{{Infobox military conflict | conflict = Sack of Brescia | partof = the [[War of the League of Cambrai]] | image = 1512 Brescia.jpg | caption = 19th Century representation by [[Charles-Philippe Larivière]] | date = 18 February 1512 | place = [[Brescia]], [[Italy]] | result = French victory<br>massacre of the population | combatant1 = {{flag|Republic of Venice}} | combatant2 = {{flag|Kingdom of France|valois}} | commander1 = [[Andrea Gritti]] (POW)<br />Francesco Contarini †<br />Luigi Avogadro † | commander2 = [[Gaston of Foix, Duke of Nemours|Gaston of Foix]]<br />[[Charles III, Duke of Bourbon|Charles III of Bourbon]]<br />[[Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard| Chevalier de Bayard]]<br />[[Jacques de La Palice]] | strength1 = Unknown | strength2 = 12,000 | casualties1 = between 6,000 and 15,000 massacred <ref>Muratori, p. 293; Baumgartner, p. 220; Norwich, p. 525 :<br />Muratori puts the casualties at 6,000, Baumgartner at 8,000 and Norwich at 15,000.</ref> | casualties2 = heavy }} {{Campaignbox War of the League of Cambrai}} {{Campaignbox Italian Wars}} [[File:Floriano Ferramola rifiuta di abbandonare il cantiere davanti alle truppe di Gaston de Foix.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Floriano Ferramola]] refusing to abandon his work confronted with Gaston de Foix's troops.<br>Painting by [[Modesto Faustini]] (1850s).]] The '''Sack of Brescia''' took place on 18 February 1512, during the [[War of the League of Cambrai]]. It resulted in the massacre of the entire garrison and thousands of civilians.
==History== The city of [[Brescia]] had rebelled against French rule and was subsequently garrisoned by Venetian troops. [[Gaston of Foix, Duke of Nemours]], recently arrived with the French armies in Italy, ordered the city to surrender; when it refused, they attacked.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.enciclopediabresciana.it/enciclopedia/index.php?title=SACCO_di_Brescia|title=SACCO di Brescia |website=Enciclopedia Bresciana|author=Antonio Fappani |access-date=2026-04-11}}</ref>
The French attack took place in torrential rain on a muddy field. Gaston ordered his men to remove their shoes for a better grip.<ref>Baumgartner, p. 220</ref> The defenders inflicted heavy casualties on the French, but the French entered the city anyhow.
[[Gascony|Gascon]] infantry and [[Landsknechts]] proceeded to sack the city, massacring thousands of civilians over the next five days. The French soldiers even disregarded places of worship, massacring both the clergy and the civilian population who had sought refuge there.
Two of the survivors were the young [[Nicolo Tartaglia]], who was wounded in the throat and left with a speech impediment, and the painter [[Floriano Ferramola]], who was saved by Gaston of Foix personally, on the condition that he made a painting of him.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.enciclopediabresciana.it/enciclopedia/index.php?title=FERRAMOLA_Floriano_(2)|title=FERRAMOLA Floriano (2) - Enciclopedia Bresciana|access-date=2026-04-11}}</ref>
The Venetian commander and future Doge [[Andrea Gritti]] was also spared and imprisoned in the Sforza Castle in Milan, until November 1512, when an alliance between France and Venice was formed.
To avoid a simular fate, the city of [[Bergamo]] paid the French approximately 60,000 ducats.<ref>{{cite book|author=Francesco Guicciardini|title=Storia d'Italia|volume=X|location=Bari|publisher=Gius. Laterza & figli|year=1929|page=166}}</ref>
Brescia remained under French control until its return to the Republic of Venice in 1520.
==References== {{reflist}}
==Sources== * {{cite book |last= Norwich |first= John Julius |title= Historia de Venecia |year= 2004 |publisher= Editorial Almed |isbn= 84-931194-7-4 }} * {{cite book |last= Baumgartner |first= Frederic J. |title= Louis XII |url= https://archive.org/details/louisxii0000baum |year= 1994 |publisher= St. Martin's Press |location= New York |isbn= 0-312-12072-9 }} * {{cite book |last=Muratori |first=Ludovico Antonio |author-link=Ludovico Antonio Muratori |title=Annali d'Italia |volume=IV |page=293}}
[[Category:Battles of the War of the League of Cambrai]] [[Category:History of Brescia]] [[Category:Conflicts in 1512]] [[Category:1512 in Italy]] [[Category:Massacres in Italy]]