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Sack of Prato

Type Event Region Italy Time 1512

In August 1512, Spanish forces under Ramón de Cardona besieged and captured the Tuscan city of Prato;…

Timeline

  1. 1512Prato · TuscanySpanish viceroy Ramón de Cardona led troops in besieging Prato at the instigation of Pope Julius II; the city was a strategic bulwark of the Republic of Florence.
  2. 1512Within the walls of Prato · TuscanyAfter Prato's defenders surrendered, Spanish soldiers carried out a large-scale sack; churches and homes were looted, and thousands of civilians and prisoners of war were killed, a brutal case of an Italian city being sacked in the Renaissance era.
  3. 1512Florence · FlorenceNews of the Prato catastrophe reached Florence, where republican morale collapsed, paving the way for the Medici family's return with Spanish and papal support.

Sources