Cerignola is considered the first European battle decided by small firearms, marking a turning point in military history where infantry supplanted cavalry.
Key Facts
- Date
- 28 April 1503
- Spanish force size
- ~9,000 men
- French force size
- ~9,000 men
- Spanish arquebusiers
- 1,000
- French commander killed
- Louis d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours
- Location
- ~80 km west of Bari, Apulia, Kingdom of Naples
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
During the Third Italian War, French and Spanish forces competed for control of the Kingdom of Naples. The French army, relying on superior heavy cavalry and Swiss pikemen backed by around 40 cannons, advanced to engage the Spanish forces near Cerignola in Apulia.
Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba positioned his roughly 9,000 Spanish troops behind a defensive ditch, using 1,000 arquebusiers to repel French cavalry and Swiss pikemen charges. The French commander Louis d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours, was killed during the assault, and the French force was decisively defeated.
Spain secured control of the Kingdom of Naples following the victory. The battle demonstrated that firearms-armed infantry could defeat traditional heavy cavalry and pike formations, fundamentally reshaping European military tactics and doctrine for centuries to come.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (El Gran Capitán).
Side B
1 belligerent
Louis d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours.