Military Engineering and Tactical Warfare in Pallavicini’s Campaigns
Sforza Pallavicini of Fiorenzuola d’Arda, Marquess of Cortemaggiore and Busseto, was a nobleman and military leader. He held lordship over Fiorenzuola d’Arda, Salsomaggiore Terme, Santarcangelo di Romagna, Fidenza, Roncole Verdi, and Costamezzana. He was the son of Manfredi Pallavicini and the son-in-law of Bosio Sforza.
Born: 1519
Death: 1585, February
| Year, Month | State, Comp. ventura | Opponent | Command | Area of Activity | Actions Undertaken and Other Salient Facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1521 | Trentino | Upon the killing of his father Manfredi by the French, his mother takes him with her to Trento to Francesco Sforza. He will later follow in Lombardy the future Duke of Milan. | |||
| 1536 | Empire | France | Piedmont | He fights the French under the orders of Antonio de Leyva. He takes part in the conquest of Fossano. | |
| …………. | Piedmont | He serves under Ferrante da San Severino. He is given command of a cavalry company previously under the orders of Cesare Pallavicini. | |||
| 1542 | |||||
| July | Church | Ottoman Empire | Austria | He gathers 600 cavalry on the Po River with which he goes to defend Vienna against the Turks. | |
| …………. | Hungary | He supports Alessandro Vitelli in Hungary. He goes out on reconnaissance with Vitelli; Pallavicini moves at the head of two companies of light cavalry and supports Vitelli, who leads three infantry companies: the janissaries force the Italian troops to retreat. Vitelli makes an agreement with Pietro Pereno and appears on the banks of the Danube; the Turks come out of Buda; the Italian infantry form up, arquebusiers in front of the pikemen. Sforza Pallavicini also intervenes with his cavalry; he distinguishes himself for his valor. | |||
| …………. | Empire | Hungary | He is put on alert with Filippo Tornielli (500 light cavalry) following the conquest of Marano Lagunare by Piero Strozzi. He supports Gian Giacomo dei Medici and Alessandro Vitelli at the siege of Buda. | ||
| Dec. | Empire | France | Piedmont | He falls ill and his company disbands. | |
| 1543 | |||||
| Apr. | Emilia | He is invested with Fiorenzuola d’Arda by Pope Paul III (Paolo III). | |||
| 1544 | |||||
| May-June | 2000 infantry | Piedmont and Lombardy | When Piero Strozzi is in the Piacenza area, he is ordered together with Rodolfo Baglioni, Ferrante da San Severino, and Cesare da Napoli to prevent him from crossing the Apennines. He defeats his opponent on the Scrivia River at a point between Serravalle Scrivia and Novi Ligure. Contrary to San Severino’s instructions, he impetuously attacks Strozzi’s troops with Mario Sforza and disrupts the enemy infantry ranks. Giovan Francesco Gonzaga is captured in the fight and a ransom of 1300 ducats is imposed on him. Half of it is allocated to his brother-in-law Sforza Sforza. Sforza Pallavicini then withdraws to Sabbioneta to reorganize his companies. | ||
| 1545 | |||||
| Sept. | Emilia | He aligns himself with the Farnese family. In Piacenza, upon the entrance into the city of the new duke Pier Luigi Farnese. | |||
| ………… | He is sent by Pier Luigi Farnese on a diplomatic mission to Emperor Charles V (Carlo V). | ||||
| 1546 | |||||
| ……….. | Empire | Protestants | Germany | He follows Ottavio Farnese in Germany during the so-called Smalcaldic War. | |
| ………… | For inheritance reasons he has his relative Girolamo Pallavicini, marquis of Cortemaggiore, persecuted by the Farnese. | ||||
| 1547 | |||||
| Sept. | Emilia | In Piacenza. Upon news of the assassination of Pier Luigi Farnese, he immediately goes to Parma with 5000 infantry to prevent the Spaniards from entering it. | |||
| …………. | He is sent by the pope to Emperor Charles V (Carlo V) to request the restoration of Piacenza to the Papal State; Ferrante Gonzaga forces him to swear loyalty to Charles V as an imperial feudatory under penalty of confiscation of his property. | ||||
| …………. | Church | Captain General of Infantry | He transfers to the service of Pope Paul III (Paolo III), who appoints him as the army’s Captain General; he is granted Santarcangelo di Romagna in fief, brought in dowry by his wife Giulia Sforza. | ||
| 1548 | Lazio | In Rome he has the defenses of Borgo Leonino reinforced. | |||
| 1549 | |||||
| Oct. | Emilia | He tries to enter Parma with Ottavio Farnese to take control of the city: the move is prevented by the papal governor Camillo Orsini. | |||
| ………… | Austria | Upon the death of Pope Paul III (Paolo III), he moves to Vienna. | |||
| 1551 | Austria | Ottoman Empire | Hungary | He fights against the Turks in Transylvania; he stands out in particular during the conquest of Temeswar and Lippa. He serves under Giambattista Castaldo. He is forced to withdraw under enemy pressure. | |
