The Italian Wars Volume 1

On 6 July 1495 a sudden gunshot came from the right bank of the Taro River in the Gerola Valley, near Fornovo (not far from Parma); shortly afterwards a sky full of clouds unleashed its fury on a wretched battlefield. That gunshot kicked off a battle which changed warfare and represented the starting point of a raging conflict known as the Italian Wars.

Francesco II Gonzaga, a brave commander and leader of the League, challenged the fury of the flooding Taro River in a clash against Charles VIII, a contemptuous king who ravaged the peninsula from Piedmont to Campania and spread terror wherever his terrible mercenaries set foot.

This volume, The Italian Wars Volume 1. The expedition of Charles VIII into Italy and the Battle of Fornovo, offers an accurate analysis of every frantic stage of the battle.

The reader will be transported into the heart of battle and exposed to the rumble of thunder and the clash of arms. They will see how the encounter wore out both sides, leading the opponents to an unclear resolution: both armies claimed victory.

The text offers a detailed description of the composition of the armies, the weapons, and the armour, as well as of the heraldry borne by captains and shown on standards. Such analysis is based on the authors’ research on Italian and French contemporary documents and pictures. Wonderful painted illustrations are shown on charts, thus delivering an immediate and clear overview of the men and the colours on the battlefield.

Massimo Predonzani was born in Piran (Slovenia) in 1959 and currently lives in Trieste (Italy). He is an illustrator and researcher. He is specialized in military heraldry during the Italian and European Renaissance. He wrote Anghiari 29 giugno 1440 (2010), printed by “Il Cerchio” (Rimini), Ceresole 14 aprile 1544 (2012) distributed in French and Italian by French publisher “Historic'one”. In 2014 he wrote Caravaggio 1448. L'assedio, le battaglie, l'araldica published by “Acies Editions” (Milan). His articles “The taking of Pisa based on the painting on the front of a chest preserved in the National Gallery in Dublin,” (2013) and “Les drapeaux de Venise pris par les Suisses à la Bataille d' Agnadel et conservés au Musée d' Appenzell” (2015) have been published by the Swiss Journal “Archivum Heraldicum”. Since 2006 he has been providing the magazine “Soldatini” with texts and illustrations. He also has a website where he shares his research and his painted illustrations (www.stemmieimprese.it.).

Vincenzo Alberici was born in 1977 in Italy, near Cremona. Since his young age he has shown great interest in history, namely military history. He has therefore applied his documentary knowledge by building miniature models, some of which are unique models and also by teaching classes for specialized firms. Since 2010 he has been writing history articles, some of them focusing on military uniforms (such as “L’armatura tedesca tra il XIV e il XV secolo and “ussaro ungherese”) for the Italian magazine “Notiziario de Gruppo Modellistico Trentino”. He occasionally writes for other magazines of the same branch (e.g. “Soldatini” and “Tutto soldatini”). Some of his articles are published on Predonzani’s website (www.stemmieimprese.it.).