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Gunpowder artillery in the Middle Ages

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Earliest picture of a European cannon, "De Nobilitatibus Sapientii Et Prudentiis Regum" Walter de Milemete, 1326.

Cannon in the Middle Ages were large tubular firearms designed to fire a heavy projectile over a long distance. They were used in China, Europe and the Middle East, and were the archetypical form of artillery. The first cannon in Europe probably appeared in Moorish and Christian Iberia. English cannon were first used during the Hundred Years War, when primitive cannon were used at the Battle of Crécy in 1346.

The Middle English word Canon was derived from the Old Italian word cannone, meaning large tube, which came from Latin canna, meaning cane or reed.[1] The Latinised word canon was used for a gun since 1326 in Italy, and 1418 in England. Bombardum, or "bombard", was earliest used for "cannon", but from 1430 it came to refer only to the largest weapons.[2]

Early cannon in China and East Asia

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Further information: History of gunpowder
See also: Technology of Song Dynasty

"Fire lances", gunpowder-propelled arrows, were used in China from at least 1132. The first documented record of artillery with gunpowder propellent used on the battlefield was on January 28, 1132 when General Han Shizhong of the Song Dynasty used escalade and Huochong to capture a city in Fujian. In 1221, cast iron bombs thrown by hand, sling, and catapult were mentioned. Somewhere around 1249, the Chinese of the Song Dynasty began to load early gunpowder in the middle of thick bamboo as a projection firearm, firing clay pellets like a shotgun.

Use in the Middle East

See also: Inventions in the Islamic world

The invention of gunpowder and cannon spread into India and the Islamic world prior to the Mongol intrusion in China. The Arabic Karshuni manuscript has editions of gunpowder recipes from the early 12th century, and there is mention of rockets or fire arrows being used in the mid-13th century, primarily as psychological weapons, and primarily defensively.[3][4]

Portable hand cannon ("midfa," in Arabic) were first used by the Egyptians to repel the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, and again in 1304.[3][4] The composition of the gunpowder used in these battles was later described in several manuscripts, written in the early 14th century. Four different mixtures were used, the most explosive having a composition (74% saltpeter, 11% sulfur, 15% carbon) almost identical to modern gunpowder (75% saltpeter, 10% sulfur, 15% carbon). These mixtures were more explosive than those used in either China or Europe during this period.[3][4] The Battle of Ain Jalut also saw the use of the earliest known gunpowder cartridges, employed by the Egyptians in their fire lances and hand cannon.[3]

The use of cannon as siege machines dates back to Abu Yaqub Yusuf, who employed them at the siege of Sijilmasa, in 1274, according to Ibn Khaldun.[3] Also intended for siege warfare, the first supergun, the Great Turkish Bombard, was used by the troops of Mehmed II to capture Constantinople, in 1453. Urban, a Hungarian cannon engineer, is credited with the invention of this cannon.[5] It had a 762 mm (30 in) bore, and could fire 544 kg (1,199 lb) stones a mile, and the sound of their blast could reportedly be heard from a distance of 10 miles (16 km).[5] The Great Turkish Bombards were cast in bronze and made in two parts: the chase and the breech, which, together, weighed 16 tonnes.[6] The two parts were screwed together using levers to facilitate the work. Another weapon invented in the Middle East, fashioned for killing infantry, was the first known autocannon. It was invented in the 16th century, by Fathullah Shirazi, a Persian-Indian polymath and mechanical engineer, who worked for Akbar the Great in the Mughal Empire. As opposed to the polybolos and repeating crossbows used earlier in Ancient Greece and China, respectively, Shirazi's rapid-firing machine had multiple gun barrels that fired hand cannon.[7]

Spread to Europe

In Europe, the first mention of gunpowder's composition in express terms appeared, in Roger Bacon's "De nullitate magiæ" at Oxford, published in 1216.[8] Later, in 1248, his "Opus Maior" describes a recipe for gunpowder and recognized its military use:

Roger Bacon described the first gunpowder in Europe.

"We can, with saltpeter and other substances, compose artificially a fire that can be launched over long distances ... By only using a very small quantity of this material much light can be created accompanied by a horrible fracas. It is possible with it to destroy a town or an army ... In order to produce this artificial lightning and thunder it is necessary to take saltpeter, sulfur, and Luru Vopo Vir Can Utriet."[9]

Bacon described firecrackers, "used in certain parts of the world". Bacon's mixture resembles the assumed composition of Chinese slow-burning powder as used in fire arrows and rockets, but will probably not function well as cannon gunpowder - the saltpeter content is too low. In 1250, the Norwegian Konungs skuggsjá mentioned, in its military chapter, the use of "coal and sulphur" as the best weapon for ship-to-ship combat.[10]

Hand guns were probably in use at this time, with Italian scopettieri ("gun bearers") mentioned in conjunction with crossbowmen in 1281.

