Thinking about Forms of War: A Historiographical Investigation of Modern Fortification

The present article aims to provide an overview of the development of the bastion defence system, also known as fortificazione alla moderna. Consequently, a significant proportion of the investigation is dedicated to examining the attention that was directed during the 16th century towards the study of defence by flanking, a development that was facilitated by the utilisation of the bastioned front and a re-evaluation of the city’s defensive methodologies based on a rational and geometric urban layout. In order to comprehend the interests that were concentrated on the bastioned front during the 17th century, the research highlights the necessity to focus on two determining factors, namely the development of calculation systems and the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War. The research also involved the framing of Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban’s pro- jects and treaties within the 18th century defensive system, thereby demonstrating the significance of the changes introduced in the France of Louis XIV. The final part of the work is therefore focused on the tradition of 19th-century Italian studies, which has the great merit of having rediscovered the primary role of Francesco di Giorgio Martini in the development of modern fortification. This has provided historical systematicity to the research of the previous centuries. The research conducted by Carlo Promis, Mari- ano d’Ayala, Alberto Guglielmotti and Enrico Rocchi is of particular interest.

Keywords: “Alla Moderna” Fortification, City Wall, Bastion, Treatises, Defense System, War, Architecture.

Francesco De Carolis, Pensare le forme della guerra: Un’indagine storiografica sulla fortificazione alla moderna in "STORIA URBANA " 178/2024, pp 155-173, DOI: 10.3280/SU2024-178007