|
The Battle of Altopascio was a battle fought in 1325 in Tuscany, between the Ghibelline forces of Castruccio Castracani and those of Guelph Florence. ==Background== After subduing several Ghibelline towns, Castracani had conquered Pistoia and from there menaced Florence. The latter's troops moved to face him, but Castracani preferred to avoid a pitched battle; he took shelter in the local burgh of Cerruglio, waiting for reinforcements from his allies, the Bonacolsi, the Visconti and Cangrande della Scala. Besieged by the Florentine commander, the Spaniard Ramon de Cardona, the small garrison of Altopascio (500 men) resisted for 26 days (August 3-29), but in the end they had to surrender to the greatly superior Guelph forces (15,000 infantry and 2,500 cavalry, mostly composed of French, German and Burgundian mercenaries). The winners put their camp at Altopascio, but started to suffer heavy losses due to the unhealthy environment. On September 21, a party seeking a site for a new camp was destroyed by Castracani's forces between Porcari and Montechiari. Cardona then moved his troops to the plain of Altopascio, which granted better possibilities of escape. In the meantime the forces of Azzone Visconti, for which Castracani had paid 25,00 florins and, according to Giovanni Villani's ''Nuova Cronica'', had to offer to the Milanese condottiero the most beautiful women of Lucca, had arrived in Lucca. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Altopascio」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|