THE ITALIAN WARS: VOLUME 4 --The Battle of Ceresole 1544 - The Crushing Defeat of the Imperial Army

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April 1544: The French army led by Charles of Bourbon Count of Enghien -- deployed in the siege of Cairignano, a city occupied by the imperials -- was ordered to fight Alfonso d'Avalos Marquis of Vasto, the hated Imperial rival. It was French and Swiss vs Imperials and Landsknechts.

On Easter day 1544, the two armies engaged in battle but the outcome remained unclear. The day after, however, the men led by Bourbon seemed to prevail. The Imperial cavalry was defeated by the French - who demonstrated again their bravery.

The initial success of the Spanish infantry was soon jeopardized by the gruesome clash between the Imperial square formations and the Swiss. The Enfants perdus detached from the Swiss square and massacred the enemy with their halberds with a flank attack. A wrong maneuver of the Imperial cavalry broke their companions' formation and signed the Imperial defeat. Hundreds of Landsknechts died under French's and Swiss' pikes with only a few survivors. At the end of the day, Bourbon and his men are victorious.