tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post4752133772949588968..comments2024-03-28T03:10:23.679-07:00Comments on Polemarch: Intellectual HistoryThe Polemarchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-51245637366536541702015-07-06T01:17:34.709-07:002015-07-06T01:17:34.709-07:00But ... the idea of the beret is surely the compet...But ... the idea of the beret is surely the competition to see who can wear it at the correct rakish angle. The bigger the angle, the more likely promotion?The Polemarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-12220235246738498202015-07-06T00:32:19.209-07:002015-07-06T00:32:19.209-07:00Agreed, but the evolution of star fortress styles ...Agreed, but the evolution of star fortress styles (despite the flights of fancy) we linked to the geometric style of thinking of Galileo and Spinoza. That is, geometry was part of any gentleman's education, so when designing some fortifications, a gentleman could have a good go at it and produce something technically plausible and pleasing to the eye. it is possible that practice lagged behind a little.The Polemarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-4929308223262902752015-07-06T00:29:47.218-07:002015-07-06T00:29:47.218-07:00I suppose that one advantage we have over 16th Cen...I suppose that one advantage we have over 16th Century architects is that we can get an ariel view, so it is easy to see the irregularity. I think that it is much harder than we imagine to mark out a bastion on the ground, and then persuade some day-labourers to dig along the line. After all, any fortification is better than none. <br /><br />Mind you, it does seem to be a constant in history that all the fortifications, everywhere, were falling, down, needed vast quantifies of money spending on them and were not fit for purpose. One might some special pleading on the part of governors.<br /><br />But the renewal of interest in geometry and the evolution of 'star' fortresses is linked, even if only coincidental, i think.The Polemarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-10520665061579043172015-07-05T04:07:48.215-07:002015-07-05T04:07:48.215-07:00My favourite item of military fashion is the beret...My favourite item of military fashion is the beret. Apart from tank crews (who would never wear one now in action), there really isn't that much to recommend it as headware and yet nearly every military in the world uses it.JWHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01637785437909299947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-12960884860789573912015-07-04T08:56:49.023-07:002015-07-04T08:56:49.023-07:00I would have thought fashion was more evident in t...I would have thought fashion was more evident in the decorations and style of gateways rather than in the basic trace of black powder fortresses. <br /><br />From what Duffy says there were plenty of flights of fancy and "systems" in published works of the period but examples on the ground were more pragmatic mixtures adapting to place, budget and existing defences. Vauban's works included. <br /><br />Granted it could have been fortuitous that the renaissance of geometry occurred at the right time. Though it aided both attack and defence. I'm not saying fashion had no place in war, just that we might find it in other places* than in the bastioned trace.<br /><br />* Zouaves spring to mind as I'm watching Gettysburg!nundankethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12895608927860103442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-44239898737757701722015-07-04T07:47:06.520-07:002015-07-04T07:47:06.520-07:00Yes, I love Berwick too, and have explored those r...Yes, I love Berwick too, and have explored those ramparts many times. I have a great suspicion that the irregular shapes of the bastions are as much a symptom of doing things on the cheap as an actual design fault. 'Build a fortress in the latest fashion; don't spend a lot'.<br />I remember reading somewhere (Steel Bonnets?) that a governor of Berwick sent Elizabeth a note that the fortifications were in need of repair and redesign to make them secure and attaching an extensive price list for the work. Elizabeth's reply was basically "Here's a quid. Strengthen the magazine roof."<br />I think Vauban at Lille just had a blank cheque and licence to show off.Chris Gricenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-64693472462232025022015-07-04T02:46:36.001-07:002015-07-04T02:46:36.001-07:00Berwick in Tweed is an interesting example - in fa...Berwick in Tweed is an interesting example - in fact I was there on Thursday, parked in the long-stay provision right up against the the northern section of the wall (though inside the glacis). I was, of course, threatened by batteries in bastions on both flanks. My familiarity of the defences at Berwick is due more to my having walked around them many times with varying manifestations of my family than to an intimate familiarity with the history of the works, but there are a few constraints in evidence, which must be typical of most fortresses:<br /><br />(1) The River Tweed, and a couple of hills, are kind of fixed in place, so have to be worked around.<br /><br />(2) Each period of work to enhance or modernise the fortification would have to fit around, on top of or in front of what had been there in earlier, less enlightened times<br /><br />(3) Resource is a key issue - I look at drawings of the works of Lille, and i think that Vauban was either starting from scratch, having cleared the area, or was simply showing off (or taking the piss), but he must have had a massive budget available. Berwick seems more like a succession of cut-and-shut, stick a bit on, repair the last lot of damage, and do it by Thursday. In other words, making the best of what they were stuck with.<br /><br />The 30YW period seems to have coincided with a late Renaissance idea that if you produced enough mathematical diagrams and high-flown (though frequently daft) theory, which was the natural standpoint of a thinking gentleman, then it somehow masked the fact that warfare was brutal and moronic and not a fit exercise for anyone at all, especially gentlemen.<br /><br />The evolution of the fortress with the development of powder weapons is definitely a fascinating study, and demonstrates some remarkable intellects at work, but the constraints imposed by what was there before and how much money and time they had must have produced some very dirty compromises. Vauban was maybe special, amongst other reasons, because he had a lot of clout and a free hand to do anything he wanted.<br /><br />I feel I have added little to your discussion here, but I look forward to the explanation of the Caracole, which always seems to me more like a masonic ritual than anything someone would have attempted under fire. MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.com