V abdicated the Spanish throne in favor of his son Philip II and the title of emperor in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I.
In the meantime, French troops under the command of Francois de Guise entered South Italy and occupied Naples. However, in the northern theater of war France was defeated: in 1557 the Spanish army, supported by the English expeditionary force, routed the French troops in the battle of Saint-Quentin. Francois de Guise was forced to withdraw troops from Italy. Although the response of the French were quite successful: Calais fell in 1558 and was under British rule for more than two centuries, and soon French troops entered the Spanish Netherlands, in 1559 the general exhaustion of the parties forced them to negotiate peace.
According to the Cateau-Cambrésis peace treaty concluded between France, England and Spain in 1559, France renounced all claims to Italy, retaining only Saluzzo. Piedmont and Savoie were returned to the Duke of Savoy, Milan and the Kingdom of Neapolitan were recognized as possession of Spain. In return, France received Calais, as well as three Lorring bishoprics: Metz, Toul, and Verdun. Spain has kept Franche-Comte and the Netherlands.
Result
The Cateau-Cambrésis treaty ended the Italian Wars. Their main result was the establishment of Spanish hegemony in Italy and the transformation of Spain into the leading power of Europe. France was compelled to be content with joining of small territories, and the Religious Wars that began soon soon weakened the country. During the wars, the Italian economy was severely damaged. The consolidation of Spanish power and feudal fragmentation in the face of the country’s ruin led to a decline in the importance of Italian states in European politics and the shift of Italy to the periphery of the historical development of Europe. On the other hand, after returning from Italy, French and German soldiers and officers brought the ideals of the Renaissance and humanism to their countries, which triggered the rapid development of the Renaissance culture north of the Alps.
