Tibúrcio Spannocchi Tibúrcio Spannocchi ( 1541 – 1609 ) ( also Spanucchi , Spanochi , Spanoqui , Hispanochi etc . ) was " king ' s engineer " to King Philip II of Spain and then to Philip III of Spain , who was also Philip II of Portugal . He was named " Chief Engineer " in 1601 . Origins . Tibúrcio Spannocchi was an engineer from Siena . He was born in 1541 . He came from a noble Tuscan family , and served the Papal States in the fleet commanded by Marcantonio Colonna . In 1575 he was sent to Sicily as a Viceroy . Spannocchi entered the service of the King of Spain around 1580 . Engineering works . Spannocchi became involved in a project to control the Strait of Magellan . Two forts were to be placed on either side of the start of the first narrows ( " Primera Angostura " ) on the Punta Anegada and Punta Delgada , creating an impregnable position . A chain could be slung between the two forts to prevent any ships from passing . Experts agreed that the bastions were extremely efficient in their design . However , the project was abandoned when it was realized that many ships would simply bypass the Strait by sailing round Cape Horn . Spannocchi worked at Havana between 1586 and 1587 , and may have worked at San Juan and Cartagena . In 1588 Spannocchi approved plans for the forts of El Morro and La Punta at Havana , Cuba as senior engineer to King Philip II . Philip II had commissioned the engineer Giovan Giacomo Paleari Fratino to strengthen the Fortifications of Gibraltar . Fratino proposed to destroy the work done on a wall started by his predecessor , Giovanni Battista Calvi , but Spannocchi refused to stop work on the zigzag wall , which was eventually finished in 1599 , and is the upper portion of what is now called the Charles V Wall . Spannocchi undertook various works on the citadel of Aljafería in Zaragoza for which Philip II himself had traced the drawing . Philip II gave him a commission to fortify the palace and transform it into a citadel . He executed the work in 1593 , building the fortress of bricks and mortar with cornerstones , and surrounding it by a moat . The two doors were elaborately decorated . After these changes , the Aljafería was used as a military installation until the middle of the 20th century . Later Spannocchi ' s main energy went into mapping sites in the Pyrenees along the frontier between Spain and France , during a period of mounting tension between the two countries . The citadel of Jaca was built in the shape of a pentagon under his direction . In 1598 he advocated construction of a small fort to guard the entrance to the port of Pasaia , but planning did not start until 1620 . At the start of the 17th century , Spannochi and Jerónimo de Soto were involved in construction of the palace of La Ventosilla in Burgos , including a supply of running water and other features that would contribute to greater comfort . Spannocchi designed the nine - sided " Fortaleza da Lage de São Francisco " that defended Recife from the seas , and the " Forte do Mar de São Marcelo " that defended Salvador da Bahia . The plans for these two forts were sent to Brazil in May 1606 . Tibúrcio Spannocchi died in 1609 . Influence . In 1582 Spannocchi and Juan de Herrera founded the Department of Mathematical Military Architecture under the patronage of Philip II , an important school for training military engineers and architects . Jerónimo de Soto was one of Spannocchi ' s disciples . Another of his pupils was Cristóbal de Rojas , known for working as an assistant to Juan de Herrera in the construction of the monastery of El Escorial . Rojas worked as Spannocchi ' s deputy and became especially interested in military architecture , undertaking major works in Spain and North Africa . Rojas was the author of " Teórica y práctica de la fortificación " ( " Theory and practice of fortification " ) , published in 1598 , the first book on the science of fortification published in Spain . It was essentially a compendium of lessons from the Madrid Academy of Mathematics . The text highlights the influence of the Italian School ' s polygonal and radio - concentric theories . References . Notes Citations Sources