Siege Warfare. The Fortress in the Early Modern World 1494-1660, Volume 1

This classic text is the first integrated survey of the phenomenon of siege warfare during its most creative period. Duffy demonstrates the implications of the fortress for questions of military organization, strategy, geography, law, architectural values, town life and symbolism and imagination. The book is well illustrated, and will be a valuable companion for enthusiasts of military and architectural history, as well as the general medievalist. Booknews An illustrated analysis of the design, function, and history of fortresses designed to withstand artillery. Duffy (war studies, Sandhurst) looks at fortress warfare in Renaissance Italy, the origins of permanent artillery fortification, the Eighty Years War in the Netherlands, the English Civil War and the subjugation of Ireland, and fortress warfare beyond the seas. The concluding chapter explores what living in a fortress town was like for everyday people. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or. In Siege Warfare, Christopher Duffy sets the fortress at the center of history between 1494-1660, the time when gunpowder changed the shape of warfare. He explains and clarifies the elaborate calculations which lie behind fortress construction, showing how the period was shaped, in both its town planning and urban life, by the art of fortress building.The narrative begins in Renaissance Italy, considers the engineering of the Dutch and Spanish during the Eighty Years War, and covers the state-of-the-art in Britain, Scandinavia, Muscovy and Turkey. Duffy demonstrates the implications of the fortress for military organization, strategy, geography, law, architectural values, town life and symbolism, making it the first integrated survey of the phenomenon of siege warfare during its most creative period. Cover 1 SIEGE WARFARE 2 Title Page 3 Copyright Page 4 Table of Contents 5 Preface 9 Prologue: The Earliest Artillery Fortification 11 One Fortress Warfare in Renaissance Italy 18 Two Later Italian Wars and the Origins of Permanent Artillery Fortification 1530-1600 33 Three The Frontiers of France 1513-59 53 Four The Eighty Years War in the Netherlands 1566-1648 68 Five The Apprenticeship of France 1560-1660 116 Six The English Civil War and the Subjugation of Ireland 150 Seven The Baltic Empires 173 Eight The Sultan and his Enemies 201 Nine Fortress Warfare beyond the Seas 230 Ten The Fortress and Humankind 257 Bibliography 275 General Index 287 Subject Index 298 Charles VIII and the advent of mobile siege artillery In military affairs, the events of 1494 did much to bring the Middle Ages to an end. [1] The fortress in the early modern world, 1494-1660.