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Charles VIII invaded Italy to lay claim to the Kingdom of Naples, which composed most of southern Italy. The French army marched through Italy with only minimal resistance. The invasion had a profound impact on Italian society and politics.
The First Italian War/ Italian War of Charles VIII (1494-96) was an unsuccessful French attempt to conquer the Kingdom of Naples, and helped trigger over half a century of warfare in Italy, which ended with Spain as the dominant power (Italian Wars, 1494-1559).
Charles successfully marched through Italy, taking Naples in 1495. Charles' military gains did not last, Italian states formed a coalition, the League of Venice, managing to win back the territories lost. Charles died young, at just 27, in an accident after hitting his head and falling into a coma.
Dec 19, 2011 · In 1494, King Charles VIII of France invaded Italy. Within months, his army collapsed and fled. It was routed not by the Italian army but by a microbe.
On 22 February 1495 Charles VIII and his chief commander, Louis II de La Trémoille, entered Naples almost without opposition. The speed and violence of the campaign left the Italians stunned.
- 6 July 1495
- French victory [1]
The French intrusion provoked the first of the great modern coalitions, the so-called Holy League composed of the papacy (as an Italian territorial state), the Holy Roman Empire, Venice, Milan, Spain, and soon England. This coalition forced the French armies out of Italy in 1495.
The French invasion of Italy under Charles VIII in 1494-95 has long been seen as inaugurating a new and wretched era in Italian history.
