Arquitectura militar - History Lab https://historylab.es Wed, 18 May 2022 14:44:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://historylab.es/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-icono-historylab-32x32.jpg Arquitectura militar - History Lab https://historylab.es 32 32 Project to fortify Pamplona in 1756 https://historylab.es/project-to-fortify-pamplona-in-1756/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=project-to-fortify-pamplona-in-1756 Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:25 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/proyecto-para-fortificar-pamplona-en-1756/ Fortifications proposed by Zermeño for Pamplona in 1756

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]]> Pamplona was a key place on the Spanish-French border from the beginning of the 16th century, being fortified on several occasions as artillery was introduced as a military warfare technique. The bastions were key to this task, simulating the great works of the citadel of Antwerp in 1567 and making Pamplona the first pentagonal citadel on the Peninsula.
During the 17th century, the difficulties in financing undertakings such as these meant that little work was done on the cities in the north of the peninsula. With the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War, the pressing need to fortify large fortifications in this area led Juan Martín Zermeño to be commissioned to draw up a series of projects in strategic locations such as Pamplona. The importance of this enclave led to a revision and modernisation of the previous works of Rez and especially Verboom in 1726, maintaining part of their objectives and working on the basis that the works were already well advanced. Zermeño’s modernisation came from proposals such as raising the bastions and varying the structure of the fort proposed by Verboom to give the defence a staggered form.

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]]> Proposals by the military engineer Antonio Montaigut for the castle of Alicante, 1724 https://historylab.es/proposals-by-the-military-engineer-antonio-montaigut-for-the-castle-of-alicante-1724/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=proposals-by-the-military-engineer-antonio-montaigut-for-the-castle-of-alicante-1724 Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:25 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/propuestas-del-ingeniero-militar-antonio-montaigut-para-el-castillo-de-alicante-1724/ Plan of the castle of Alicante with the proposals of Antonio Montaigut (1724) in the search to optimise the defences of Jorge Próspero de Verboom

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]]> The explosion of the mine carried out by the French general D’Asfeld during the War of Succession in 1709 showed the weaknesses of one of the most solid fortresses of the Spanish Levante: the castle of Alicante. One of those in charge of drawing up proposals for its reconstruction and consolidation was the military engineer Antonio Montaigut.
Since ancient times, Alicante has been a key strategic point for controlling the Levantine coast. Surrounded by the capes of La Huerta and Santa Pola, it was governed from the top of the Alicante hill and its castle of Santa Bárbara. As mentioned above, one of those in charge of improving its defences was Antonio Montaigut, who worked on a previous project by Jorge Próspero de Verboom.
By the mid-1720s, Valencia and Murcia already had Montaigut as their chief engineer. His task was to carry out the defensive projects and inform the general state engineer about the steps to be taken: to complete the works proposed by Verboom in the city of Alicante, but also to work on the castle, which had been orphaned of work since the previous projects. As shown in the appeal, the most important thing was to replace the batteries with a new reinforced bastion and to protect the way up to the castle, where the Cavalry Corps and the soldiers, until now located in houses due to the absence of barracks, would be housed.

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]]> View of the town square of Fuenterrabía, its surroundings, and the state of the French camp, in the siege of 1638 https://historylab.es/view-of-the-town-square-of-fuenterrabia-its-surroundings-and-the-state-of-the-french-camp-in-the-siege-of-1638/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=view-of-the-town-square-of-fuenterrabia-its-surroundings-and-the-state-of-the-french-camp-in-the-siege-of-1638 Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:18 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/vista-de-la-plaza-de-la-ciudad-de-fuenterrabia-sus-cercanias-y-estado-del-campo-frances-en-el-sitio-del-ano-1638/ Image showing the walled enclosure of the city of Fuenterrabía, during the French siege of 1638

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]]> During the second half of the 16th century, the fortification of Fuenterrabía was redesigned by the military engineer Jacobo Palear Fratín, designing a pentagonal citadel in the same style as the one built in Pamplona, enveloping the existing medieval defensive belt with a modern one to allow for a larger scale and artillery capacity. The medieval wall was preserved mainly due to the conditioning factors of the terrain, as it could not be directly adapted to the new needs.
The original elevation of the fortress made it impossible to establish surfaces suitable for the armament needs of the time. Successive bastions were built around the medieval wall, until the middle of the 17th century when Fuenterrabía was besieged by French troops and work was rushed, leaving the enclosure with the characteristics that can be seen in the representative image from 1638.

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