| 1552 | |||||
| Autumn | Hungary | He attacks Lippa and enters the city; the Turks take refuge in the citadel. All soldiers found outside the walls are killed. The Bishop of Varadino intervenes and allows the besieged to depart freely. On orders from Archduke Ferdinand of Austria (Ferdinando d’Austria) and Giambattista Castaldo, Sforza Pallavicini is among the key figures in the assassination at Bins of Cardinal Giorgio Martinovich (the Varadino), suspected of intending to seize the Kingdom of Hungary with the sultan’s support. The prelate is mortally wounded by a dagger blow from Marcantonio Ferrari, Castaldo’s secretary, while he is being presented with a document to sign. Pallavicini beheads the cardinal with a scimitar strike, and the Bolognese Bartolomeo Campeggi shoots the churchman with a pistol. The ultimate fate of the last two is unfavorable: Ferrari is hanged in Alessandria and Campeggi dies in combat. | |||
| 1553 | |||||
| …………. | He is initially excommunicated by Pope Julius III (Giulio III) for the murder; the absolution follows shortly after the reasons are explained to the pontiff. The Spanish infantry mutiny because their pay is two months in arrears: Pallavicini confronts them to restore order. | ||||
| Autumn | Colonel of 3000 infantry | Hungary | He commands a regiment of 3000 infantry; he also has some German infantry and Hungarian cavalry under his orders. Attacked at Palesth by the Pasha of Buda, he is forced to battle the Turks led by Achmet Pasha. Wounded, he is captured after seven hours of fighting and taken to Buda. He is freed shortly afterward with the payment of a ransom of 16,000 ducats by Ferdinand of Austria (Ferdinando d’Austria). | ||
| …………. | Hungary | He is appointed Marshal of the fortresses and Grand Marshal of the kingdom; he is tasked with monitoring the territory between the Danube and the Tisza. After the loss of Temeswar, he shares command of the Austrian army with Erasmo Teifel; together with other captains, he contains the Ottoman offensive. He punishes Spanish soldiers who have mutinied. | |||
| 1556 | Captain General of Infantry | Hungary | Elected captain general, he is sent with fewer than 5000 soldiers against the castle of Coroten. He seizes it with heavy artillery fire and cuts to pieces the 500 soldiers of the garrison. He returns to Italy the same year following the Treaty of Ghent. | ||
| 1557 | |||||
| June | Venice | Captain General of Infantry | Lombardy | In Brescia, together with the engineer Giangirolamo Sanmicheli, he develops an initial plan for the Pusterla bastion. Later (around 1562), he clashes with Giordano Orsini over how that condottiero carries out the works differently from the original design. In the same year he is granted Venetian nobility. | |
| 1558 | Veneto | In Venice he protects the humanist Luca Contile, who later is persecuted by Pallavicini himself. | |||
| 1559 | |||||
| Dec. | General Governor of 100 lances and 100 light cavalry | Veneto and Greece | He is appointed General Governor under the same conditions as Guidobaldo della Rovere. He is enlisted for five years of service plus two on reserve. For each lance he is granted 100 ducats and 50 ducats for each light cavalryman; he also receives 5000 ducats per year for his personal maintenance and 70 more per month for the stable in peacetime. In return, he must hold a yearly muster of the sergeants serving under him each November and reside in Venetian territory; he must request the Senate’s permission for any absence. He immediately sails for Corfu to take command of all land forces. | ||
| 1561 | |||||
| …………. | Lombardy | He oversees the fortifications of Bergamo with Astorre Baglioni and Girolamo da Martinengo. He has churches and convents demolished, including the ancient basilica of Sant’Alessandro, over 500 houses, and cuts the Borgo Canale in half. He is excommunicated along with his engineers because he intends to demolish even the church and convent of Sant’Agostino; a compromise is found. The friars donate those buildings to him in exchange for a large sum of money, and the structures are incorporated into the new city walls. Following all these works, the appearance of the city is changed with the construction of the fortress on the hill. | |||
| Sept. | Lombardy | The Bishop of Bergamo lays the first stone of the main bastion (San Marco or Fortino) between the castle and the city: the new fortification stretches for nearly three miles, featuring 10 full bastions, 6 half-bastions, and more than 20 high and low gun positions along the flanks. | |||
| 1562 | |||||