Muslim and Christian Iberia

The first confirmed use of gunpowder in Europe was the Moorish cannon, first used by the Andalusians in the Iberian Peninsula, at the siege of Seville in 1248, and the siege of Niebla in 1262.[3][11] At the siege of Niebla, it was reported that Almohad defenders used machines which projected stones and fire accompanied by thundering noises.[citation needed] In reference to the siege to Alicante in 1331, the Spanish historian Zurita recorded a "new machine that caused great terror. It threw iron balls with fire."[12][3] The Spanish historian Juan de Mariana recalled further use of cannon during the capture of Algeciras in 1342:

"The besieged did great harm among the Christians with iron bullets they shot. This is the first time we find any mention of gunpowder and ball in our histories."[13]

Juan de Mariana also relates that the English Earl of Derby and Earl of Salisbury had both participated in the siege of Algeciras, and they could had conceivably transferred the knowledge about the effectiveness of cannon to England.[14]

Hand cannon or hand cannon-like devices were reported to be employed against the Mongols in 1260 and in 1304, an unattributed manuscript also depicted fire arrows and long-handled handguns.[citation needed] By 1340, light cannon were widespread enough in the Islamic world to end up in military inventories.[citation needed] The Iberian kings at the initial stages enlisted the help of Moorish experts:

"The first artillery-masters on the Peninsula probably were Moors in Christian service. The king of Navarre had a Moor in his service in 1367 as maestro de las guarniciones de artilleria. The Morisques of Tudela at that time had fame for their capacity in reparaciones de artilleria."[15]

Britain and France

See also: English cannon and Pot-de-fer
A reconstruction of the pot-de-fer vase cannon that fired arrows.

Cannon seem to have been introduced to England in the 14th century, and mentioned in use against the Scots in 1327.[16] The first metal cannon was the pot-de-fer. The pot-de-fer was first depicted in a manuscript by Walter de Milamete,[17] an illuminated manuscript of 1327 that was presented to Edward III upon his accession to the English throne.[18] The manuscript shows a four-legged stand supporting a "bulbous bottle", while the gunner stands well back, firing the charge with a red-hot iron bar.[16] A bolt protrudes from the muzzle, but no wad is shown.[17] Although illustrated in the treatise, no explanation or description was given.[19]

This weapon, and others similar, were used by both the French and English during the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), when cannon saw their first real use on the European battlefield.[11] The cannon of the 14th century were still limited in many respects, as a modern historian summarises:

"Early cannon were inferior in every respect to the great siege-engines: they were slow and small, they were limited… [in the 14th century] to firing bolts or 'garrots' and they had a very limited range. The weaknesses were to limited technology: inability to forge or cast in one piece or make iron balls. They were probably as dangerous to their users as to the enemy and affected the morale of men (and horses) rather than damaged persons or buildings."[20]

During the 1340s, cannon were still relatively rare, and were only used in small numbers by a few states. "Ribaldis" were first mentioned in the English Privy Wardrobe accounts during preparations for the Battle of Crécy between 1345 and 1346.[21] These were believed to have shot large arrows and simple grapeshot, but they were so important they were directly controlled by the Royal Wardrobe.[21] According to the contemporary chronicler Jean Froissart, the English cannon made "two or three discharges on the Genoese", which is taken to mean individual shots by two or three guns because of the time taken to reload such primitive artillery.[21] The Florentine Giovanni Villani agreed that they were destructive on the field, though he also indicated that the guns continued to fire upon French cavalry later in the battle:

"The English guns cast iron balls by means of fire… They made a noise like thunder and caused much loss in men and horses… The Genoese were continually hit by the archers and the gunners… [by the end of the battle] the whole plain was covered by men struck down by arrows and cannon balls."[21]

Similar cannon appeared also at the Siege of Calais in the same year, although it would not be until the 1380s that the "ribaudekin" clearly became mounted on wheels.[21] Wheeled gun carriages became more commonplace by the end of the 15th century, and were more often cast in bronze, rather than banding iron sections together.[22] There were still the logistical problems both of transporting and of operating the cannon, and as many three dozen horses and oxen may have been required to move some of the great guns of the period.[22]

Some Scottish kings were very interested in the development of cannon, including James II, who was killed by the accidental explosion of one of his own cannon in 1460. James IV had a large number of cannon in his navy, and his army at the Battle of Flodden Field, where each cannon had its crew of gunner, matrosses and drivers, and a group of "pioneers" were assigned to level to path ahead.[22] Even then, the gunpowder mixture used was unstable and could easily separate out into sulphur, saltpetre and charcoal during transport.[22]

Once on site, they would be fired at ground level behind a hinged timber shutter, to provide some protection to the artillery crew.[22] Timber wedges were used to control the barrel's elevation.[22] The majority of medieval cannon were breechloaders, although there was still no effort to standardise calibres.[22]

Hand culverin (middle) with two small cannon, Europe, 15th century.

The culverin was developed by the French in the 15th century, to bombard targets from a distance. It was of relatively long barrel and light construction, firing solid round shot projectiles at long ranges along a flat trajectory. Overall, the culverin was a significant advance over the ballista, which was the "light artillery" unit of the previous eras. Since it fired a ball of iron and relied on gunpowder for propulsion, the heavier ball meant a more stable flight and the gunpowder propulsion meant a faster and farther-ranged weapon.

