L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 32 L'Italo-Americano warfare. The turning point w a s t h e i n v a s i o n o f t h e F r e n c h a r m y i n I t a l y i n 1 4 9 4 . " M a c h i a v e l l i a n d Guicciardini saw the inva- sion of Italy by the French king Charles VIII (resulting in the first Italian War and t h e o p e n i n g p h a s e o f t h e Italian Wars) as a social and political watershed on the p e n i n s u l a . T h a t i n v a s i o n brought a world of novelties i n w h i c h t h e I t a l i a n l a n - guage lost, in Guicciardini's phrase, "the true words for things." The French army arrived in Italy with artillery n e v e r s e e n b e f o r e : " v e r y bloody," wrote Guicciardini. "During the Italian Wars, military and political moder- nity exploded in Europe as highlighted in Guicciardini's masterpiece the History of Italy, and also in his Ricordi Politici e Civili consisting of 2 2 0 m a x i m s o n p o l i t i c a l , social, and religious topics. T h e F l o r e n t i n e p o l i t i c a l w r i t e r a n d s t a t e s m a n referred to the Italian Wars as "very violent wars" where "very fast conquest of cities w e r e c a r r i e d o u t n o t i n months but days and hours." A new type of cannon made this possible, a large caliber cannon, deadly yet handy b e c a u s e i t w a s t r a n s - portable. I n t h e I t a l i a n W a r s , L e o n a r d o d a V i n c i worked for some of the top military and political lead- ers: the Sforza family, the Borgia dukes, and later in his life the French Valois K i n g , F r a n c i s I . T h e g e n i u s o f u n q u e n c h a b l e curiosity made for ambiguity in his life. He was vegetarian – and today is also recog- nized as the father of ecolog- ical thought- yet fascinated with military engineering and warfare. Commenting on the com- position of a battle scene, in his Treatise on Painting, the polymath described warfare as a bestial madness (pazzia b e s t i a l i s s i m a , C o d e x Urbinas folio 59v). However, later he motivated his inten- tions as a military engineer "for the maintenance of the p r i n c i p l e g i f t o f n a t u r e , namely liberty, I will find t h e w a y t o o f f e n d a n d defend while being besieged b y a m b i t i o u s t y r a n t s " (Manuscript B folio 100r). Also, his 1482 resume and j o b a p p l i c a t i o n s e n t t o Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, one of Italy's most powerful leaders, reads: "I will make cannons, mortars and light ordinance of beau- tiful and useful forms that are out of common use. I will build catapults, man- g o n e l s , t r e b u c h e t s , a n d o t h e r i n s t r u m e n t s o f admirable efficiency not in g e n e r a l u s e " ( C o d e x Atlanticus folio 1082r). His d r a w i n g a n d w r i t i n g s o n war machines are part of the Codex Atlanticus kept at the A m b r o s i a n a L i b r a r y i n Milan. "Leonardo was a military engineer for money," points out Merlo. Money and art went hand in hand in the Renaissance period. "Artists were interested in having their wallet full of money and patrons paid cash," he says. "Leonardo was a great entrepreneur and a market- ing genius as well." At the time, another great consultant in warfare was Vannoccio Biringuccio (1480- 1539) a metal fusion master, and an armament maker from Siena. His trea- tise in 10 books on metals a n d m e t a l l u r g y w a s extremely influential on the course of Western warfare, even in the following three centuries. Published posthu- mously in Venice in 1540, De la Pirotechnia was the first print work to cover the whole field of metallurgy, including the processes of ore reduction, applied metal arts, gun fusions, and how to make gunpowder. Biringuccio is considered a n e p o c h a l m e t a l l u r g i s t , mineralogist, chemist, and technician. In his 16th cen- t u r y c l a s s i c , h e a l s o described the quality of met- als and all the known tech- niques since the Bronze Age. "The work combines theo- retical reflection with practi- c a l r e s e a r c h a n d e x p e r i - ence," explains Merlo. "Biringuccio grew up in the metal field as his father Paolo was one of the great S i e n e s e e n t r e p r e n e u r s o f metallurgy, and also a politi- cian." Since he was a boy, he went around mines all over Italy and Europe, especially in Germany. "No doubt he inspected Lombard mines, in particular, the ones in the Camonica and the Trompia Valleys in the Brescia terri- tory, but also in Piedmont a n d i n m a n y r e g i o n s i n Europe, where he acquired enormous practical experi- e n c e i n t h e s e c t o r , " a d d s Merlo. The curator of the Brescia Weapons Museum remarks that Biringuccio not only was an intellectual but was also a great businessman, "a sort of Bill Gates of his time, a consultant who got paid handsomely." De la Pirotechnia marked the beginning of a genre: technological literature. Last century, it was translat- e d a n d e d i t e d b y C y r i l S t a n l e y S m i t h , a l a t e A m e r i c a n m e t a l l u r g i s t famous for his work on the Manhattan Project where he was responsible for the pro- duction of fissionable met- als. In his seminal book on modern warfare, Professor Geoffrey Parker stated that the pillar of military revolu- tion