| ………. | Lombardy | He resumes work in Bergamo with vigor due to threats from the Imperial forces. The city’s garrison is also reinforced. | |||
| …………. | Emilia | He becomes Marquis of Cortemaggiore on the death of his cousin Cesare Pallavicini. This causes conflicts with other members of his family, resolved only in May 1569 through a specific agreement. | |||
| 1566 | |||||
| Oct. | General Governor of 100 lances and 180 light cavalry | Veneto and Friuli | He is reappointed by the Venetians with the same duties and, for the most part, the same conditions: the number of light cavalry at his disposal is increased, and his annual maintenance is raised to 7000 ducats. He is allowed to have 12 gentlemen at his disposal, each receiving 120 ducats per year from the Serenissima plus 400 ducats in lump sum; he may reduce this number without losing the economic benefits; 12 halberdiers are also confirmed for his personal guard. He is guaranteed restitution of any assets lost while on duty; he must reside in Venetian territory and hand over any high-value prisoners, rebels, or traitors of the Signoria; for others, the bounty is assigned to him. In Udine. | ||
| 1567 | |||||
| Mar. | He deems the island of Cyprus difficult to defend. During this period, he also reviews the plans for strengthening Udine’s defenses. He sells Borgo San Donnino (Fidenza) to the Farnese for 48,500 scudi. | ||||
| 1569 | |||||
| May | Venice | Ottoman Empire | 3000 infantry | Veneto and Croatia | He sails from Venice with 3000 infantry and moves to Dalmatia: in Zara, he arranges for the strengthening of the city’s defenses, demolishing the suburb of San Martino. |
| 1570 | |||||
| Mar. | Romagna | The Senate entrusts him with command of the infantry embarked in the fleet, with full judicial powers. Having received a substantial advance, he moves quickly, dispatching recruiters to Romagna, the Marche, and Lombardy. With Pope Pius V (Pio V)’s permission, he gathers 3000 infantry in his lands of Santarcangelo di Romagna, 2600 of whom are arquebusiers, to be embarked on galleys from Venice. Pallavicini now has a personal guard of 40 men-at-arms on double pay. Each of the fifteen captains in his companies receives 40 corselets (half-armors for select pikemen), 160 arquebuses, and 160 helmets. Every captain appoints an ensign, a sergeant, and six corporals. In Romagna he musters his troops. | |||
| May | Veneto and Croatia | He sails from Venice with the fleet. In Zara. He has 12,000 men at his disposal. | |||
| July | Croatia, Greece | He is stuck in Zara waiting for the entire Venetian fleet to arrive there. Meanwhile, a decision is made to attack the fortress of Margaritino. He sails from Corfu with 48 galleys, 5000 infantry, and four siege artillery pieces; he reaches Nista, disembarks his men early in the morning, and sends a squad of arquebusiers into the mountains to occupy the passes and block any reinforcements. He forms two squadrons: one near the mountain with the artillery, the other with which Pallavicini and the Provveditore General Sebastiano Venier move forward to assess the castle’s defenses. After the inspection, he decides to withdraw, triggering strong protests from Venier; he orders re-embarkation and sends Cornelio Bentivoglio to escort the arquebusiers back to the port, returning to Nista. The retreat is difficult: the Turks harass the Venetian infantry. They lack supplies and water; many soldiers, forced to remain under the July sun after a night out in the open on the shore, die of heat stroke. The survivors manage to re-embark for Corfu, keeping the Ottoman cavalry at bay with pikes and arquebuses. Criticisms of him begin at this point. | |||
| Aug. | Greece | He follows the Captain General of the fleet Girolamo Zane to the island of Candia (Crete); he lands at Suda with his regiment of 3000 infantry. He observes that plague has caused so many losses among rowers and crew that fewer than half the galleys can leave port to carry out exercises. He tries to convince the allies that relieving the defenders of Cyprus, as suggested by Admiral Girolamo Zane, would be useless. In his view, they should focus efforts on a demonstration in the Dardanelles, or at least seize Prevesa and Santa Maura. | |||
| Sept.-Oct. | Greece | He goes to Casopo with Marcantonio Colonna. He now declares himself ready to act in defense of Cyprus. | |||
| Dec. | Croatia | He re-embarks with the fleet. He nearly shipwrecks with three galleys on the rocks of Croma; some boats leaving Ragusa (Dubrovnik) come to his aid. Later, he falls ill with a severe attack of gout (suspected typhus). His wife decides to join him aboard a fusta provided by the Venetians. | |||
| 1571 | |||||
