Britannica
Sources used in this answer
When did war between Francis I and Charles V begin?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Francis I
King Francis I of France, portrait by Pierre Dumonstier, after a drawing by Jean Clouet; in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.
Hostilities between Francis I and the Holy Roman emperor Charles V began in 1521. This conflict occurred as part of the broader Italian Wars, a series of struggles for control of Italy that spanned from 1494 to 1559.12
The fighting in 1521 took place in the north and in the Pyrenees, marking the start of a long-standing and intense rivalry between the two monarchs that would last for 27 years.2