Fourth Campaign
In the so-called "fourth war" broader questions were personalized in the combats among antagonistic condottieri: Gattamelata, and later Francesco Sforza fought nominally for Venice, while the Visconti side was led by Niccolò Piccinino, who had promised to Eugene IV to reconquer the Marche for him. But, in a reversal typical of the time, when he captured Ravenna and Bologna, he forced the cities to recognize Milanese suzerainty.
Piccinino, backed by Gian Francesco Gonzaga, had invaded the Lombard possessions of Venice. In September 1438 he laid siege to Brescia and assaulted Bergamo and Verona. In response to this Venice signed an alliance with Florence and Francesco Sforza, including some notable captains of the time such as Astorre II Manfredi, Pietro Persaliano and Niccolò III of Ferrara, who was also restored the Polesine in exchange for his support.
The Milanese were repeatedly defeated in Tuscany and at Soncino (June 14, 1440) The war seemed won for Venice, and Sforza went to Venice to receive the honour of a triumph. However, Piccinino returned from Romagna in February 1441 and crushed Sforza's garrison at Chiari. Sforza besieged Martinengo, but when Piccinino cut him off from any possibility of retreat the situation looked again favourable to Milan. Believing that the victory was now in his hands, he asked from Visconti the signiory of Piacenza in exchange for it. The lord of Milan preferred instead to appeal to Sforza for an agreement.
On the field of Cavriana, Sforza acted as mediator between the two sides, accomplishing the act for which Carmagnola had lost his head. No large territorial changes were made in the ensuing Peace of Cremona of 20 November 1441: Venice kept Ravenna, Florence the Casentino. Piccinino was awarded the lands of Orlando Pallavicino in the Parmense, while Filippo Maria Visconti recognized the independence of Genoa and again promised to stop interfering with the situation in Tuscany and Romagna.
Read more about this topic: Wars In Lombardy
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