Battle of Ceresole 1544
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1544 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Italy | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Italian War of 1542–46 Un penesote | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Holy Roman Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 44.8050, 7.8450 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Ceresole (Italian pronunciation: [tʃereˈzɔːle]; also Cérisoles) took place on 14 April 1544, during the Italian War of 1542–1546, outside the village of Ceresole d'Alba in the Piedmont region of Italy. A French army, commanded by François de Bourbon, Count of Enghien, defeated the combined forces of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain, commanded by Alfonso d'Avalos d'Aquino, Marquis del Vasto. Despite having inflicted substantial casualties on the Imperial troops, the French subsequently failed to exploit their victory by taking Milan.
Enghien and d'Avalos had arranged their armies along two parallel ridges; because of the topography of the battlefield, many of the individual actions of the battle were uncoordinated. The battle opened with several hours of skirmishing between opposing bands of arquebusiers and an ineffectual artillery exchange, after which d'Avalos ordered a general advance. In the center, Imperial landsknechts clashed with French and Swiss infantry, with both sides suffering terrific casualties. In the southern part of the battlefield, Italian infantry in Imperial service were harried by French cavalry attacks and withdrew after learning that the Imperial troops of the center had been defeated.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Ceresole (revision 1380932665), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Italian War of 1542–46 Un penesote
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- Battle of Serravalle (1544) 1544
- Siege of Saint-Dizier 1544
- Sieges of Boulogne (1544–1546) 1544
- Battle of the Solent 1545
All 7 battles of the Italian War of 1542–46 Un penesote →
Browse more: battles in Italy · Europe · Early modern battles