Returning to Rome, the pope decided to create a new union, which would include, together with the papal state, Venice, Spain, England and, if possible, the Holy Roman Empire. The combined forces of this alliance would have expelled France from the Apennine Peninsula once and for all. In early July, negotiations began, which did not cause serious disagreements. Ferdinand of Spain has already received everything he could from the Cambrian League, and did not want to see further gains of the French in Italy. In England, Ferdinand’s son-in-law, Henry VIII, willingly agreed to keep his rival occupied in the north, while the other allies would do the same in the south. Venice, which during the negotiations fought hard, and in general successfully, did not demand anything else. Emperor Maximilian hesitated, but even without it, the new league looked powerful enough.
Meanwhile, the idea of a church council in Pisa proved discredited. Four of the nine cardinals, who were considered the initiators of the council, said that this idea had never even been discussed with them, and that they would not participate in it. Then Pope Julius announced that he would convene a properly established council next May. As a result, the September meeting was becoming nothing more than an awkward political move. Since the non-canonical council lost the necessary support, the date of its opening was postponed from September to November, and Milan was elected as the venue. But even there, under the protection of the French, so openly made fun of the cathedral that even the local chronicler refrained from reporting on the holding of the cathedral.
Meanwhile, on October 4, the Pope proclaimed the creation of the “Holy League” (England officially announced its accession to it on November 17). League members began preparing for the 1512 campaign. The French king, too, did not waste time and appointed one of the outstanding commanders of the era, his nephew Gaston de Foix, as commander-in-chief of French troops in Italy. In February 1512, a detachment under the command of de Foix swiftly advanced from Milan and repelled an attempt by the papal army (mainly consisting of Spanish troops, led by Ramon de Cardona, the Spanish viceroy of Naples) to repel Bologna. The citizens of Brescia and Bergamo decided to take advantage of the care of the French army and return under the authority of Venice, but de Foix, swiftly returning back (and destroying the Venetian army who tried to stop him), found themselves under the walls of Brescia faster than enough recruits could come to the fortifications. Brescia was stormed, the leader of the rebels was publicly beheaded in the town square, and the city was given to a five-day looting, during which French and German troops massacred such that it took another three days to remove 15 thousand corpses from the city streets. To avoid the same fate, the inhabitants of Bergamo hastily paid a ransom of 60 thousand ducats, which ended the uprising.
Without giving the enemy a respite, de Foix returned to Milan, recruited fresh troops and went on the march again. With a 25,000-strong army, he went straight to Romagna, where papal supporters returned after his last defeat. De Cardona was expecting the arrival of 6 thousand Swiss mercenaries, as well as the entry of England into the war, and therefore he tried with all his might to avoid battle; for the same reasons, de Foix was striving with all his might to fight. In early April, French troops approached Ravenna and besieged the city. De Cardona could not afford the capture of such an important city right under his nose, and April 11, 1512 a battle took place. The battle took place on a swampy plain, there was no room for maneuver, and the battle turned into a mutual slaughter. When the papal soldiers finally fled from the battlefield, they lost about 10 thousand people, not to mention the artillery and property. In the hands of the French were also several Spanish commanders. However, the victory was Pyrrhic for the French: only the infantry lost more than 4 thousand people, of the fifteen German commanders, twelve died, and Gaston de Foix himself died.
The new commander of the French troops became Jacques de la Palis, who was much more cautious. Having occupied Ravenna (where the rampant violence exceeded even the massacre in Brescia), he returned to Bologna and began to await further orders there.
When news of the battle reached Pope Julius, he, assuming an immediate advance by the French on Rome, prepared to flee. However, shortly before his departure, he received a letter from his legate, who was in French captivity. Cardinal de Medici told the Pope that the French suffered as heavy losses as the League, that they were tired and demoralized by the death of their leader, that their new commander refuses to move from place without further orders and confirmation of his authority from France. Julius immediately became enthusiastic and directed all efforts to organize the church council planned for the next month. On May 2, the Lateran Council began, which officially declared cathedrals held in Pisa and Milan illegal, and their participants as heretics.
On the same day, when the pope came out against the heretical cathedral, he also announced the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire joining the Holy League. Not only did the imperial security certificate now allow the new army of Swiss mercenaries to make a rapid transition through Trentinoby joining Verona with an army of Venetians who survived the massacre of Ravenna; more importantly, Maximilian now ordered all the subjects of the Holy Roman Empire, fighting on the side of the French, to immediately return home under the fear of the death penalty. Since part of the army of La Palis and so was withdrawn to prevent the threat of invasion by Henry VIII, the hasty departure of his German mercenaries put him in a ridiculous position: now he became a commander without an army. By the beginning of July 1512, the pope not only returned all his possessions, but even expanded them by including Parma and Piacenza; in Milan again reigned Duke from the Sforza family – Massimiliano; even Genoa declared independence and elected a new doge. La Palise had no choice but to return to France with the remnants of his army.
Between the allies began a dispute about the division of production. Maximilian was not inclined to concede a single inch of those lands which he considered imperial – including such cities as Verona, Vicenza, Padua, Treviso, Cremona and Brescia. Venetians declared the claims of the emperor inadmissible, considering these cities vital for Venice. The pope intervened in the negotiations and threatened Venice with the revival of the Cambrai League. Under these conditions, Venice turned to France.
