Military architecture
Battle, precaution, king
«L’expérience de l’architecture militaire» which translated means «The experience of military architecture» shows the reader how to prepare buildings for battle and how to take precautionary measure architecturally in terms of battle.
«Des Martins» is the author of the book which actually did mean a lot at the time because not everybody had the right to publish arbitrarily under the power of the king. He mentions specifically that he had the kings blessing to write about his buildings and their strategy to build good defending mechanisms. I find it rather odd that he needed that special permission from the king and that it had to be recorded in the first pages, but it seemingly was necessary.
«Des Martins» writes a lot about strategy in battle, measures that are feasible in advance and different building types that are suitable for battle situations. The author displays his measures by including drawings and calculations but mainly by writing everything down novel-like.
The king’s intentions to have the book written are in my opinion first and foremost to show his power (especially to his enemies) but also to clarify to everyone that he can use architectural knowledge for his advantage in battle situations and that he would be well protected in the event of an attack. During a time when you have war always in mind it really is reasonable to focus all the energy on building your fortresses. A constant confrontation and engagement with building impenetrable fortresses was a must at the time. To bear responsibility as a king for his people could have led him (amongst other things) to have the author of his trust write about his strong defense strategy in hope of scaring his enemies off before they start an attempt to attack. What I also see as a possibility of the publication of the book is to show off all of his big and impressive buildings.
The book impressively shows how efficient and advantageous a strong defensive architecture can be in times of battle or siege. The author ensures that the builder who uses the know-how of this book is carefully guided step by step through the building process.
«Des Martins», the king and everyone else involved definitely did make the best of it by using architecture as a weapon to defend themselves and their buildings which seems to have turned out to be successful.