Jesuits and Fortifications: The Contribution of the Jesuits to Military Architecture in the Baroque Age

by Denis De Lucca

Overview

This book sets out to explore the contribution of the Society of Jesus to the dissemination of knowledge about military architecture in the Baroque age. It shows how the Jesuits developed a militant form of religious expression targeted at protestants and infidels and how many Jesuit mathematicians assisted Catholic leaders by using the mathematical faculties attached to many colleges and seminaries for nobles to provide classroom and private teaching, publications and even consultancies concerning fortification theory, then considered to form part of the 'mathematical disciplines'. This book reveals that the involvement of many Jesuits in 'de re militari' was widespread, sometimes leading to criticism, internal controversies and crises of conscience. The interest of Jesuits in fortifications was discontinued after the 1773-1814 suppression period.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789004216518
Publisher:	Brill Academic Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	02/17/2012
Series:	History of Warfare Series , #73
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.70(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Professor Denis De Lucca B.A. (Arch.); B.Arch. (Honours); PhD (University of Liverpool) directs the International Institute for Baroque Studies and the department of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Malta. He has published extensively on architectural history focusing on the Baroque age.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations . . . ix
List of Abbreviations . . . xv

Preface . . . xvii

1. The Jesuit Interest in the Art of War The ‘Military Mind’ of Ignatius of Loyola . . . 1
Decisive Battles for the Salvation of the Catholic Church: The Rhetoric of the Jesuit Preacher, the Skills of the Jesuit Confessor and the Foundation of the Best Teaching and Learning Institutions of the Baroque Age . . . 14
Entering Dangerous Territory: The Jesuit Mathematicus and the Geometry of War in Early Modern Europe . . . 28
“I am now a priest and a colonel”—The Views of the Learned Antonio Possevino and Other Jesuit Scholars Regarding the Involvement of Clerics in War-Related Activities to Conquer the Enemies of the Catholic Church . . . 48
2. From the Classroom to the Battlefijield—Jesuit Teachings on Fortifijication Building in Early Modern Europe Accommodating the Demands of the Catholic Nobility of the Baroque Age . . . 69
The Role of the Jesuit Mathematicus in Italy, France and Portugal . . . 78
Classes on Fortifijication Building at the Colegio Imperial in Madrid and the Dissemination of Jesuit Military Knowledge in the European Dominions of His Catholic Majesty . . 132
Some Exotic Jesuit Scenarios beyond Europe: American Reducciones, Philippine Fortresses and Chinese Cannon . . . 164
3. Jesuit Writings on Military Architecture The Authors and Titles of Jesuit Treatises on Military Architecture in the Baroque Age . . . 185
General Vincenzo Carafa’s Prohibition of Jesuit Research on Fortifijication Building . . . 197
The Creation of a Unique Synergy Document: The Escuela de Palas Treatise of 1693 . . . 211
4. The Case of Giacomo Maso The Life History of Padre Giacomo Maso . . . 235
The Great Turkish Peril and the Establishment of a Jesuit Academy of Fortifijication Mathematics in Hospitaller Malta 256
Trattato dell’Architettura Militare Defensiva, et Offfensiva— An Unpublished Treatise on Military Architecture . . . 275
Giacomo’s Tragic Death in Sicily—A Case of Inner Personal Conflicts? . . . 304
5. The Contribution of the Jesuits to the Military Architecture of the Baroque Age. The End of an Era—The General Suppression of the Jesuit Order in 1773 and its Aftermath . . . 315

Concluding Remarks . . . 320

Bibliography . . . 335
General Index . . . 359