Publication: El sistema de defensas de Puerto Rico (1493-1898)
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2019-01-16
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Universidad Complutense de Madrid
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Abstract
La isla de Puerto Rico fue descubierta por Cristóbal Colón en noviembre de 1493, aunque no fue colonizada hasta el año 1508 por Juan Ponce de León. Fue una posesión española de gran valor estratégico en el Caribe, característica que la convirtió en escala de la carrera de Indias como consecuencia de las ventajas que ofrecía la bahía y el puerto de San Juan. Tuvo que hacer frente a numerosos ataques debido a que la expansión de la Monarquía Hispánica y las riquezas procedentes de las Indias Occidentales, despertaron el interés y la codicia de las principales potencias europeas.Estas circunstancias convirtieron al continente americano en el centro de operaciones militares, obligando a la Corona española a invertir grandes sumas económicas en la construcción de un complejo sistema defensivo en la mayoría de las posesiones de Ultramar. Las primeras obras defensivas construidas en la ciudad de San Juan, capital de la isla, fueron realizadas a mediados del siglo XVI, pero el sistema defensivo de Puerto Rico no quedó concluido hasta finales de 1898, momento en el que la isla pasó a manos del gobierno de Estados Unidos tras la derrota española de la Guerra Hispanoamericana.Durante este periodo de trescientos noventa y cinco años se construyeron numerosas obras defensivas y se reformaron las existentes, con el fin de adaptarlas a las nuevas necesidades táctico-estratégicas del momento. El sistema de defensas construido en Puerto Rico siguió el modelo de la arquitectura militar desarrollada en Europa durante la Edad Moderna y la nomenclatura empleada en las fortificaciones respondió al carácter católico de la Monarquía Hispánica como defensora de la fe, ya que todas defensas fueron consignadas con un nombre religioso con el fin de dotarlas de la máxima protección...
The island of Puerto Rico was discovered by Christopher Columbus in November, 1493, although it was not colonized until 1508 by Juan Ponce de León. Itwas a Spanish possession of great strategic value in the Caribbean, a characteristic that made it a stopover in the West Indian race as a result of the advantages offered by the bay and the port of San Juan. The city had to face numerous attacks because the expansion of the Spanish Monarchy and the riches from the West Indies aroused the interest and greed of the major European powers. These circumstances made the American continent the center of military operations, forcing the Spanish Crown to invest large sums in the construction of a complex defensive system in most of the overseas possessions.The first defensive works built in the city of San Juan, capital of the island, were made in the mid-sixteenth century, but the defensive system of Puerto Rico was not completed until the end of 1898, at which time the island passed into the hands of the government of the United States after the Spanish defeat of the Spanish-American War.During this period of three hundred and ninety-five years numerous defensive works were built and the existing ones were reformed, in order to adapt them to the new tactical-strategic needs of the moment. The system of defenses constructed in PuertoRico followed the model of the military architecture developed in Europe during the Modern Age and the nomenclature used in the fortifications responded to the Catholic character of the Spanish Monarchy as defender of the faith, since all defenses wereconsigned with a religious name in order to endow them with maximum protection...
The island of Puerto Rico was discovered by Christopher Columbus in November, 1493, although it was not colonized until 1508 by Juan Ponce de León. Itwas a Spanish possession of great strategic value in the Caribbean, a characteristic that made it a stopover in the West Indian race as a result of the advantages offered by the bay and the port of San Juan. The city had to face numerous attacks because the expansion of the Spanish Monarchy and the riches from the West Indies aroused the interest and greed of the major European powers. These circumstances made the American continent the center of military operations, forcing the Spanish Crown to invest large sums in the construction of a complex defensive system in most of the overseas possessions.The first defensive works built in the city of San Juan, capital of the island, were made in the mid-sixteenth century, but the defensive system of Puerto Rico was not completed until the end of 1898, at which time the island passed into the hands of the government of the United States after the Spanish defeat of the Spanish-American War.During this period of three hundred and ninety-five years numerous defensive works were built and the existing ones were reformed, in order to adapt them to the new tactical-strategic needs of the moment. The system of defenses constructed in PuertoRico followed the model of the military architecture developed in Europe during the Modern Age and the nomenclature used in the fortifications responded to the Catholic character of the Spanish Monarchy as defender of the faith, since all defenses wereconsigned with a religious name in order to endow them with maximum protection...
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Tesis de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Geografía e Historia. Departamento de Historia del Arte, leída el 25-10-2018