Battle of Fornovo

Battle of Fornovo
Part of the First Italian War
Bataille de Fornoue, 6 juillet 1495 (oil on canvas by Éloi Firmin Féron, 1837) depicts king Charles VIII on the left and Bayard on the right.
Date 6 July 1495 Location Fornovo, Emilia, Italy 44°41′N 10°06′E / 44.683°N 10.100°E / 44.683; 10.100 Result French victory[1]
Belligerents
France	League of Venice: Republic of Venice Duchy of Milan Margraviate of Mantua
Commanders and leaders
King Charles VIII	Francesco Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua[2]
Units involved
	Stradioti
Strength
10,000–11,000 men[3][4][a]	20,000-21,500 men[2][3][5]
Casualties and losses
100–200 killed[6][5][3] 200 wounded[5][3]	3,350-4,000 killed[5][3][6] Unknown wounded
Fornovo di Taro class=notpageimage| Fornovo di Taro, now a comune (municipality) in the province of Parma

The Battle of Fornovo took place 30 km (19 miles) southwest of the city of Parma on 6 July 1495. It was fought as King Charles VIII of France left Naples upon hearing the news of the grand coalition assembled against him. Despite the numerical advantage of their opponents, the French won the engagement and Charles was able to march his army out of Italy. It was nonetheless devoid of any strategic result as all of their conquests in the Italian Peninsula were abandoned. Fornovo was the first major pitched battle of the Italian Wars.

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