Military Architecture between Theory and Practice in the Early Modern Eastern Adriatic

Military architecture, which emerged in the Eastern Adriatic as an active battlefield between the 1460s and 1660s, was a revitalised response to the invention and use of firearms. At the same time, texts on military architecture became increasingly popular in Europe. This research focuses on the circulation, adaptation, and use of theoretical and practical fortification knowledge in the Eastern Adriatic under the Republics of Venice and Ragusa. It compares the formal characteristics of buildings, archival material, and treatises, and it also includes a terminological analysis of the sources, considering innovative technical terms as one of the main means of disseminating and applying knowledge. The first hypothesis suggests that Early Modern fortification architecture in the Eastern Adriatic depended on speculative designs by influential military experts. Unsubstantiated theories led to experimental and non-functional structures, marking a crucial point in the history of Eastern Adriatic fortifications. Moreover, in the perpetual state of war, the Eastern Adriatic fortifications directly witnessed changes in fortification science and served as a testing ground that validated hypotheses and shaped new theoretical solutions through practical experience. The third hypothesis proposes that the formulation of Croatian fortification terminology is rooted in insights from Early Modern military architecture, mainly influenced by Italian terminology. The comparison of theoretical instructions in treatises with architectural designs by Michelozzi in Dubrovnik, the Sanmicheli family workshop in Zadar, Giangirolamo Sanmicheli's fortress of St. Nicholas, and De Ville's project in Pula showed that the Eastern Adriatic fortifications directly reflected changes in fortification science. In the case of Zadar, new theoretical solutions were combined with practical changes. Giangirolamo's and De Ville's fortifications were interpreted as experimental structures. The example of Dubrovnik and the case study of besieged fortresses in Šibenik and Split were proven examples of the harmonisation of theory and practice.