The wealth of Lombardy attracted the armies of France and Austria into a lengthy battle there in the late 15th and early 16th century. In this period Niccolò Pelliccione, the Canzese captain of a free company, fought under the sight of Francesco Sforza and Gian Giacomo Medici. In 1526 Canzo was the theatre of a clash between his company and the arquebusiers sent by Antonio de Leyva. After the decisive Battle of Pavia, the Duchy of Milan became a possession of the Habsburgs. Canzo became part of "the empire where the sun never sets" (after the conquest of the Americas). The new rulers did little to improve the economy, instead imposing taxes to support their wars. Spanish soldiers had a base in Canzo. Three tales of rebellion against Spanish rule by Canzo's population have been handed down from this period. One tells about a man who became a hero, "Mornerin", whose name is preserved as the name of a street in the Old Town.