page_title: Italian Wars
section_title: Italian War of 1551–1559
hierarchical_section_title: Italian Wars / Wars / Italian War of 1551–1559
caption_attribution_description: English: A painting of Giorgio Vasari that represents The Battle of Marciano
context_page_description: The Italian Wars, often referred to as the Great Wars of Italy and sometimes as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a long series of wars fought between 1494 and 1559 in Italy during the Renaissance. The Italian peninsula, economically advanced but politically divided among several states, became the main battleground for European supremacy. The conflicts involved the major powers of Italy and Europe, in a series of events that followed the end of the 40-year long Peace of Lodi agreed in 1454 with the formation of the Italic League.
  The collapse of the alliance in the 1490s left Italy open to the ambitions of Charles VIII of France, who invaded the Kingdom of Naples in 1494 on the ground of a dynastic claim. The French were however forced to leave Naples after the Republic of Venice formed an alliance with Maximilian I of Austria and Ferdinand V of Spain. In 1499, Louis XII of France initiated a second campaign against Naples by first taking control of the Duchy of Milan thanks to Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI and condottiero for Louis XII, marking an open alliance between the Papacy and France.
context_section_description: On March 31, 1547, King Francis I died and was succeeded by his son, Henry II of France. In 1551, Henry II declared war against Charles with the intent of recapturing Italy and ensuring French, rather than Habsburg, the domination of European affairs. An early French offensive against Lorraine was successful, but the attempted French invasion of Tuscany was stopped in 1553. The French were decisively defeated at the Battle of Marciano on August 2, 1554. Nonetheless, France occupied three French-speaking cities: Metz, Toul and Verdun. Furthermore, the alliance with the Ottomans had reached its peak under Henri II of France with the Invasion of Corsica (1553)
  In 1556, during the course of the war, Charles V abdicated the Imperial throne as well as the throne of Spain. He abdicated the Imperial throne of the Holy Roman Empire to his brother, who became Ferdinand I of the Holy Roman Empire. The throne of Spain went to Charles' son, who became Philip II of Spain. Thus, the abdication of Charles V split the Habsburg empire that had surrounded France. From this point on, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire would no longer act in absolute coordination as they had under the personal union of Charles V. Gradually, the two Habsburg entities would drift off separately in their own directions following their own divergent interests.
  At this point the focus of the war shifted away from Italy and toward Flanders, where Philip, in conjunction with Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, decisively defeated the French at St. Quentin on August 10, 1557. Following the defeat at St. Quentin, the French did recover and took some new initiatives in the war. England's entry into the war in 1557 led to the French capture of Calais in January 1558. Furthermore, France plundered Habsburg positions in the Netherlands. The wars ended with the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis, which was signed on April 3, 1559.
  The Peace of Cateau-Cambrèsis (1559) involved delegates from France, Spain, England, and the Holy Roman Empire. In terms of territorial changes, the general clause of the Peace restored the status quo ante bellum, altough France retained Calais and the Three Bishoprics. Besides ending the war, Henri II of France and Philip II of Spain agreed in the treaty to ask the Pope to recognize Ferdinand as Holy Roman Emperor and to reconvene the Council of Trent.
caption: The Battle of Marciano by Giorgio Vasari
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