assured him self of a towne; A policie that Alexander Magnus used to be
assured of all Tracia, which Philip kynge of Spaine did practise to be
asured of England when he wente to sainct Quintens; Examples for
Capitaines to winne the hartes of the people.]
Pompei doubtyng of the Catinensians, praied them that thei would bee
contente, to receive certaine sicke menne, that he had in his armie, and
sendyng under the habite of sicke persones, most lustie menne, gotte the
toune. Publius Valerius, fearyng the fidelitie of the Epidannians,
caused to come, as who saieth, a Pardon to a churche without the toune,
and when al the people wer gone for Pardon, he shutte the gates,
receivyng after none in, but those whom he trusted. Alexander Magnus,
mindyng to goe into Asia, and to assure himself of Thracia, toke with
him all the principall of thesame Province, givyng theim provision, and
he set over the common people of Thracia, men of lowe degree, and so he
made the Princes contented with paiyng theim, and the people quiete,
havyng no heddes that should disquiete them: But emong all the thynges,
with the whiche the Capitaines, winne the hartes of the people, be the
insamples of chastitie and justice, as was thesame of Scipio in Spaine,
when he rendered that yong woman, moste faire of personage to her
father, and to her housebande: the whiche made him more, then with force
of armes to winne Spain.
Cesar having caused that woodde to bee paied for, whiche he had occupied
for to make the Listes, about his armie in Fraunce, got so moche a name
of justice, that he made easier the conquest of thesame province. I
cannot tell what remaineth me, to speake more upon these accidentes, for
that concerning this matter, there is not lefte any parte, that hath not
been of us disputed. Onely there lacketh to tell, of the maner of
winnyng, and defendyng a toune: the whiche I am readie to doe willingly,
if you be not now wearie.
BAPTISTE. Your humanitie is so moche, that it maketh us to followe our
desires, without beyng afraied to be reputed presumptuous, seyng that
you liberally offer thesame, whiche we should have been ashamed, to have
asked you: Therefore, we saie unto you onely this, that to us you cannot
dooe a greater, nor a more gratefuller benefite, then to finishe this
reasonyng. But before that you passe to that other matter, declare us a
doubte, whether it bee better to continewe the warre, as well in the
Winter, as thei use now adaies, or to make it onely in the Sommer, and
to goe home in the Winter, as the antiquitie did.
[Sidenote: Warre ought not to be made in winter; Rough situacions, colde
and watrie times, are enemies to the oder of warre; An overthrowe caused
by winter.]
FABRICIO. See, that if the prudence of the demaunder were not, there had
remained behinde a speciall part, that deserveth consideracion. I
answere you againe, that the antiquitie did all thynges better, and with
more prudence then wee: and if wee in other things commit some erroure,
in the affaires of warre, wee commit all errour. There is nothing more
undiscrete, or more perrillous to a Capitayne, then to make warre in the
Winter, and muche more perrill beareth he, that maketh it, then he that
abideth it: the reason is this. All the industrie that is used in the
discipline of warre, is used for to bee prepared to fighte a fielde with
thy enemie, because this is the ende, whereunto a Capitayne oughte to
goo or endevour him selfe: For that the foughten field, geveth thee the
warre wonne or loste: then he that knoweth best how to order it, and he
that hath his army beste instructed, hath moste advauntage in this, and
maye beste hope to overcome. On the other side, there is nothing more
enemie to the orders, and then the rough situacions, or the colde watery
time: for that the rough situacions, suffereth thee not to deffende thy
bandes, according to thee discipline: the coulde and watery times,
suffereth thee not to keepe thy men together, nor thou canst not bring
them in good order to the enemy: but it is convenient for thee to lodge
them a sunder of necessitie, and without order, being constrayned to
obeye to Castells, to Boroughes, and to the Villages, that maye receyve
thee, in maner that all thy laboure of thee, used to instructe the army
is vaine. Nor marvayle you not though now a daies, they warre in the
Winter, because the armies being without discipline, know not the hurt
that it dooth them, in lodging not together, for that it is no griefe to
them not to be able to keepe those orders, and to observe that
discipline, which they have not: yet they oughte to see howe much harme,
the Camping in the Winter hath caused, and to remember, how the
Frenchmen in the yeare of oure Lorde God, a thousande five hundred and
three, were broken at Gariliano of the Winter, and not of the
Spaniardes: For as much as I have saide, he that assaulteth, hath more
disadvauntage then he that defendeth: because the fowle weather hurteth
him not a littell, being in the dominion of others and minding to make
warre. For that he is constrayned, either to stande together with his
men, and to sustaine the incommoditie of water and colde, or to avoide
it to devide his power: But he that defendeth, may chuse the place as he
listeth, and tary him with his freshe men: and he in a sodayne may set
his men in araye, and goo to find a band of the enemies men, who cannot
resiste the violence of them. So the Frenchemen were discomfited, and so
they shall alwayes be discomfited, which will assaulte in the Winter an
enemye, whoo hath in him prudence. Then he that will that force, that
orders, that discipline and vertue, in anye condition availe him not,
let him make warre in the fielde in the winter: and because that the
Romaines woulde that all these thinges, in which they bestowed so much
diligence, should availe them, fleedde no otherwise the Winter, then the
highe Alpes, and difficulte places, and whatsoever other thing shoulde
let them, for being able to shewe their arte and their vertue. So this
suffiseth to your demaund, wherefore we wil come to intreate of the
defending and besieging of tounes, and of their situacions and
edifications.
