Osprey - General Military - Knight - The Warrior and ... - Brego-weard

An attempt to depict the whole battle of Pavia in a single painting. The artist gives us a better view than any of
the combatants, who fought in a thick mist that left them blind to the rest of the battle. (Bridgeman Art Library)
Pavia was a decisive battle in many ways. Not
only did the fully armoured horseman cease to
dominate the battlefields of Europe, but French
dominance of Europe was also brought to an end.
With Frangois in the Emperor's hands the political
balance swung firmly in favour of the Hapsburgs.
The 6,000 Swiss mercenaries serving the French
broke under the attack of the German Landsknechte
and fled the field, losing half their strength. Never
again would they be seen as the superior military
force in Europe. It is perhaps ironic that the very men
who had done so much to end the dominance of the
fully armoured man-at-arms with their victories over
the Burgundians at Grandson and Morat half a
century before now also found their reputation
destroyed on the same field.