In the 15th century, vertical medieval military architecture entered into a progressive crisis. High walls and huge towers intended to be impassible obstacles become vulnerable targets. However, it is important to repeat here a point mentioned previously, that changes brought by the use of artillery did not strike like a sudden revolution but constituted a gradual evolution. The remarkable castles, urban enceintes and citadels of the 13th and 14th centuries did not become obsolete overnight. Thick masonry, high walls and huge towers were targets for only those few attackers—kings and dukes—who were rich enough to afford a powerful artillery. The invention of gunpowder and artillery in no way diminished the role of medieval castles, citadels and fortified cities as strongholds, bases for operations, quarters for troops, armories and supply stores.
Nevertheless, it was obvious that castle-builders had to do something. It was proving impossible to meet the needs of artillery warfare with immediate and efficient solutions, partly because of the lack of experience and partly because of traditionalism and conservatism. Master-builders’ theoretical considerations and practical realizations in the second half of the 15th century were essentially aimed at adapting and modernizing preexisting fortresses. So-called transitional fortification (between the medieval vertical system and the horizontal bastioned system) developed without basic principles or clearly defined theory, each stronghold being individually adapted to firearms as far as its design would allow. Transitional fortification, covering approximatively the period from 1450 to 1530, tried to reconcile two essential demands: to resist the destructive effects of heavy artillery and hand-held guns by passive means, and to allow for the most efficient use of defensive firearms with active elements.
Passive Elements
To resist artillery, castle builders did their best to improve the quality of masonry, and their first reaction was to increase the thickness of existing works. The walls of the Dicke Turm in the castle of Friedberg (Hesse in Germany) are 5.70 m thick, those of the Dicke Zwingen tower in the castle of Goslar (Germany) 6.50 m, and those of the Navarre tower in the enceinte of Langres (France) 7 m. The Kaiserturm in the castle of Kufstein (Tyrol in Austria), built between 1518 and 1522, is an impressive four-story tower with 7.40 m thick walls.
World History
