L’Ingénieur pratique ou l’Architecture militaire et moderne (1696): la diffusione del sapere tecnico attraverso il trattato di Sebastián Fernández de Medrano

This study employs an analytical approach to examine the construction plates in Sebastián Fernández de Medrano’s treatise “L’Ingénieur pratique ou l’Architecture militaire et moderne…”, first published in French in 1696. Medrano, a Spanish military engineer, advanced to the position of “Master of Mathematics” at the Brussels Military Academy at around 1676. The original edition of his treatise on military architecture appeared in Spanish as “El Ingeniero: Primera parte, de la moderna arquitectura militar” (1687) and was subsequently reissued in Spanish in 1700, 1708, and 1735. The 1696 French edition, “L’Ingénieur pratique ou l’Architecture militaire et moderne”, circulated widely in Europe, particularly within the Duchy of Savoy, and is extensively referenced in the 1721 manuscript “Dizionario e repertorio di fortificazione” by Piedmontese military engineer Giuseppe Ignazio Bertola. Bertola notably cites Medrano’s section “Du fondement du Pilotage” in Book III, where fortification foundation methods are described in detail. Medrano’s Plates XVII and XVIII from Book III further address the technical dimensions of military construction, illustrating bastion construction processes through schematic diagrams and depictions of associated tools. The analysis of these didactic plates, which align with similar instructional publications from the 16th and 17th centuries, provides valuable insight into the operational aspects of military construction sites in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. This study thereby enhances the understanding of historical construction methodologies and engineering practices in military architecture during this crucial period.