Challenge of Barletta

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The Challenge of Barletta (Italian: Disfida di Barletta) was a battle fought near Barletta, southern Italy, on February 13, 1503, on the plains between Corato and Andria.

The battle was prompted by an insult said by the Frenchman Charles de la Motte and consisted in a chivalrous tournament on horseback between 13 Italians (the most famous is Ettore Fieramosca), based in Barletta, and 13 French knights from Canosa di Puglia. The Italian knights won the battle, and the French then left the area. Barletta has since acquired the nickname Città della Disfida, as a result.

The event inspired a historical novel by the Italian writer Massimo D'Azeglio, Ettore Fieramosca, or La disfida di Barletta, written in 1833.

[edit] See also

• Battle of Cerignola

[edit] References

• Simonis, Damien; et al. (January 2004). Lonely Planet's Italy (6th ed.). Lonely Planet Publications. pp. p. 659. ISBN 1741043034. 

[edit] Gallery

Commemoriative poster for the 4th centenary of the Disfida.

Epitaph for the Disfida on the battle site.

Detail of the monument in Barletta.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Disfida di Barletta

• "Official site" of the Disfida