ABSTRACT
The Italian Wars were fought for the conquest and retention of territory and economic resources, as well as for the prestige and dynastic concerns of rulers and the benefi t of ruling elites. They involved the gathering of troops from all over Europe, from Scotland to the Balkans, the movement of armies across the Alps and across wide stretches of the Mediterranean, and the maintenance of those armies hundreds of miles from their normal billeting areas and supply chains. There was a transformation of war, partly a matter of increased numbers involved, partly of a new emphasis on permanence and long service, and partly of the developing role of gunpowder weapons. Between the Battles of Fornovo (1495) and Pavia (1525), the balance of numbers in the opposing armies shifted from an approximately equal division between cavalry and infantry, to an infantry predominance of 6:1. The overall increase in numbers was largely the result of a new perception of the value of infantry as battle troops, and not just as baggage train escorts and garrisons. It was the new effectiveness of the Swiss and German pike infantry, and of the massed Spanish arquebusiers, that encouraged the growth of infantry numbers and led to an extension to the infantry companies of the institutions of permanence and long service which had already been introduced into cavalry organization. The lower cost of equipping and training infantry was also obviously a factor in explaining the increasing numbers, as was the nature of the Italian Wars as wars of conquest, occupation and defence of conquests.
