A 16th-century engineer whose work almost defeated the Ottomans
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Re: A 16th-century engineer whose work almost defeated the Ottomans
#2Great read!
"...an early genius of military engineering, Gabriele Tadini." But more than 1500 years before him there were others such as Archimedes and Caesar.
I wonder if Tadini was a polymath similar to other great military engineers like Archimedes and Leonoardo who would have been living at the same time as him.
Re: A 16th-century engineer whose work almost defeated the Ottomans
#3Great read! "...an early genius of military engineering, Gabriele Tadini." But more than 1500 years before him there were others such as Archimedes and Caesar. I wonder if Tadini was a polymath similar to other great military engineers like Archimedes and Leonoardo who would have been living at the same time as him.
I'd wager that everyone back then who made a name for himself with intellectual pursuits was a polymath. Simply because knowledge was hard to come by and you couldn't specialise so much that you remained ignorant about the grand scheme of things of everything else, like it is possible today.
Re: A 16th-century engineer whose work almost defeated the Ottomans
#4Suleyman was not only a great military mind, but an extremely astute politician as well. One thing the article fails to mention is that Suleyman didn't just let the people of Rhodes "go free" after their defeat, the Knights Hospitaler had to hand over their fortresses in Kos and Bodrum as part of the deal. This was a smart move as the castle in Bodrum was much better fortified, and Suleyman got it without, in essence, firing a shot. For this reason, the castle in Bodrum is extremely well preserved and a must see if you want to get a sense of crusader architecture.
Re: A 16th-century engineer whose work almost defeated the Ottomans
#5There's a fantastic book by Roger Crowley called Empires of the Sea that covers the Habsburg-Ottoman war for control of the Mediterranean. The early chapters go into great detail on the Siege of Rhodes, including Tadini's efforts, and how the lessons learned there would set the stage for later battles (particularly Malta and Lepanto) and the end of Ottoman supremacy. For anyone interested in this article or the era in general I can't recommend it enough.
Re: A 16th-century engineer whose work almost defeated the Ottomans
#6There's a fantastic book by Roger Crowley called Empires of the Sea that covers the Habsburg-Ottoman war for control of the Mediterranean. The early chapters go into great detail on the Siege of Rhodes, including Tadini's efforts, and how the lessons learned there would set the stage for later battles (particularly Malta and Lepanto) and the end of Ottoman supremacy. For anyone interested in this article or the era i…
Definitely adding that to my reading list. My understanding is that the Ottoman strategy for controlling the Mediterranean was to go the "long way 'round" and control as much of the surrounding ports, as opposed to the Knights Hospitaler, the Genoese, and the Venetians who took the approach of building unmatched naval strength.
As an example, during the siege of Constantinople, the Genoese and Venetian navies were ultimately defeated when the Ottomans literally carried their ships over land to get behind the other's defensive line.
Re: A 16th-century engineer whose work almost defeated the Ottomans
#7Great read! "...an early genius of military engineering, Gabriele Tadini." But more than 1500 years before him there were others such as Archimedes and Caesar. I wonder if Tadini was a polymath similar to other great military engineers like Archimedes and Leonoardo who would have been living at the same time as him.
I'd wager that everyone back then who made a name for himself with intellectual pursuits was a polymath. Simply because knowledge was hard to come by and you couldn't specialise so much that you remained ignorant about the grand scheme of things of everything else, like it is possible today.
Or alternatively, the breadth of human knowledge was small enough that one person could hold most of it in their head.
Re: A 16th-century engineer whose work almost defeated the Ottomans
#8Interesting subject, but why does it feel like I'm reading a passage from a standardized test?
Re: A 16th-century engineer whose work almost defeated the Ottomans
#9Great read! "...an early genius of military engineering, Gabriele Tadini." But more than 1500 years before him there were others such as Archimedes and Caesar. I wonder if Tadini was a polymath similar to other great military engineers like Archimedes and Leonoardo who would have been living at the same time as him.
Apparently he knew Tartaglia, who was a figure of the type you have in mind...
Re: A 16th-century engineer whose work almost defeated the Ottomans
#10For people who love alternative history stories, the "Ring of Fire" series (starting with "1632", which you can get for free at http://www.baen.com/1632.html) is highly recommended.
The Suleyman portrait there (in http://ericflint.wikia.com/wiki/Ottoman_Empire) is also rather astute.