AS TORRES PROJECT – Tomiño
War and Territory
INDEX
he main consequence of this war was the construction of a border defensive network that modernized the medieval castle network, giving rise to a new landscape that materialized the principles of bastioned fortification: now the medieval castles, with their keeps, changed their appearance, and were surrounded by bastions and complex defensive lines.
The surrounding lands were filled with moats, half-moons, ravelins, hornworks, and other exterior defenses that made it difficult for the enemy army to access the fortress or border towns.
The border cities underwent a major transformation that radically modified their layout, access systems, and the lives of their inhabitants, who now saw the beginning of large construction projects amid intermittent battles.
The 17th Century War
The Portuguese War of Restoration (1640-1668) began after the proclamation of the Duke of Bragança as João IV and ended with the independence of Portugal from the Kingdom of Castile. The war was the consequence of growing discontent among some political and social groups due to Portugal’s annexation to the Hispanic Empire by Philip II in 1580.
The 28 years of this war were characterized by periodic confrontations, both small battles and serious armed conflicts, many of which were caused by conflicts in Spain and Portugal with non-Iberian powers. Spain participated in the Thirty Years’ War until 1648 and in the Franco-Spanish War until 1659, while Portugal participated in the Portuguese-Dutch War until 1663. The front remained almost static, with some captures in enemy territory, and on the Spanish side mainly remained defensive until 1660, given the priority that the Madrid Court gave to suppressing the Catalan Revolt. On the other hand, the war had frequent truces due to fatigue and poor preparation of the armies on both sides, as both kingdoms were at war against other powers.
Militarily, the Portuguese War of Restoration consisted mainly of border skirmishes and cavalry raids against border towns, combined with occasional invasions and counter-invasions, many of them timid and insufficiently funded. There were only five major carefully prepared battles during the twenty-eight years of hostilities. The main front of the conflict was Extremadura, followed by the Galician front, which only gained importance in the last years of the war, from 1665. The conflict ended with the Spanish Empire recognizing Portuguese independence and the House of Bragança as the new ruling dynasty of Portugal, replacing the House of Habsburg.
The War in Galicia
The Galician front was a secondary theater of the war. Due to being far from the Court of both kingdoms and having rough terrain, it was not suitable for military maneuvers. In the early years of the war, the destruction of the Benedictine monastery of Fiaes in 1641 stood out, as well as the Galician victory in the Battle of Vilaza against the Spanish loss of the stronghold of Salvaterra de Miño in 1642, a place that was recovered in 1659. Combat was limited to some mutual incursions and Spanish attempts without success to recover Salvaterra de Miño. The two strongholds of the Galician front were Tui and Monterrei. The militias of Eastern and Western Galicia were concentrated in them. Each had subsidiary smaller fortresses distributed on each side of the Miño border, thus the Castle of Fornelos belonged to the Tui war jurisdiction and the Alcazar of Milmanda to that of Monterrei, both divisions subordinate to the command of the Captain General of Galicia, a title that passed through several hands.
The War of Restoration lasted until 1668, with the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon, which established the current border. Portugal recovered Monção, Lapela, San Miguel dos Reis and São Pedro da Torre. The strongholds of A Guarda and Goián returned to Galicia. Many campaign fortifications were destroyed and permanent ones were completed, especially Portuguese ones, or new fortifications were built, such as the Castle of San Lourenzo in Goián.
The War on the Miño River
In the Lower Miño, there was already tension between monarchs and regional nobility, with frequent territorial disputes during the 12th and 13th centuries. The royalty of both kingdoms sought support points for their strategy of political-administrative empowerment, encouraging the construction of population centers along the Miño bank. The opposing populations consolidated over time, cities were walled or a castle owned by the monarch was built in them.
During the modern era, the transformation of towns began to adapt them to the principles of the new bastioned fortification, and new fortifications were built to reinforce their defense.
In the Wet Border, the war was discontinuous and depended on the availability of personnel and material in both armies. It was a war with limited means and specialists, with great importance given to artillery, infantry weapons, and engineers, in which defensive architecture played a decisive role.
The number of fortifications found on the Galician border, thanks to the intense cataloging work carried out by historian and specialist in 17th-century war landscapes, Rebeca Blanco-Rotea, proves the importance that the “Galician front” had in this war. And, especially important, is what happened along both banks of the Miño River, especially in its final section, between Salvaterra and A Guarda and between Monção and Caminha. So far, Blanco-Rotea had identified 46 military constructions on both sides of this border, 24 of them between Tui and Tomiño and between Valença do Miño and Vilanova da Cerveira.
In fact, both the current municipalities of Vilanova de Cerveira and São Pedro da Torre on the Portuguese side, and Tomiño on the Galician side, concentrate most of these fortresses. A fact that demonstrates the importance that the war had in this region.
Fortifications in the 17th Century
This war confirms the change from old medieval defenses to bastioned-type fortifications in which artillery was incorporated into defensive systems. In fact, on the Miño border there are two different models of fortification: medieval, based on the use of high walls and towers, and modern, with a polygonal enclosure that uses the bastion, from which it gets its name.
Types of Fortifications
This war confirms the change from old medieval defenses to bastioned-type fortifications in which artillery was incorporated into defensive systems. In fact, on the Miño border there are two different models of fortification: medieval, based on the use of high walls and towers, and modern, with a polygonal enclosure that uses the bastion, from which it gets its name.
FORTRESS
Prepared for modern warfare based on artillery. Not visible until you’re upon it.
Fort of Amorín
Topographical relation of fortified places and posts of the Kingdom of Galicia, 1800 Miguel de Hermosilla, drawing by Josef la Fuente
© Military Historical Service Archive
STRONGHOLD
Fortress that contains a population and its garrison
Stronghold of Valença
Villalobos, 1713, © National Library of Portugal
REDOUBT
Square defense with moat, parapet and embankment
The Games of Fortification, 1752
Pablo Minguet e Yrol © National Library of Spain
PLATFORM OR BATTERY
With embrasures on the fronts, defends places adjacent to fortresses.
CROWNED WORK
External work added to a fort protecting access.
FORT
Small-sized fortress; if very small it’s called a Fortin.
The Games of Fortification, 1752
Pablo Minguet e Yrol © National Library of Spain
ARTILLERY
There were a great number of calibers and types of pieces. Each kingdom had its own production centers. In the 16th century, two types of artillery were born:
THE CANNONS
(Half, Third and Quarter cannon…), of smaller size, had greater firepower and consumed less gunpowder.
THE CULVERINS
Characterized by their large muzzle, cast in one piece, and were of medium and small caliber.
The advances at this time are the gun carriages, equipped with wheels to transport weapons easily during military operations, and light pieces drawn by horses are used.