Tibúrcio Spannocchi

• Name — Tiburzio Spannocchi • Born — 1541 • Birthplace — Siena • Died — 1609 • Place of death — Madrid • Known for — Chief engineer to Philip III of Spain • Occupation — Military Engineer

• Illustration — Drawing for a Fort at the Mouth of the Strait of Magellan by Tiburcio Spanoqui circa 1584 Tiburzio Spannocchi was an engineer from Siena. He was born in 1541. He came from a noble Tuscan family, and served the Papal States in the fleet commanded by Marcantonio Colonna. In 1575 he was sent to Sicily as a Viceroy. Spannocchi entered the service of the King of Spain around 1580.

Spannocchi became involved in a project to control the Strait of Magellan. Two forts were to be placed on either side of the start of the first narrows (Primera Angostura) on the Punta Anegada and Punta Delgada, creating an impregnable position. A chain could be slung between the two forts to prevent any ships from passing. Experts agreed that the bastions were extremely efficient in their design. However, the project was abandoned when it was realized that many ships would simply bypass the Strait by sailing round Cape Horn. Spannocchi worked at Havana between 1586 and 1587, and may have worked at San Juan and Cartagena. In 1588 Spannocchi approved plans for the forts of El Morro and La Punta at Havana, Cuba as senior engineer to King Philip II. Philip II had commissioned the engineer Giovan Giacomo Paleari Fratino to strengthen the Fortifications of Gibraltar. Fratino proposed to destroy the work done on a wall started by his predecessor, Giovanni Battista Calvi, but Spannocchi refused to stop work on the zigzag wall, which was eventually finished in 1599, and is the upper portion of what is now called the Charles V Wall. • Illustration — La Aljafería, Zaragoza Spannocchi undertook various works on the citadel of Aljafería in Zaragoza for which Philip II himself had traced the drawing. Philip II gave him a commission to fortify the palace and transform it into a citadel. He executed the work in 1593, building the fortress of bricks and mortar with cornerstones, and surrounding it by a moat. The two doors were elaborately decorated. After these changes, the Aljafería was used as a military installation until the middle of the 20th century. • Illustration — A wall of the Citadel of Jaca Later Spannocchi's main energy went into mapping sites in the Pyrenees along the frontier between Spain and France, during a period of mounting tension between the two countries. The citadel of Jaca was built in the shape of a pentagon under his direction. In 1598 he advocated construction of a small fort to guard the entrance to the port of Pasaia, but planning did not start until 1620. At the start of the 17th century, Spannochi and Jerónimo de Soto were involved in construction of the palace of La Ventosilla in Burgos, including a supply of running water and other features that would contribute to greater comfort. Spannocchi designed the nine-sided Fortaleza da Lage de São Francisco that defended Recife from the seas, and the Forte do Mar de São Marcelo that defended Salvador da Bahia. The plans for these two forts were sent to Brazil in May 1606. Tibúrcio Spannocchi died in 1609.