The French king Louis the whole of 1512 tried to separate Venice from the Holy League, and in the fall he succeeded. Negotiations continued until the beginning of 1513. During this time, the pope signed a new agreement with the emperor, in which he guaranteed the exclusion of Venice from any peace agreement that could be concluded, as well as taking measures of a spiritual as well as secular nature against it. However, Venice was not intimidated: March 23, 1513 in Blois a new union agreement was signed. France and Venice agreed to act together for mutual protection against any enemies that would threaten any of them, “even if this enemy shines with the greatest title.” Thus, in just four years, the three main participants in the war of the Cambridge League took part in all possible alliances against each other.
On February 21, 1513, Pope Julius II died. His successor, Cardinal Giovanni de ‘Medici was elected, he took the name Leo the X. Venetian Doge Loredano immediately sent Leo X congratulations on his accession to the throne, and soon after that sent him an official invitation to join the Blois agreement. However, the new pope knew that the French, returning to Milan, would insist on returning Parma and Piacenza to them, which his prestige would not allow to voluntarily give up. Rejecting this proposal, the pope renewed the alliance with Maximilian.
March 15 command of the Venetian army took Bartolomeo d’Alviano. In early May, the French army entered Italy, commanded by Gian Giacomo Trivoulzio and Louis II de La Tremouille. In Lombardy, the Venetians and the French arrived almost simultaneously. Massimiliano Sforza, who spent less than a year on the throne of Milan, has already lost his popularity among his subjects. The French army moved on Novara, and the garrison hurried to take refuge in the city. In the case of the siege of Novara, most likely, it would not have stood, but on the night of July 6, when La Tremuille was still engaged in preparations, the Swiss decided on a preemptive attack, and attacked the French camp. In the battle of Novara French troops were completely defeated and left Italy in a panic. Massimiliano Sforza returned to Milan, and those cities that had recently gone over to the side of the enemy, now with enthusiasm again proclaimed him their master.
D’Alviano was forced to withdraw to the Adige River. He hoped to keep the river bank, but when news reached him that the army of the Holy League, under the command of Cardona, was going to Venice , he hurried back to defend Padua. Thus he saved the city, but Cardona made his way to the very shores of the lagoon, burned Fuzina, Mestre and Marghera, and even made several menacing shots at Venice. However, thanks to a few kilometers of shallow water, the city was out of reach for Spanish guns. Cardona did not have ships, and after a day or two he had to withdraw the army back. The Venetians followed him, not wanting the enemy to go to the winter quarters safe and sound. October 7th1513 both armies met near Schio. It turned out that the irregular army of d’Alviano, which consisted of volunteers, could not bear with the professionals of Cardona. The retreat of the Venetians turned into a hasty escape.
In 1512, the alliance of Scotland and France was renewed , and each side pledged to go to war with England in the event of its attack on the other. In 1513, British troops landed on the French coast. In response, the Scottish king Jacob IV sent his fleet to the aid of France and announced the mobilization of the militia. On August 22, 1513, Scottish troops crossed the English border and captured the fortresses of Norham, Ital and Wark. The troops of Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, marched towards the Scots. September 9, 1513 at the Battle of Floden The Scottish army was completely defeated, King James IV, his illegitimate son, Archbishop Alexander, and many prominent Scottish nobles died on the battlefield.
The year 1514 passed in continuous fighting, not yielding noticeable results. The French were busy repelling the attacks of the British in the north and the Swiss in the east. Leo X, occupied by the Lateran Council, did not resume hostilities. Maximilian, hesitant and limited in means, did not interfere. In fact, the situation is at a standstill.
On January 1, 1515, King Louis XII died in Paris. Francis I became the new king of France, who expressed intentions regarding Italy, having accepted the title of duke of Milan during the coronation. In July, the new king gathered an army in Dauphiné of 50,000 cavalrymen and 60,000 infantrymen, led by La Palis, Trivoulzio and Viscount de Lotrek (Gaston de Foy’s cousin). To counter the new conqueror, four armies gathered: papal forces, under the command of the Pope’s brother, Giuliano Medici, Spaniards Cardona, Milanese troops of Massimiliano Sforza and a strong detachment of the Swiss (the actual owners of Milan). The Spanish army went to Verona to prevent the Venetians from joining with their French allies; papal forces moved to the River Po to protect the Pyacunka; The Swiss and Milanese moved into the mountains and took up positions at the entrances to the two main gorges, Mont Cenis and Mont Genevre, through which, as expected, the French army was to pass. However, the old Trivulcio was Milanese by birth and fought for half a century in Italy: he did not go through any of the alleged passes, but instead penetrated into Italy through the Stura valley. By the time the Swiss realized what had happened, the Trivulcio army was on its way to Milan. However, Trivulcio did not attack the city immediately, preferring to take a position with Marignano in the hope that the Venetians somehow manage to circumvent Cardona and join him.
The Swiss, having regrouped in Milan, decided to repeat the tactics of the battle of Novara. On September 13, they attacked the French camp. By the end of the first day, the outcome was unclear, and by mutual agreement of the parties, two hours before midnight, the battle ceased. The next day, the Swiss again violently attacked the French. When the French were already close to retreat, the Venetians approached, who managed to escape from the Spaniards. In the battle of Marignano, about ten thousand Swiss were killed, almost all others were seriously injured, although they managed to return to Milan.
End of the war
After the complete defeat of the Swiss, there could be no talk of Massimiliano Sforza keeping Milan. October 4, the French officially took possession of the fortress. Two months later, Leo X and Francis I met in Bologna and concluded an agreement by which the Pope refused Parma and Piacenza (and also returned Modena and Reggio to the Duke of Ferrara) in exchange for non-interference of the French in the alleged seizure of the Duchy of Urbino. In August 1516, the grandson of Isabella and the late Ferdinand – Karl V- concluded a separate peace with Francis I, recognizing his rights to Milan in exchange for the French recognition of Spain’s claims on Naples. After an unsuccessful march on Milan, old Maximilian in Brussels in December gave Venice in exchange for payment in installments of all those lands that he had been promised in Cambrai. He hesitated only about Verona, arguing that the honor of the empire does not allow him to give it to the Venetians directly; in the end, it was decided that he gave this city to his grandson Karl of Spain, Karl gave it to the French, and they, in turn, gave it to the country along with the rest of the Venetian lands in Northern Italy (except Cremona), which the French occupied.
