The teaching in civilian centers of military engineers in the eighteenth century Spain

Abstract

In the first half of the eighteenth century Spanish science was in the hands of the army, emphasizing the military engineering corps, created at the beginning of the century. From 1750 the civil population claimed their right to obtain similar training to that provided in military facilities, and this led to the emergence of institutions such as the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando or The Real Sociedad Aragonesa, which were presented as an alternative to universities, then fossilized. These new institutions, given the scarcity of qualified civilian personnel for the teaching of science subjects, resorted to military engineers, as was the case of Jose Hermosilla or Luis Rancaño of Cancio.