What Was the League of Cambrai?

The early years of the Renaissance were turbulent in Europe. Few places were safe from the political power struggles that plagued the land. Nowhere was this more apparent than in Italy, where a patchwork of polities jostled for prime position.

Fortunes were shifting, and allegiances were fickle.

When Venice got too powerful, an alliance was created to rein in the reach of the Venetians. The vicissitudes of the European political dynamic meant that such ambitious alliances were doomed.

Such is the story of the League of Cambrai.

At the beginning of the 16th century, Venetian power had grown considerably, and rival powers in Europe felt threatened. The Venetian Republic was not particularly large, nor did it have a particularly impressive population. What it did have was a prosperous trade network that made it incredibly wealthy. It had a substantial navy and controlled trade throughout the eastern Mediterranean.

The city of Venice was likely, at this point, the richest city in the entire world.

Venice, however, did have its own problems. With the expansion of power came considerable obstacles. The Ottomans’ conquest of Constantinople threatened Venetian trade in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In the Far East, the Portuguese were chipping into the trade market as well after their discovery of a sea route around the Cape of Good Hope.

Thus, Venice found itself having to compete for markets. Its position as the trade leader of Europe began to be threatened, and Venice realized that it had to transform itself into a land power as well.

The Wake of the First Italian War

During the First Italian War from 1494 to 1498, Pope Alexander VI had taken possession of lands in Romagna that had been ruled as a fief by the Bentivoglio family from Bologna. This was done with the help of his son, Cesare Borgia, who was at the head of the Papal armies. Cesare was intent on carving out an independent Borgia state, but his father died in 1503.

This triggered an attempt by both the French and the Spanish to influence who became pope next. They marched armies on Rome. Pius III was elected, only to die 26 days into his tenure as pope. He was replaced by Julius II, who stripped Cesare of his titles.

The lords of Romagna sought to rid themselves of the Borgias, too, and invested in Venice’s help to do so. From one side, the Venetians took control of lands in Romagna, and from the other, the pope had Cesare Borgia arrested and imprisoned.

These actions, however, were not coordinated by any sort of alliance. The pope wanted Romagna returned to papal control, and the Venetians refused to relinquish full control of Romagna to the papacy.

In response, Julius II forged an alliance with France and the Holy Roman Empire against Venice, but the collapse of relations between these entities meant the death of the alliance, and fate granted Venice a reprieve.

In 1507, Julius II once again approached the question of Venetian control over Romagna. He convinced Emperor Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire to invade Venetian lands. Under the pretext of traveling to Rome for his coronation (this process was known as Italienzug), Maximilian maneuvered his army into Venetian territory after being crowned and prepared for battle. To the Venetians, it was clear that this move had been orchestrated at the pope’s behest. Imperial troops sacked Ampezzo and captured the Castello di Botestagno and the town of Pieve di Cadore.

Maximilian’s ambitions, however, were halted when the Venetians won a decisive victory at Cadore on March 2, 1508, and then went on the offensive, driving into imperial territory and capturing Trieste on May 6.

The Venetians and the Holy Roman Empire called an end to the conflict with a truce, and Pope Julius II was humiliated. This did not, however, rein in his desire to see Venice defeated.

Further humiliating the pope, Venice appointed its own candidate to the bishopric of Vicenza. Julius II would not let this affront go unpunished and used it as a pretext for convening an alliance against Venice. Calling on all Christian nations to dismantle Venice, and with the promise of inheriting parts of the Venetian Republic, France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Duchy of Ferrara entered into the agreement to wage war on Venice and partition it among themselves.

The pope finally had the armies he needed to crush the Venetian Republic and reclaim Romagna as Papal land.

The War Begins

With such a large force arrayed against them, the Venetian prospects did not look good. They tried to appeal to Maximilian who had great prestige but was not overly wealthy compared to other monarchs on the continent. The Venetians tried to pay off Maximilian I with 200,000 Rhenish florins but to no avail. The Holy Roman Emperor was not swayed.

The Venetians suffered grievous defeats at the outset of the war. They won a minor victory against Mantua at Casaloldo on May 10, 1509, but were completely outmatched at Agnadello when 30,000 French soldiers crushed the Venetian army that had been 15,000 strong. The Venetians suffered approximately 10,000 casualties, while the French suffered just 500.

Louis XII of France and his army occupied much Venetian territory, and with little hope of victory, thousands of mercenaries employed by the Venetians deserted. Meanwhile, the towns of Padua, Verona, and Vicenza surrendered to Maximilian’s forces. In the lands of Romagna, Julius II found victory with the help of Alfonso d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, and captured the city of Ravenna.

Asserting control over Venetian property, however, would not be easy. Imperial forces had captured Padua in June 1509. The Imperials left a garrison of Landsknechts to protect the city, but this garrison proved too small to be able to stop the Venetians from reclaiming the city a month later. Emperor Maximilian responded by laying siege to the city on September 15, but after just two weeks, he lifted the siege, and the Imperial troops retreated to Tyrol.

The Venetians then went on the offensive and made a few gains, recapturing several towns, but without the manpower, they had to retreat in the face of a renewed French advance.

On December 22, 1509, the Ferrarese, under the command of the brothers Cardinal Ippolito d’Este and Duke Alfonso d’Este, defeated the Venetian fleet at the Battle of Polesella on the River Po. With no hope of turning the tide, Venice sought terms with Julius II.

In the treaty that followed, Venice lost its towns in Romagna and the right to appoint clergy in its own territory. In addition, Venice had to pay compensation. One of the major governing bodies of Venice, the Council of Ten, declared in secret that these terms were forced upon Venice under duress and could, therefore, be broken at any time.