THE SEVENTH BOOKE
[Sidenote: Tounes and Fortresses maie be strong twoo waies; The place
that now a daies is moste sought to fortifie in; How a Toune walle ought
to bee made; The walle of a toune ought to bee high, and the diche
within, and not without; The thickenes that a Toune walle ought to bee
of, and the distaunces betwene everie flancker, and of what breadth and
deapth the dich ought to bee; How the ordinaunce is planted, for the
defence of a toune; The nature of the batterie.]
You oughte to knowe, how that tounes and fortresses, maie bee strong
either by nature, or by industrie; by nature, those bee strong, whiche
bee compassed aboute with rivers, or with Fennes, as Mantua is and
Ferrara, or whiche bee builded upon a Rocke, or upon a stepe hille, as
Monaco, and Sanleo: For that those that stande upon hilles, that be not
moche difficulct to goe up, be now a daies, consideryng the artillerie
and the Caves, moste weake. And therfore moste often times in building,
thei seke now a daies a plain, for to make it stronge with industrie.
The firste industrie is, to make the walles crooked, and full of
tournynges, and of receiptes: the whiche thyng maketh, that thenemie
cannot come nere to it, bicause he maie be hurte, not onely on the
front, but by flancke. If the walles be made high, thei bee to moche
subjecte to the blowes of the artillerie: if thei be made lowe, thei bee
moste easie to scale. If thou makeste the diches on the out side
thereof, for to give difficultie to the Ladders, if it happen that the
enemie fill them up (whiche a great armie maie easely dooe) the wall
remaineth taken of thenemie. Therefore purposyng to provide to the one
and thother foresaid inconveniences, I beleve (savyng alwaies better
judgement) that the walle ought to be made highe, and the Diche within,
and not without. This is the moste strongeste waie of edificacion, that
is made, for that it defendeth thee from the artillerie, and from
Ladders, and it giveth not facilitie to the enemie, to fill up the
diche: Then the walle ought to be high, of that heighth as shall bee
thought beste, and no lesse thick, then two yardes and a quarter, for to
make it more difficult to ruinate. Moreover it ought to have the toures
placed, with distances of CL. yardes betwen thone and thother: the diche
within, ought to be at leaste twoo and twentie yardes and a halfe broad,
and nine depe, and al the yearth that is digged out, for to make the
diche, muste be throwen towardes the Citee, and kepte up of a walle,
that muste be raised from the bottome of the diche, and goe so high over
the toune, that a man maie bee covered behinde thesame, the whiche thing
shal make the depth of the diche the greater. In the bottome of the
diche, within every hundred and l. yardes, there would be a slaughter
house, which with the ordinaunce, maie hurte whom so ever should goe
doune into thesame: the greate artillerie that defende the citee, are
planted behinde the walle, that shutteth the diche, bicause for to
defende the utter walle, being high, there cannot bee occupied
commodiously, other then smalle or meane peeses. If the enemie come to
scale, the heigth of the firste walle moste easely defendeth thee: if he
come with ordinaunce, it is convenient for hym to batter the utter
walle: but it beyng battered, for that the nature of the batterie is, to
make the walle to fall, towardes the parte battered, the ruine of the
walle commeth, finding no diche that receiveth and hideth it, to
redouble the profunditie of thesame diche: after soche sorte, that to
passe any further, it is not possible, findyng a ruine that with holdeth
thee, a diche that letteth thee, and the enemies ordinaunce, that from
the walle of the diche, moste safely killeth thee. Onely there is this
remedie, to fill the diche: the whiche is moste difficulte to dooe, as
well bicause the capacitie thereof is greate, as also for the
difficultie, that is in commyng nere it, the walle beeyng strong and
concaved, betwene the whiche, by the reasons aforesaied, with
difficultie maie be entered, havyng after to goe up a breache through a
ruin, whiche giveth thee moste greate difficultie, so that I suppose a
citee thus builded, to be altogether invinsible.
