Chronology of the Caroline War

Charles VIII, King of France (reigned 1483-1498)

With respect to the character of King Charles VIII, I recall reading somewhere that he was an "inoffensive, pleasure-loving ninny." The description is fixed in my mind, but I can't for the life of me remember from whence it sprung. Be that as it may, his Italian adventure ( the Caroline War) was very destructive of life and property and initiated decades of turmoil on the Italian peninsula. In examining this sub-war of the Great Italian Wars, I found it useful at the outset to compile a chronology of the conflict.

The Caroline War (Charles VIII’s Invasion of Italy [1494-1496])

          Sep. 2, 1494 - Charles VIII of France invades Italy. The French army crossed the Alps from Briançon to Oulx via the Col de Montgenèvre (Monginevro Pass).

         

          Jan. 1, 1495 - The French army enters Rome.

          Feb. 22, 1495 - Charles reaches his objective, the disputed Kingdom of Naples.

          Mar. 31, 1495 - Formation of the Holy League to oppose the French

          May 20, 1495 - The French main force departs from Naples.

          June 21, 1495 - Battle of Seminara I

          July 6, 1495 - Battle of Fornovo (The Taro)

          July 17-Sept. 24, 1495 - Siege of Novara

          Oct. 9, 1495 – The Peace of Vercelli ends the Caroline War in the north of Italy, but the fate of the Kingdom of Naples remains to be settled.

          Oct. 25, 1495 – The French main army recrosses the Alps using the Monginevro Pass.

          July 25, 1496 – The French Neapolitan army, under the Viceroy Montpensier, capitulates at Atella after a brief siege, effectively ending operations in the south of Italy.

Aubigny, Bernard [Béraud; Bérault] Stuart, third seigneur d’

Aubigny, Bernard [Béraud; Bérault] Stuart, third seigneur d’ (1447?-1508). French general. Principal wars: War of the Roses; Italian Wars. Principal Battles: Bosworth Field (1485); Seminara I (1495); Seminara II (1503).

A descendant of the Stewart of Derneley granted the lands of Aubigny and Concressault by the Dauphin Charles (future Charles VII) in 1421 for services to the French crown, he fought at Bosworth Field (Aug. 22, 1485) and later commanded the French army that defeated Spain’s “Great Captain,” Gonzalo de Cordoba, at Seminara I (or Monteleone, June 28, 1495). He was subsequently made Grand Constable and Governor of Naples (1501) but was defeated by Don Fernando de Andrada at Seminara II (Apr. 21, 1503) and imprisoned in the tower of the Castello Nuovo. He died in Scotland in June 1508.

Commynes described him as a “bon chevalier, saige, et bon et honrable”; Brantome as a “grand chevalier sans reproche”; and Bayard as “ung tres gentil et vertueux Capitaine.”

Sources: Aubigny, Béraud Stuart, and Élie de Comminges. Traité sur l'art de la guerre de Bérault Stuart, seigneur d'Aubigny. La Haye: M. Nijhoff, 1976. Cust, Lady Elizabeth Caroline. Some Account of the Stuarts of Aubigny, in France, 1422-1672. London: Chiswick Press 1891.

© Dur Écu 2013

Scottish Archer of the Maison du roi

Above: Scottish Archer, reign of King Henri III (lithograph by Noirmont - NYPL)

According to various chronologies of the Maison du roi, this company of the Garde du corps (royal bodyguard) was created in 1440 or 1445. It was the 1st or Scottish Company and originally was composed of 100 men-at-arms and 100 archers. Three French companies, numbered 2d through 4th, were created subsequently. The company generally had a Scottish or Franco-Scottish captain, at least until 1559, when as we have seen, Montgomery accidentally mortally wounded the king. Apparently, he was the last of the Scots captains. The personnel were originally entirely Scots, but gradually French noblemen came to predominate, and by 1612 approximately two-thirds of the troopers were French.

Montgomery: Huguenot Leader

Montgomery, Gabriel de Lorges, comte de, and seigneur de Ducey (1530-1574).

The website of the Archives of the Department of the Manche today profiled Montgomery as “Manchois” of the month. Access at: http://archives.manche.fr/manchois-du-mois-details.asp?card=7272568

The French aristocrat was most famous for the accidental mortal wounding of King Henri II in the famous tournament held in 1559 in the Marais at the site known today as the Place des Vosges. He was also one of the more daring of the Huguenot war leaders until his capture and execution.

