Juan Caramuel de Lobkowitz’s Architectura civil recta y obliqua was the first time an architectural treaty included the history of the discipline as a fundamental part of its content. This article describes the way that Caramuel constructed his story and the sources and examples that he used. It also enquires as to the reasons why Caramuel included history within the architect’s education. It invites the reader to think of history as a modern position in terms of the past as well as the need the architect has to understand important architectural examples of past epochs to be able to build upon them and contribute to the discipline’s progress.