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| Armored ship |
Roberto Valturio (Rimini, Italy, 1405-1475), author, dedicated this military treatise to his Patron and Condottiero, Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta - popularly known as the “Wolf of Rimini”- and considered by his contemporaries as one of the most daring military leaders in Italy. Malatesta commanded Venetia military forces against the Ottonian Imperium. When the treatise was finished by Valturio, around 1465, Malatesta distributed copies to European and relevant rulers like Louis XI, Francesco Sforza, Lorenzo de Medici, etc. The codex served as compilation for war recommendable strategies, some of them really new and ingenious, like a draft for a four propellers submarine boat (first submarine designs were engineered more than 200 years later) or an inflatable device to avoid a soldier get sink when crossing defensive inundated pits. Valturio’s submarine proposal, on 15th Century, was probably the most striking drawing of this fascinating codex for me.
Only twenty-two handwritten copies survive to our days. Leonardo da Vinci was the owner of one manuscript, and based some of his drawings about military technology on this codex.
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| Over wheels attack "dragon-tower" equiped with canyons, based on trojan horse design |
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| Combat wagon |
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| four propeller submarine boat designed by Roberto Valturio |
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| inflatable device to avoid a soldier get sink when crossing defensive inundated pits |