Cent-Suisse Bodyguard

Cent-Suisse in the reign of King Francis I. These guardsmen wear a good example of the mi-parti uniform. As you look at the illustration, the left side is mi-parti yellow and white and the right side a reddish-orange color. The plumes and cap would continue these colors. A large number of plumes would signify a veteran of long service. The shaft of the halberd was violet, as was the scabbard of the longsword. The music of the Cent-Suisse consisted of four drummers and two fifers. Musicians wore white (NYPL).

 Another view of a Cent-Suisse guardsman. The mi-parti uniform is not otherwise identified or attributed to a royal livery (NYPL).

The elite corps of the Swiss in the French army was the Company of the Cent-Suisse (Hundred Swiss) of the Garde du Roi. Instituted by Charles VIII in 1496, these men served as a bodyguard to the king and protected his residence. When the king was on the march or in the field, he was preceded by the Cent-Suisse carrying halberds. In wartime, the Cent-Suisse wore a light corselet. Their dress was in the colors of the king’s livery. A custom instituted under Charles VIII was to provide each man with plumes and two uniforms in the king’s colors each year. The plumes were never discarded, being quite valuable, and veterans were colorfully festooned with the accumulation of years of service. Under Henri II, the livery was black and white.

Galleon (Sp. Galeón)

Representation of a small galleon

From: Manuel de pilotage, à l'usage des pilotes bretons, par G. Brouscon (1548)

Source : Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des manuscrits, Français 25374

The galleon was a merchant vessel designed to combat corsairs on terms of equality. Some were quite large. The one depicted above appears to be relatively small, a type the Spanish called the galeóncillo. The description in Bancroft’s Hist. Central Amer., 1:189n, applies to the larger types:

“The galeon was a large armed merchant vessel with high bulwarks, three or four decks, with two or three masts, square-rigged, spreading courses and top-sails. One fleet of twelve galleons, from 1000 to 1200 tons burden, was named after the twelve apostles. Those which plied between Acapulco and Manila were from 1200 to 2000 tons burden.”

Galeaza or Galleass

Above: A typical galeaza of the mid-16^th century.

From: Manuel de pilotage, à l'usage des pilotes bretons, par G. Brouscon (1548)

Source : Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des manuscrits, Français 25374

This magnificent depiction from a Breton pilot’s manual is interesting in that the vessel displays the flag of the dauphin, or heir-apparent to the throne of France. Possibly, this vessel belonged to François, 15^th dauphin of France and duke François III of Brittany (d. 1536).

The galeaza was larger than a typical galley, but smaller than a galleon. Sharing characteristics of both types, she was equally at home on the inland (Mediterranean) sea and the high seas.

Marin Sanudo's Diaries

Sanudo, Marino, Patricia H. Labalme, and Laura Sanguineti White. Venice, Cità Excelentissima: Selections from the Renaissance Diaries of Marin Sanudo. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008.

“No writer will ever make much of modern history who has not seen my diaries, within which is contained every event.” So wrote the Venetian historian Marino Sanudo (or Sanuto) in 1531. This book provides a wide-ranging selection of Sanudo’s large and largely-inaccessible writings in a superbly edited and annotated single volume. For those interested in the early Italian Wars and particularly the circumstances surrounding the shocking (at least to the Venetians) Venetian defeat at Agnadello (1509), this is a useful and interesting book.

Heath's Armies of the Sixteenth Century (1)

As you can see from the title page, this is volume 2 of Ian Heath's excellent work. This volume deals with the armed forces present in the New World, both European and indigenous. I cannot think of any comparable work and recommend it for anyone interested in the topic. It was published in 1997 and has not been superseded to my knowledge.

The book is divided into five (geographic) sections, not including the Bibliography. This last, incidentally, is quite useful, despite its seeming brevity (It is just four pages long but is set in small type and is quite comprehensive.).

Of course, my interest is with La Florida, and this is covered in the section titled "North America 1497-1608," which provides most of what I'm looking for. Specifically, sub-sections for "Florida" (pp. 123-130) and "Virginia" (pp. 130-134) are useful. "Florida" is a typical treatment. It gives a historical overview of the Spanish and French expeditions (1513-1581) and the Indian cultures of the region. This is followed by a section on warfare, including weapons and forts. Finally, Heath presents his characteristic, detailed line drawings of warriors and soldiers.