Fortifying the Island at the time of the viceroy Ferrante Gonzaga (1536-1546): sites, master builders and designers, clients

Abstract

[EN] The ten-year government of Ferrante Gonzaga marks a crucial time in the process of modernization of fortifications on the largest island of the Western Mediterranean. Even if the cornerstones of the strategy pursued and the projects undertaken to realize an adequate defense system have already been highlighted by previous studies, and it is well-known how much the viceroy himself and the royal engineer Antonio Ferramolino participated in resolving the longstanding problem, new interesting data emerge from research on the archival collections of Tribunale del Real Patrimonio, kept in the State Archive of Palermo. Using this mostly unpublished documentation, the paper focus on building sites started during this decade, looking at aspects related to construction as well as to organization and functioning, and on the intertwining of skills and responsibilities of the various actors involved in the various phases, from design to execution. The information included in the documents allows us to clarify the state of the art of fortification works undertaken in the main Sicilian cities during that decade, providing technical and financial data, but also information on the measures that were adopted to guarantee efficiency and promptness on the sites. Moreover, this knowledge forms a good basis for a new analysis of the roles played by the different people involved.