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One of these intellectual 'antecedents' was Mariano di Iacopo [Jacopo] (aka Mariano Taccola; and also referred to during his life as the 'Archimedes of Siena') (1381-?1453) . Taccola was a sculptor by trade and pursued a varied career as public adminstrator and notary. That Siena lacked any significant water access and was in a semi-perpetual state of war were no doubt great influences upon him.



At the age of 50 Taccola began producing engineering manuscripts - a new type of technical publication that favoured the prominent display of explanatory illustrations - the first of which was completed in ~1433. These works are said to contain a large array of devices that had not previously been recorded but it's not known for certain how many of these ideas began with Taccola. His output is essentially collected in 2 manuscripts 'De Ingeneis' and 'De Machinis' which, despite any speculation about the originator, document the technical proficiency of the Tuscany engineering community at the beginining of the renaissance.



"At one time or another he has been credited with the invention of the explosive undermining of city walls, the suction pump, underwater breathing apparatus, the box-caisson method for building bridges, water mains and sluice gates, and vertically axled windmills and watermills. Taccola's importance was encyclopedic account of contemporary machine practice. Two ideas of great importance first appeared in Taccola's manuscripts: the chain transmission system and the compound crank with connecting rod. By the latter, rotary motion could be converted to reciprocal motion, a technical concept that has been considered crucial for the postmedieval development of Western technology."

And if you believe some of the speculative entries around the internet (I don't) then Taccola was also responsible for inventing the catapult and the trebuchet. Unless you have at least JSTOR journal access online { eg. }, then the internet is not particularly brimming with vast quantities of credible sources about Taccola from my searches.