1525
The Battle of Pavia in a Brussels tapestry designed by Bernard van Orley, about 1528-31.Image: Bernard van Orley · Public domainworld · Europe
Francis I of France is captured at Pavia
On 24 February 1525, outside the walls of Pavia in northern Italy, the army of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V destroyed the French army besieging the city. Its Spanish arquebusiers cut down the French cavalry, and King Francis I himself was taken prisoner. The battle fell on Charles’s 25th birthday. Francis was taken to Spain and held for more than a year, until he signed the Treaty of Madrid giving up his claims in Italy, which he disowned as soon as he was free. The victory confirmed Habsburg power in Italy.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Battle of Pavia ↗
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