in modern-age Europe w a s t h e t r a c e I t a l i e n n e (Italian line) style of fortifi- cation -- otherwise known as fortificazione alla moderna. A t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e 1500s Italian Renaissance geniuses started to create a new system of fortification to effectively resist artillery assault. Lots of Italian archi- tects and engineers created colossal defensive works as the Italian peninsula was under attack from all sides. T h e i r i n n o v a t i v e b a s t i o n f o r t s c o m b i n e d G r e e k , Roman, and later Byzantine angle-bastion designs with a new geometric, polygonal layout to match a burgeon- i n g t h r e a t i n t h e r i s i n g power of the siege cannon. The trace Italienne style of fortification spread out of Italy in the 1530s and 1540s t o l a t e r b e i n g a d o p t e d throughout Europe. "Italian engineers were called upon by all the European sover- e i g n s f o r t h e i r s p e c i f i c skills," says historian Zagli. " T h e y w e r e h e a v i l y i n demand for those new forti- fications." F o r e x a m p l e , M i l a n e s e military engineer Giovanni Maria Olgiati (1494-1557) entered the service of the Genoese Doria family and C h a r l e s V , a g r e a t H o l y Roman Emperor. S o m e d e c a d e s e a r l i e r , F e d e r i c o d a M o n t e f e l t r o (1422-1482), Duke of Urbino and an extremely successful c o n d o t t i e r e , c u l t i v a t e d a generation of outstanding m i l i t a r y e n g i n e e r s a n d a r c h i t e c t s . " F r a n c e s c o d i Giorgio Martini (1439-1501) f r o m S i e n a w a s o n e o f them," says Merlo. He was drawn to the field of military architecture from his early age and was confronted with new problems by increasing- ly powerful siege artillery. "The Duke of Urbino paid his military architects a lot of money. He was the man of war," Merlo says. "The F l o r e n t i n e F r a n c e s c o d i Giovanni otherwise known a s F r a n c i o n e , G i a c o m o Cozzarelli from Siena were two others of the many mili- tary architects employed by Federico da Montefeltro." A l s o , M i c h e l a n g e l o d e s i g n e d s o m e d e f e n s i v e forts. Famous are his pro- jects for several fortifica- tions of Florence in 1529. " A t t i m e s , t h o s e m i l i t a r y architects were also involved in espionage activity," says Merlo. In the 1400s and 1500s, the production of weapons c e n t e r e d a r o u n d M i l a n . "And we know for sure that the first Brescian gunsmiths we know about were from nearby Milan. In Brescia, which was under the rule of V e n i c e , t h e y w e r e a c t i v e starting from the 1380s to 1390s," explains Merlo. The city of Brescia has kept the tradition of produc- ing weapons. In the modern age, the Lombard city had a name for forging infantry a r m o r s b u t a l s o l u x u r y armors. "An entire system of producing firearms, rifles and pistols, ammunition and the associated equipment for a r t i l l e r y m e n , w a s p u t i n place, a true supply chain was active, involving dozens of shops that exported all over Europe." In the city, t h e r e w e r e c a n n o n foundries. "Since the 1500s, Brescian gunsmiths have been pro- ducing gun barrels known as Lazzarina, taken from the name of an early gunsmith who started the production in Gardone in the Trompia Valley," says Merlo. "The Val Trompia is still number one in the world as a producer of shotguns." E v e n t o d a y , F a b b r i c a d'Armi Pietro Beretta is headquartered in Brescia. F o u n d e d i n t h e 1 5 0 0 s , Beretta is the oldest active m a n u f a c t u r e r o f f i r e a r m components in the world. Today the ancient Brescia family of armorers is still operating in its 17th genera- tion. Their guns appeared in the James Bond series, and many Hol l ywood movies. B e r e t t a i s t h e w e a p o n o f choice of law-enforcement agencies around the world, s u c h a s t h e I t a l i a n C a r a b i n i e r i , F r e n c h G e n d a r m e s , a n d T e x a s Rangers. Its line of hunting weapons is number one. In 1526, Beretta's inau- gural product was arquebus b a r r e l s . B e r e t t a s u p p l i e d 60,000 guns to the Venetian fleet at the greatest naval battle of the Renaissance, t h e B a t t l e o f L e p a n t o . Fought off the west coast of Greece on October 7, 1571, t h e f a m o u s b a t t l e h a l t e d Ottoman expansion in the western Mediterranean. B e r e t t a h a s p r o v i d e d weapons for every European war since 1650. "A Beretta muzzleloader, w h e e l - l o c k p i s t o l , w a s r e c e n t l y d i s c o v e r e d a s belonging to John Alden, a crew member on the historic 1 6 2 0 v o y a g e o f t h e Mayflower which brought t h e P i l g r i m F a t h e r s t o Plymouth, Massachusetts," says Merlo. One of Alden's d e s c e n d a n t s f o u n d t h e amazing Beretta gun in their home. Today, the historic item is kept at the National F i r e a r m s M u s e u m n e a r Fairfax, Virginia." Continued from page 30 Part of an armor made by Giano Vimercate, one of the first armor makers in Brescia, in the 14th cen- tury (Photo courtesy of the Museo delle Armi di Brescia) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

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