BAPTISTE. When there should bee made besides the diche within, a diche
also without, should it not bee stronger?
FABRICIO. It should be without doubt, but mindyng to make one diche
onely, myne opinion is, that it standeth better within then without.
BAPTISTE. Would you, that water should bee in the diches, or would you
have them drie?
[Sidenote: A drie diche is moste sureste.]
FABRICIO. The opinion of men herein bee divers, bicause the diches full
of water, saveth thee from mines under grounde, the Diches without
water, maketh more difficulte the fillyng of them: but I havyng
considered all, would make them without water, for that thei bee more
sure: For diches with water, have been seen in the Winter to bee frosen,
and to make easie the winnyng of a citee, as it happened to Mirandola,
when Pope Julie besieged it: and for to save me from mines, I would make
it so deepe, that he that would digge lower, should finde water.
[Sidenote: An advertisemente for the buildyng and defending of a Toune
or Fortresse; Small fortresses cannot bee defended; A toune of war or
Fortresse, ought not to have in them any retiring places; Cesar Borgia;
The causes of the losse of the Fortresse of Furlie, that was thought
invincible; Howe the houses that are in a toune of war or Fortresse
ought to be builded.]
The Fortresses also, I would builde concernyng the diches and the walles
in like maner, to the intent thei should have the like difficultie to be
wonne. One thyng I will earnestly advise hym, that defendeth a Citee:
and that is, that he make no Bulwarkes without distaunte from the walle
of thesame: and an other to hym that buildeth the Fortresse, and this
is, that he make not any refuge place in them, in whiche he that is
within, the firste walle beyng loste, maie retire: That whiche maketh me
to give the firste counsaile is, that no manne ought to make any thyng,
by meane wherof, he maie be driven without remedie to lese his firste
reputacion, the whiche losyng, causeth to be estemed lesse his other
doinges, and maketh afraied them, whom have taken upon theim his
defence, and alwaies it shall chaunce him this, whiche I saie, when
there are made Bulwarkes out of the Toune, that is to bee defended,
bicause alwaies he shall leese theim, little thynges now a daies, beyng
not able to bee defended, when thei be subject to the furie of
ordinance, in soche wise that lesyng them, thei be beginning and cause
of his ruine. When Genua rebelled againste king Leus of Fraunce, it made
certaine Bulwarkes alofte on those hilles, whiche bee about it, the
whiche so sone as thei were loste, whiche was sodainly, made also the
citee to be loste. Concernyng the second counsaile, I affirme nothyng to
be to a Fortresse more perilous, then to be in thesame refuge places, to
be able to retire: Bicause the hope that menne have thereby, maketh that
thei leese the utter warde, when it is assaulted: and that loste, maketh
to bee loste after, all the Fortresse. For insample there is freshe in
remembraunce, the losse of the Fortresse of Furly, when Catherin the
Countesse defended it againste Cesar Borgia, sonne to Pope Alexander the
vi. who had conducted thether the armie of the king of Fraunce: thesame
Fortresse, was al full of places, to retire out of one into an other:
for that there was firste the kepe, from the same to the Fortresse, was
a diche after soche sorte, that thei passed over it by a draw bridge:
the fortresse was devided into three partes, and every parte was devided
from the other with diches, and with water, and by Bridges, thei passed
from the one place to the other: wherefore the Duke battered with his
artillerie, one of the partes of the fortresse, and opened part of the
walle: For whiche cause Maister Jhon Casale, whiche was appoincted to
