Maculani, Galileo and military engineering in seventeenth-century Malta

Abstract

It was a common practice in the seventeen century to engage reputed military engineers for the design of fortifications. Malta, at the time ruled by the Hospitaller Order of Saint John, is a case in point. Besides having its engineer in residence, the Order requested and secured the services of the best in Europe to consult notably on planned and ongoing military engineering works. One such personality was Vincenzo Maculani da Firenzuola, a member of the Order of Preachers, military engineer and Commissary-General of the Inquisition at Galileo’s 1633 trial. Based on historical literature, this article addresses Maculani’s engagement in Malta and challenges references to him, and to Galileo, in the literature on the military engineering history of Malta. The paper concludes by exposing the bias, which existed until recently in such literature, the outstanding piece being published by a member of the same order of Maculani in the 1950s.