Military Engineers and Cadastral Officials: Two Ways of Mapping Fortified Spaces in the Eighteenth Century in Spain

In Spain of the 1700s, the century of reforms, cartography proved to be a key means of learning about, managing, improving and defending territories. This paper examines the mapmaking methods and results of two different groups of professionals: the military engineers and the officials who surveyed the territories of the Crown of Castile for the Ensenada Cadastre from 1749 to 1756. The first group created technical maps in accordance with a highly regulated way of working, while the second group produced non-technical maps which have sometimes been termed ‘popular’.