that Warde, thought not good to defende that breache, but abandoned it
for to retire hymself into the other places: so that the Dukes men
having entered into that parte without incounter, in a sodaine thei
gotte it all: For that the Dukes menne became lordes of the bridges,
whiche went from one place to an other. Thei loste then this Fortresse,
whiche was thought invinsible, through two defaultes, the one for havyng
so many retiryng places, the other, bicause every retiryng place, was
not Lorde of the bridge thereof. Therefore, the naughtie builded
Fortresse, and the little wisedome of them that defended it, caused
shame to the noble enterprise of the countesse, whoe had thought to have
abidden an armie, whiche neither the kyng of Naples, nor the Duke of
Milaine would have abidden: and although his inforcementes had no good
ende, yet notwithstandyng he gotte that honoure, whiche his
valiauntnesse had deserved: The whiche was testified of many Epigrammes,
made in those daies in his praise. Therefore, if I should have to builde
a Fortresse, I would make the walles strong, and the diches in the maner
as we have reasoned, nor I would not make therein other, then houses to
inhabite, and those I would make weake and lowe, after soche sorte that
thei should not let him that should stande in the middest of the Market
place, the sight of all the walle, to the intente that the Capitain
might see with the iye, where he maie succour: and that every manne
should understande, that the walle and the diche beyng lost, the
fortresse were lost. And yet when I should make any retiryng places, I
would make the bridges devided in soche wise, that every parte should be
Lorde of the bridges of his side, ordainyng, that thei should fall upon
postes, in the middest of the diche.
BAPTISTE. You have saied that littel thynges now a daies can not bee
defended, and it seemed unto me to have understoode the contrarie, that
the lesser that a thyng wer, the better it might be defended.
[Sidenote: The fortifiyng of the entrance of a Toune.]
FABRICIO. You have not understoode well, because that place cannot be
now a daies called stronge, wher he that defendeth it, hath not space to
retire with new diches, and with new fortificacions, for that the force
of the ordinance is so much, that he that trusteth uppon the warde of
one wall and of one fortification only, is deceived: and because the
Bulwarkes (mindyng that they passe not their ordinarie measure, for that
then they shoulde be townes and Castels) be not made, in suche wise that
men maie have space within them to retire, thei are loste straight waie.
Therefore it is wisdom to let alone those Bulwarkes without, and to
fortifie thenterance of the toune, and to kever the gates of the same
with turnyngs after suche sort, that men cannot goe in nor oute of the
gate by right line: and from the tournynges to the gate, to make a diche
with a bridge. Also they fortifie the gate, with a Percullis, for to bee
abell to put therin their menne, when they be issued out to faight, and
hapnyng that the enemies pursue them, to avoide, that in the mingelynge
together, they enter not in with them: and therfore these be used, the
which the antiquitie called Cattarratte, the whiche beyng let fall,
exclude thenemies, and save the freendes, for that in suche a case, men
can do no good neither by bridges nor by a gate, the one and the other
beynge ocupied with prease of menne.
BAPTISTE. I have seene these Perculleses that you speake of, made in
Almayne of littell quarters of woodde after the facion of a grate of
Iron, and these percullises of ouers, be made of plankes all massive: I
woulde desire to understande whereof groweth this difference, and which
be the strongest.
[Sidenote: Battelments ought to be large and thicke and the flanckers
large within.]
