The battle of Pavia has been hailed as the first modern battle, marking the rise of hand held weapons as a tool of warfare. In this titanic clash the most decisive of the Italian Wars, caused by French territorial ambitions in first the Kingdom of Naples and then the Duchy of Milan the French troops were smashed by the Spanish Imperial Army. King Francis I was captured, and the cream of his nobility slaughtered. France's greatest defeat since Agincourt, the battle dramatically swung the balance of power in Western Europe.