In summer 1515, Francis I of Valois arrived in Italy along with 40,000 men and 70 cannons.
On 13 September 1515 near the village of Marignano (nowadays part of Zivido di San Giuliano Milanese), at the head of his army and supported by the Venetians led by Bartolomeo D’Alviano, King Francis I faced Duke Massimiliano Sforza and the Swiss confederates on a bloody battle that ended on September 14 at noon. The French won and took possession of the Duchy of Milan from 1515 to 1522.
After a careful inspection by the king’s emissaries, the French army occupied Santa Brera farmhouse and converted it into their logistic base. King Francis I lodged there before and after the battle and received the ambassadors in the main room of the house. The night of the victory, the King also wrote a letter to his mother, the Duchess of Angoulême, which is a valuable source of information about the battle. It is believed that the Marignano battle of 1515 drove to the neutrality of Switzerland, because after the defeat the Confederation no longer took part in European wars.
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