The League of Cambrai was an alliance stipulated in December 1508
between the main European powers with the purpose of halting the
expansion of the Republic of Venice. The war that followed was one of
the major conflicts in the Italian wars: it lasted from 1508 to 1516,
and saw several stages. The major States involved were the Kingdom of
France, the Pontifical State, and the Republic of Venice. They were
sided by the European powers of Spain, England, Scotland, the Holy Roman
Empire, and the Kingdom of Hungary, other than several minor States,
such as the Dukedom of Milan, the Republic of Florence, the Dukedom of
Ferrara, the city of Mantua, and the Swiss cantons.
The authors describe the three phases that followed one another during
the conflict, and the alternating alliances among the States involved -
the League against Venice in the Battle of Agnadello; the following
League against France, declared by Pope Julius II, in the Battle of
Ravenna; finally, the last phase of the conflict with the alliance
between Venice and France in the Battle of Marignano, also known as the
Battle of the Giants.
In this volume, the structure of the armies, the weapons, the battles
and their death toll are described. Chronicles, reports, and studies on
the subject were compared and contrasted with one another to render a
picture as true as possible to the reality of facts, highlighting the
often contrasting versions of the chroniclers. Finally, military
heraldry, armies' identification marks, and captains' emblems displayed
on garments, harnesses, and insignias are analyzed. Also in this case,
documentary sources were studied and compared with the iconographical
sources.
