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Hydraulic philosophy in early modern European cities
No full textThis PhD is a study of hydraulic philosophy—a proposed new name for the branch of early modern natural philosophy concerned with water. Both the production of hydraulic knowledge and its practical application happened in context; the thesis focuses on one of these contexts, early modern European cities. Three case-studies—Augsburg, Florence, and Amsterdam—are approached from an interdisciplinary perspective. In addition to scholarship written by urban historians, historians of science and technology, and art historians, the lens of environmental history has been precious to formulate the research questions and methods underpinning the dissertation.
First, Augsburg, Florence, and Amsterdam are introduced as terraqueous sites, where human bodies interacted with bodies of water: the Lech and Wertach, the Arno, and the Amstel-Ij confluence. Chapter II explores the professional identity and trajectories of the hydraulic experts and practitioners who deployed their knowledge and skills in these three settings. Focusing on specific examples of hydraulic problems or interventions within each city, the following four chapters focus on four ways in which these experts and practitioners interacted with water. Their actions could have great political significance: the Medici (Grand-)Dukes harnessed hydraulics for propoganda aims, whilst municipal authorities in Amsterdam and Augsburg fought (sometimes literally) with their neighbours over borders marked by water. The overarching ambition of early modern hydraulic philosophers, to exert control over water, was represented in the statues of Neptune calming the waves which adorned contemporary fountains, and it was translated in practice with the digging of navigable canals or the reclamation of land. Indeed, the displacement of water was an important manifestation of attempts to control the hydraulic environment: water was drained where it was perceived to be in excess, and pumped where it was thought to be lacking. Measuring the volume, speed, and depth of water also formed part of early modern strategies (and fantasies) of control. Drawing together these four areas of hydraulic action, the dissertation concludes by defining hydraulic philosophy and investigating some of the sources of knowledge and expertise to which its practitioners turned
The fountains of the Fugger family’s gardens in sixteenth-century Augsburg
No full textThis article focuses on the gardens laid out by the Fugger family of merchant-bankers in the Free Imperial City of Augsburg in the first half of the sixteenth century. These forgotten gardens have received little attention both by historians of Augsburg and the Fugger, and by scholars of garden history more generally. A close reading of contemporary descriptions of these gardens, and especially of their hydraulic infrastructure, allows this article to identify their precise location within the urban space and immediate surroundings of Augsburg, correcting earlier interpretations. Using published accounting sources, this article identifies the sculptors responsible for the fountain statuary, the hydraulic experts who designed the water-raising machinery and fountains, and the provenance of the water itself. Establishing a clear link with the municipal drinking water supply system in all three cases, this article argues that the urban gardens of the Fugger should be rescued from oblivion and reintegrated in histories of early modern gardens and hydraulics
Windlasses, pistons, and valves: machine books as records of early modern practical knowledge
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