FABRICIO. I tell you agayne, that the manners and orders of the warre,
throughe oute all the worlde, in respecte to those of the antiquitie, be
extinguesshed, and in Italye they bee altogether loste, for if there bee
a thing somewhat stronger then the ordinarye, it groweth of the insample
of other countries. You mighte have understoode and these other may
remember, with howe muche debilitie before, that king Charles of Fraunce
in the yere of our salvation a thousande CCCC. xciiii. had passed into
Italie, they made the batelmentes not halfe a yarde thicke, the loopes,
and the flanckers were made with a litle opening without, and muche
within, and with manye other faultes whiche not to be tedious I will let
passe: for that easely from thinne battelments the defence is taken
awaye, the flanckers builded in the same maner, moste easylye are
opened: Nowe of the Frenchemen is learned to make the battelment large
and thicke, and the flanckers to bee large on the parte within, and to
drawe together in the middeste of the wall, and then agayn to waxe wider
unto the uttermost parte without: this maketh that the ordinaunce
hardlye can take away the defence. Therfore the Frenchmen have, manye
other devises like these, the whiche because they have not beene seene
of our men, they have not beene considered. Among whiche, is this kinde
of perculles made like unto a grate, the which is a greate deale better
then oures: for that if you have for defence of a gate a massive
parculles as oures, letting it fall, you shutte in your menne, and you
can not though the same hurte the enemie, so that hee with axes, and
with fire, maye breake it downe safely: but if it bee made like a grate,
you maye, it being let downe, through those holes and through those open
places, defende it with Pikes, with crosbowes, and with all other kinde
of weapons.
BAPTISTE. I have seene in Italye an other use after the outelandishe
fashion, and this is, to make the carriage of the artillery with the
spokes of the wheele crooked towardes the Axeltree. I woulde knowe why
they make them so: seeming unto mee that they bee stronger when they are
made straighte as those of oure wheeles.
[Sidenote: Neither the ditche, wall tillage, nor any kinde of
edificacion, ought to be within a mile of a toune of warre.]
FABRICIO. Never beleeve that the thinges that differ from the ordinarie
wayes, be made by chaunce: and if you shoulde beleeve that they make
them so, to shewe fayrer, you are deceaved: because where strength is
necessarie, there is made no counte of fayrenesse: but all groweth, for
that they be muche surer and muche stronger then ours. The reason is
this: the carte when it is laden, either goeth even, or leaning upon the
righte, or upon the lefte side: when it goeth even, the wheeles equally
sustayne the wayght, the which being equallye devided betweene them,
doth not burden much, but leaning, it commeth to have all the paise of
the cariage on the backe of that wheele upon the which it leaneth. If
the spokes of the same be straight they wil soone breake: for that the
wheele leaning, the spokes come also to leane, and not to sustaine the
paise by the straightnesse of them, and so when the carte goeth even,
and when they are least burdened, they come to bee strongest: when the
Carte goeth awrye, and that they come to have moste paise, they bee
weakest. Even the contrarie happeneth to the crooked spokes of the
Frenche Cartes, for that when the carte leaning upon one side poincteth
uppon them, because they bee ordinary crooked, they come then to bee
straight, and to be able to sustayne strongly al the payse, where when
the carte goeth even, and that they bee crooked, they sustayne it halfe:
but let us tourne to our citie and Fortresse. The Frenchemen use also
for more safegarde of the gates of their townes, and for to bee able in
sieges more easylye to convey and set oute men of them, besides the
sayde thinges, an other devise, of which I have not seene yet in Italye
anye insample: and this is, where they rayse on the oute side from the
ende of the drawe bridge twoo postes, and upon either of them they
joigne a beame, in suche wise that the one halfe of them comes over the
bridge, the other halfe with oute: then all the same parte that commeth
withoute, they joygne together with small quarters of woodde, the whiche
they set thicke from one beame to an other like unto a grate, and on the
parte within, they fasten to the ende of either of the beames a chaine:
then when they will shutte the bridge on the oute side, they slacke the
chaines, and let downe all the same parte like unto a grate, the whiche
comming downe, shuttethe the bridge, and when they will open it, they
drawe the chaines, and the same commeth to rise up, and they maye raise
it up so much that a man may passe under it, and not a horse, and so
much that there maye passe horse and man, and shutte it againe at ones,
for that it falleth and riseth as a window of a battelment. This devise
is more sure than the Parculles, because hardely it maye be of the
enemye lette in such wise, that it fall not downe, falling not by a
righte line as the Parculles, which easely may be underpropped. Therfore
they which will make a citie oughte to cause to be ordained all the
saide things: and moreover aboute the walle, there woulde not bee
suffered any grounde to be tilled, within a myle thereof, nor any wall
made, but shoulde be all champaine, where should be neither ditch nor
banck, neither tree nor house, which might let the fighte, and make
defence for the enemie that incampeth.
[Sidenote: Noote; The provision that is meete to be made for the defence
of a toune.]