Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec (1485 – 15 August 1528) was a French military leader, a knight of the Order of St. Michael and grand seneschal of Guyenne. As Marshal of France, he commanded the campaign to conquer Naples, but died from the bubonic plague in 1528.
Biography
left|thumb|An 1834 copy of a portrait of Odet de Foix preserved at the palace of Versailles, the original was preserved at Beauregard Castle.
Odet was the son of Jean de Foix and Jeanne d'Aydie, his birth is placed between 1483 and 1485. His siblings were André de Foix (Lord of Lesparre and Count of Montfort), Thomas de Foix-Lescun (also Marshal of France) and Françoise de Foix (Countess of Châteaubriant, Official Mistress of Francis I of France). He and his two brothers, served Francis I of France as captains; and the influence of their sister, who became the king's mistress, gained them high office.
Military career
War of The League of Cambrai (1508-1516)
Following his entry to the military service, this was the first war he fought into, not yet as a Marshal of France, but as a Lieutenant General. Foix was then sent to the Italian Peninsula at the outbreak of the war, serving initially under the supreme command of Charles II d'Amboise. He participated in the decisive French victory over the Republic of Venice at the Battle of Agnadello The two successfully relieved the Siege of Bologna
thumb|19th Century representation of the [[Sack of Brescia by Charles-Philippe Larivière]]
On April 11, 1512, Odet de Foix, commanded the heavy cavalry and gendarmerie wings during the Battle of Ravenna. In the final actions of the battle, coinciding with the death of Gaston de Foix, Odet was overwhelmed and cut down by Spanish Infantry, he was presumed dead after sustaining more than twenty pikes and sword wounds but he was found breathing by his brother, Thomas de Foix-Lescun, and immediately evacuated to a field hospital. Due to his wounds and injuries, he was completely incapacitated for the rest of 1512. Following a prolonged recovery, he returned to active service under Francis I of France. He played an important role in the Franco-Venetian victory at the Battle of Marignano on September 14-15, 1515, which re-established French dominance over the Duchy of Milan and effectively concluded his actions in the war.
Governance of Milan (1516-1522)
In 1516, King Francis I of France, appointed Odet de Foix, Governor-General of the newly reclaimed, Duchy of Milan. his logistical and strategic positioning soon deteriorated; he was outmaneuvered by Colonna's forces and a gathering Anti-French uprising within the city walls, Foix was driven out of Milan in late November 1521. He was forced to retreat eastward, consolidating his remaining forces in a defensive ring of strongholds along the Adda River, ending his governance in Milan.
Operations in Lombardy (Italian Wars 1521-1526)
After his military retreat of Lombardy, he established a defensive line along the Adda River to regroup his forces and to wait for his reinforcements. During that time, Foix's mountainous northern flank along the Swiss border came under pressure and harassment from Imperial troops trying to sever his communications. Due to this, Foix directed a series of counter-maneuvers to the Imperial forces known as Operations in Val Vestino. However the counter-offensive stalled due to suffering a financial crisis as the French Royal Treasury failed to send funds, leaving the Swiss mercenary troops unpaid. Growing mutinous, Swiss mercenary captains delivered an ultimatum to Foix, demanding either: receive immediate payment, be allowed to be discharged and to be sent home, or be led into a battle at once.
When Odet de Foix returned to France the same year, King Francis I of France was furious and initially refused to meet Foix, blaming him for the loss of French grip of Northern Italy. Desperate for his freedom, Francis I signed the Treaty of Madrid and swore an oath to give up all his claims in Italy, Burgundy, Artois and Flanders and even surrendering his two eldest sons, Francis III of Brittany and Henry II of France in January 14, 1526.
Pope Clement VII realizing the skyrocketing of Charles V in Italy, the Pope and the Venetian Republic were terrified and acted that they needed to drive the Imperial forces out of Italy.
On early 1527, Charles V's main Imperial army in Northern Italy, were made up of Spanish, Italian and German Protestant Landsknechts. Frundsberg was so distressed trying to calm down his German landsknechts, he suffered a stroke which then proved fatal. The mutinous Imperial army abandoned the northern front of Italy to the rich undefended southern Italian cities and forced Charles III to lead them to Rome or they will kill him.