Cristóbal de Rojas (1555 in Baeza – 1614 in Cadiz) was a Spanish military engineer and architect. He is known for working as an assistant to

Juan de Herrera Juan de Herrera (1530 – 15 January 1597) was a Spanish architect, mathematician and geometrician. One of the most outstanding Spanish architects in the 16th century, Herrera represents the peak of the Renaissance in Spain. His sober style reac ...

in the construction of the monastery of

El Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, u ...

Biography

Cristóbal de Rojas was born in Baeza in 1555. He was in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

in 1586, where he acquired a considerable reputation as an architect. His best known work in this city is the Tabernacle Church, which he designed. The project was later begun by Alonso de Vandelvira and Miguel de Zumárraga in the year 1615, and construction was done between 1618 and 1662, while basically following the originally approved plan. Rojas became a pupil of the king's engineer

Tibúrcio Spannocchi Tiburzio Spannocchi (1541–1609) (also Spanucchi, Spanochi, Spanoqui, Hispanochi etc.) was "king's engineer" to Philip II of Spain and subsequently to Philip III of Spain. He was named "Chief Engineer" in 1601. Origins Tiburzio Spannocchi was an ...

, and became especially interested in military architecture. In 1586 he helped to review the fortifications of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

and Cadiz. After that he become very active as a military engineer, designing and building forts in Spanish territories during the

Brittany Campaign The Brittany Campaign or the Campaign of Brittany was a military occupation of the Brittany region of France by Spain. It began in the summer 1590 when Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine, Duke of Mercœur and governor of Brittany, offered the ...

, including in North Africa. In 1597 he finished his treatise on "Theory and Practice of Fortification", the first of its kind to be published in Spain. The text highlights the influence of the Italian School's polygonal and radio-concentric theories. Rojas undertook important works in

Sanlúcar de Barrameda Sanlúcar de Barrameda (), or simply Sanlúcar, is a city in the northwest of Cádiz province, part of the autonomous community of Andalucía in southern Spain. Sanlúcar is located on the left bank at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River oppos ...

including the famous carved stone facada of the Santo Domingo Church in this city, in the

mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...

style, started in 1596 and completed ten years later. In his capacity as military architect and engineer he was appointed to rebuild and fortify the city of Cadiz after it had suffered a violent Anglo-Dutch assault and looting in 1596. He rebuilt the old Church of Santa Cruz, ruined as a result of the looting. De Rojas designed and built the fort of Fort San Felipe on

La Mamora Mehdya ( ar-at, المهدية, al-Mahdiyā), also Mehdia or Mehedya, is a town in Kénitra Province, Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, Morocco. Previously called al-Ma'mura, it was known as São João da Mamora under 16th century Portuguese occupation, or as ...

, a Spanish possession in northern Morocco during much of the seventeenth century. Rojas's most important work was the overall fortification of the city of Cadiz, the most ambitious military work in the country during the reigns of

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

and

Philip III of Spain Philip III ( es, Felipe III; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain. As Philip II, he was also King of Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia and Duke of Milan from 1598 until his death in 1621. A member of the House of Habsburg, Phi ...

, including important elements such as the castle of Santa Catalina, started in 1598. After his death in Cadiz in 1614, the fortifications of the city were continued by the military engineer Ignacio de Sala.

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*The content of this article incorporate
material from Cadizpedia
published in Castilian under a Creative Commons Share-Alike license. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rojas, Cristobal de 1555 births 1614 deaths Spanish military engineers

Biography

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