Armed in Letters, Lettered in Arms: Ancient Technology, Military Science, and the Origins of Baroque Spectacle in Europe (1550–1650)

This research seeks to elucidate the foundational contribution of medieval military art to the evolution of courtly festivals and pre-modern theater. It examines a series of biographical profiles of figures who, between the late fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, operated at the intersection of military engineering and theatrical production. Based on this historiographical evidence, the study analyzes the theoretical and practical frameworks that facilitated the convergence of these ostensibly disparate domains. This cross-disciplinary influence eventually declined in the eighteenth century, as the role of the theatrical technician was assimilated into the emerging structures of entrepreneurial theater, catalyzed by contemporary theatrical reforms