Baluartes contra tenazas. El caso de la Goleta en 1565

Abstract

[EN] One of the most interesting debates around the fortification systems will take place in Tunisia’s stronghold, after the Turkish siege of Malta in 1565. The court backed Francesco Paciotto’s design, also supported by King Philip II, that consisted of defending the front through a pointed-bulkwards system. This project would be supported by the majority of the engineers in the kingdom. However, a servicemen engineer opposed this thesis, Alonso de Pimentel. He will propose resuming the pincers system that Emperor Charles V liked so much. The idea was to build two big bulkwards linked by a straight wall, a model that had obtained a good result during the defense of Malta, and which had also been used in Milan by Alonso de Pimentel. Finally King Felipe II’s proposal was imposed, due to his enthusiasm of the Italian treatises, which implemented the triangular model in La Goleta. The conquest of the fortress in 1574 will show the mistake.