Marignano: The Giant Battle

September 14, 1515

For two days French gendarmes, German landsknechts, and Swiss pikemen slaughtered one another outside Marignano in thirty thousand shifting combats. Francis I, fighting in the front rank, finally broke the Swiss reputation for invincibility. He had himself knighted on the field by the Chevalier Bayard. The aftermath permanently altered Swiss foreign policy toward the armed neutrality that defines the country to this day.