| Feb. | Veneto | He returns to Venice to decommission his galley. Still afflicted by gout, he asks to be released from his position due to his poor health. | |||
| Apr. | Veneto | He strengthens the defenses of the Lido of Venice, as well as the beaches of Pellestrina and Sottomarina, fearing a possible Turkish attack on the republic’s capital. He is forced to draft a defensive brief to answer his critics. | |||
| Aug. | Croatia | He is sent to Zara. To better defend the city, he requests 12 artillery pieces and 2000 infantry in addition to the 2000 already there. During this time, he is not stripped of his rank as General Governor but effectively reduced to an advisory role on military engineering for Dalmatia alone. He accepts with utmost dignity this de facto reduction of his functions. | |||
| ………… | Sicily | In Messina with the allied fleet. Falling ill once more, he cannot take part in the Battle of Lepanto. | |||
| 1573 | |||||
| Apr. | He is cleared of all charges; he proposes an urgent plan for the defense of Friuli and Dalmatia against a potential Turkish land attack. | ||||
| Dec. | His request to renew his contract as General Governor is approved. | ||||
| 1574 | |||||
| ……….. | Greece | He returns to Candia with 12,000 infantry to garrison the island of Crete and improve its defenses. | |||
| 1577 | Greece | In Corfu with Giulio Savorgnano and Battistino Moretto. Rather than a defense stretching from sea to sea, he advises reinforcing the old fortress and building a bastion on the three hills above the city. | |||
| 1579 | Emilia | He goes back to the Parma area. Upon the death of his cousin Girolamo Pallavicini, he becomes lord of Busseto. | |||
| 1580 | Emilia | Because of Busseto, he is imprisoned in the castle of Piacenza by the Duke of Parma Ottavio Farnese. | |||
| 1581 | Emilia and Veneto | He is freed after adopting Alessandro Pallavicini, marquis of Zibello, to whom the Duke of Parma has given his own natural daughter in marriage. He returns to Venetian pay; they renew his enlistment for another seven years. He suggests strengthening the permanent army into a standing force capable of repelling an invasion. He continuously inspects troops in Italy and overseas, keeping the Signoria always informed on the state of its armed forces. He is appointed Governor of Verona. | |||
| 1585 | |||||
| Feb. | Lombardy | He dies at the start of the month in his palace in Salò. He marries Giulia Sforza, of the counts of Santa Fiora, daughter of Bosio Sforza and Costanza Farnese, natural daughter of Pope Paul III (Paolo III). He dies without direct heirs and leaves his estate to Alessandro Pallavicini. His device is a hydra with the motto “utrimque” (“in whichever way”). |
Sources
-“Comandante..non all’altezza della sua fama..La sua competenza militare (nella campagna del 1570)..è abbastanza appariscente nei memoriali da lui scritti, dove congetturando sulle probabilità di offesa e di difesa, non cerca altro se non di scusare l’inattività dell’armata veneziana, ma soprattutto di mettere bene in evidenza la dottrina militare che informava i suoi pareri.” QUARTI
-“Vecchio e nobile Capitano.” BUGATI
-“Cavagliero illustrissimo nell’armi, possente di ricchezza, di robustezza eguale al suo coraggio.” DE’ CRESCENZI
-“Sei volte fu ferito mortalmente, o in battaglie o in assedi, amava ad ogni modo di risparmiare il sangue altrui quanto più fosse possibile, particolarmente negli assedi.” LETI
-“Sapientissimo e valorosissimo.” ULLOA
-“Il valor del qualle crederò che avanzi di gran lunga molti altri che oggi di valorosi si trovino.” Dalla relazione del capitano di Bergamo Giulio Gabriel al SENATO
-“Uno de’ più esperti capitani del secolo XVI.” BOSI
-“Era Sforza uomo di gran merito nella scienza delle fortificazioni..Uno de’ migliori capitani del suo tempo, maresciallo del regno d’Ungheria.” LITTA
-“Il cui sperimentato valore nella militia, e le gesta nell’Ungheria e nella Transilvania gli aveano grande concetto appresso gli uomini procurato.” A. MOROSINI
-“Nobil cavallero Italiano huomo animoso e forte..Valorosissimo soldato.” ROSEO
-“Famoso capitano del secolo XVI.” MENSI
-“In grande concetto di valore e d’isperienza militare.” PARUTA
-“Qui non giace la spoglia o Pelegrino/ Di Narciso, di Adone, o di Giacinto,/ Son dell’invitto Sforza il mortal Carco./ A Marte, et alla sua Palla vicino/ Splende l’eterno mio, no giro quanto./ Resse l’arme di Cesare e di Marco.” Versi ispirati per la sua morte del GRATTAROLO
-“Espresse dei pareri sul restauro di diverse fortezze di Terraferma (Bergamo, Udine) e, successivamente, predispose piani per la difesa di Zara, Corfù, Cipro e Candia (Retimo e Suda).” LANFRANCHI
Featured image: wikipedia
