either of two European leagues sponsored by the papacy in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, formed for the purpose of protecting Italy from threatened French domination.
The first was the League of 1495 between Pope Alexander VI, the Holy Roman emperor Maximilian I, Aragon’s Ferdinand II, Venice, and Milan, in opposition to Charles VIII of France, who had invaded Italy in 1494. The allies forced the French out of Italy in 1496.
The Holy League of 1511, organized by Pope Julius II, was directed against Charles VIII’s successor, Louis XII. Spain, Venice, the Holy Roman Empire, England, and the Swiss had all joined the anti-French coalition by spring of 1512 and drove the French out of Milan in May. When the French attempted to return, they were defeated by the Swiss at the Battle of Novara on June 6, 1513. After this the allies could not agree on strategy, and beginning with the Swiss in September 1513, all the allies made separate peace agreements with France.
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