Although the League of Cambrai had lost the central support of the pope, the effects of its existence could still be felt, and the consequences of its actions were still being played out.

Venice was still at war.

France, Ferrara, and the Holy Roman Empire continued to wage war on Venice. This worried the pope and his allegiance began to shift. Venice had been a powerful buffer against Ottoman expansion to the east, and with the weakening of Venice, Christendom would be more under threat. His biggest concern, however, was that of foreign powers controlling Italy. And so, after leaving the League of Cambrai, the pope ended up allying with the Venetians.

This marked an effective end to the League of Cambrai and thus an end to the War of the League of Cambrai. However, the War of the League of Cambrai cannot be discussed without detailing its effects over the following years as it transformed into the War of the Holy League.

From August 1510 to May of the following year, the conflict raged back and forth. Venetian and Papal troops seemed to have gained the upper hand, capturing Modena and Concordia, and repulsing the French at Bologna. After an anti-Papal revolt in Bologna, however, the French were able to recapture the city on May 23, 1511. The French ended up controlling most of Romagna, and the pope called for a new alliance to be formed.

The Holy League

This alliance was named the Holy League, and joining the Papal States were Venice, Spain, England, and a sizable number of mercenaries from Switzerland. Opposing them were France, the Duchy of Ferrara, and Florence.

At the head of the French armies, Gaston de Foix proved to be a capable general and achieved notable successes against the Holy League, sacking Brescia and winning a significant battle at Ravenna in April 1512 before being killed in combat.

Upon hearing of the defeat at Ravenna, the pope prepared to flee Rome, but upon receiving a letter, he changed his plans. Cardinal de Medici, who was in French captivity, told the pope that the French losses at Ravenna had been substantial and that the French were tired and were suffering low morale. As a result, De Foix’s successor, Jacques de la Palis, was cautious and refused to press any advance until he had received confirmation of his authority from France.

Shortly thereafter, the pope announced that the Holy Roman Empire was joining the Holy League. With this development, the pope was also able to command all German mercenaries to return home, leaving the French army significantly smaller.

This and the threat from England meant that the French could not hold their possessions in Italy and abandoned Romagna, retreating far northwards over the Alps. The reversal of French fortunes was aided by Spain and England, who achieved victories closer to France. All was not well within the Holy League, however. There were disputes over territories and the issue of who should be Duke of Milan, resulting in Venice leaving the League and Milan joining it.

In December, an army of Swiss mercenaries installed Massimiliano Sforza on the throne of Milan. The mercenaries remained in Lombardy, and the new duke was accused of being a pawn of the Swiss mercenaries.

By this time, Pope Julius II’s bellicose nature had gained much criticism. One such critic was Erasmus of Rotterdam, who wrote the dialogue Julius Excluded from Heaven in 1513.

On March 23, 1513, Venice allied itself with France and once again found itself at war with the Papal States, which had seen a change in leadership. Julius II had died on February 21 and was replaced with Leo X, who sought a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Leo X, however, did not have full control over the League’s decisions and was powerless to stop the continuation of the war.

This time, Venice had several powerful allies. Along with France, Venice was supported in the field by the Duchy of Ferrara and Scotland. The Holy League arrayed against them was also powerful and managed to win significant victories.

After the French crossed the Alps, they were beaten back by the Swiss. Meanwhile, France was attacked on two fronts. Henry VIII of England invaded from the north, and the Spanish attacked the French in Navarre.

On August 16, 1513, English and Imperial forces crushed the French at the Battle of the Spurs. The following month, the Swiss captured the French city of Dijon. While this was happening, the Scottish invaded England and were soundly defeated at the Battle of Flodden Field, losing their king, James IV, in the process.

By October, Spanish troops arrived in the heart of the Venetian Republic but lacked the naval assets to take the city of Venice. The Spanish army then marched on Lombardy where, together with an Imperial army, they defeated the Venetian army at La Motta. Despite this catastrophic defeat, the Spanish failed to capitalize on their victory.

Henry VIII concluded a separate peace with France, pulling England out of the war.

Thus ended a major phase of the war, and the conflict froze for over a year. It would, however, not be an end to the fighting.

On January 1, 1515, King Louis XII of France died, supposedly from over-exerting himself in the bedroom after only three months of marriage to Mary Tudor, his third wife. It is more likely he died as a result of gout. Despite three marriages, he left no heir, and the French throne passed to his cousin (and son-in-law), who became Francis I.

Upon his coronation, Francis also declared himself the Duke of Milan and prepared to use force of arms to assert this claim. After marching over the Alps, the French army engaged an army of Swiss mercenaries at Marignano on September 13, 1515. With the fighting expected to continue into the following day, the arrival of a Venetian army convinced the Swiss to abandon the fight.

On October 4, the French entered Milan and imprisoned Massimiliano Sforza. With this move, Venice and France regained the territory they had lost, and it was clear that the League could not continue the fight. In December, peace talks were held, and treaties were signed.

The ultimate result of the War of the League of Cambrai was a status quo ante bellum. Some things did change, however. Venice lost its prestige. Its ambition to transform itself into a land power had been scuppered, and the future had to be navigated via intricate political maneuverings rather than force of arms.

The complex political scheming in Italy would continue throughout the decades that followed. The War of the League of Cambrai failed to achieve any lasting results in solidifying any kind of lasting peace. Four years later, Italy would become a battleground again as the Italian Wars continued.