Byzantine and Ottoman Empires

During the 14th century, the Byzantine Empire began to accumulate its own cannon to face the Ottoman threat, starting with medium-sized cannon 3 feet (0.91 m) long and of 10" calibre.[23] Only a few large bombards were under the Empire's control. The first definite use of artillery in the region was against the Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1396, as the attackers did not yet have any gunpowder of their own. These loud Byzantine weapons, possibly operated by the Genoese or "Franks" of Galata, forced the Turks to withdraw.[23]

The Ottoman Turks started to use cannon against a Crusader army in Kosovo in 1389, but there are some records that Seljuk Turks used cannon against Mongols at the Battle of Köse Dağ in 1243.

The Ottomans acquired their own cannon by the siege of 1422, using "falcons", which were short but wide cannon. The two sides were evenly matched technologically, and the Turks had to build barricades "in order to receive… the stones of the bombards."[23] However, the Empire at this time was facing economic problems, and Pius II promoted the affordable donation of cannon by European monarchs as a means of aid. Any new cannon after the 1422 siege were gifts from European states, and aside from these no other advances were made to the Byzantine arsenal.[23]

The Dardanelles Gun, used by the Turks at Constantinople.

When Sultan Mehmet II laid siege to Constantinople in April 1453, he used 68 Hungarian-made cannon called Great Turkish Bombard the largest of which was 26 feet (7.9 m) long and weighed 20 tons. This fired a 1,200 pound stone cannonball, and required an operating crew of 200 men.[24] Two such bombards had initially been offered to the Byzantines by the Hungarian artillery expert Urban, which were the pinnacle of gunpowder technology at the time; he boasted that they could reduce "even the walls of Babylon".[23] However, the fact that the Empire could not afford it illustrates the financial costs of artillery at the time. These cannon also needed 70 oxen and 10,000 men just to transport them.[23] They were extremely loud, adding to their psychological impact, and Mehmet believed that those who unexpectedly heard it would be struck dumb.[23]

The 55 day bombardment of Constantinople left massive destruction, as recounted by the Greek chronicler Kritovoulos:

"And the stone, borne with enormous force and velocity, hit the wall, which it immediately shook and knocked down and was itself broken into many fragments and scattered, hurling the pieces everywhere and killing those who happened to be nearby."[23]

Byzantine counter artillery allowed them to repel any visible Turkish weapons, and the defenders repulsed any attempts to storm any broken points in the walls and hastily repaired any damage. However, the walls could not be adapted for artillery, and towers were not good gun emplacements. There was even worry that the largest Byzantine cannon could cause more damage to their own walls than the Turkish cannon.[23] Gunpowder had also made the formerly devastating Greek fire obsolete, and with the final fall of what had once been the strongest walls in Europe on May 29, "it was the end of an era in more ways than one".[23]

Effects of cannon in the Late Middle Ages

The rounded walls of the 14th century Sarzana Castle showed adaption to gunpowder.

Toward the end of the Middle Ages, the development of cannon made revolutionary changes to siege warfare throughout Europe, with many castles becoming susceptible to artillery fire. The primary aims in castle wall construction were height and thickness, but it became almost impossible to follow this ideal against ever more powerful cannon. Inevitably, those fortifications previously deemed impregnable, eventually proved inadequate in the face of gunpowder. The general adoption of cannon led to the loss of importance of majestic towers and merlons. Walls of new fortresses were thicker and angulated, while towers became lower and stouter.

In England, significant changes were evident from the 16th century, when Henry VIII began building Device Forts between 1539 and 1540 as artillery fortresses to counter the threat of invasion from France and Spain. They were built by the state at strategic points for the first powerful cannon batteries, such as Deal Castle, which was perfectly symmetrical, with a low, circular keep at its centre. Over 200 cannon and gun ports were set within the walls, and the fort was essentially a firing platform, with a shape that allowed many lines of fire; its low curved bastions were designed to deflect cannon balls.[25] Cannon were now an inexorable part of English warfare.

To guard against artillery and gunfire, increasing use was made of earthen, brick and stone breastworks and redoubts, such as the geometric fortresses of the 17th century French Marquis de Vauban. These soon replaced castles in Europe, and eventually castles in the Americas were superseded by bastions and forts.[26]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Definition and etymology of "cannon"". Webster's Dictionary. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  2. ^ "Cannons and Gunpowder". Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Hassan, Ahmad Y. "Gunpowder Composition for Rockets and Cannon in Arabic Military Treatises In Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries". Ahmad Y Hassan. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
  4. ^ a b c Hassan, Ahmad Y. "Technology Transfer in the Chemical Industries". Ahmad Y Hassan. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
  5. ^ a b Bradbury, p 293
  6. ^ Gat, p 461
  7. ^ Bag, p 431–436
  8. ^ "Gunpowder". Encyclopedia Britannica. London. 1771. frier Bacon, our countryman, mentions the compoſition in expreſs terms, in his treatiſe De nullitate magiæ, publiſhed at Oxford, in the year 1216.; Note the Long s.
  9. ^ Braun, p 28
  10. ^ King's Mirror, Chapter XXXVII: The duties, activities and amusements of the Royal Guardsmen
  11. ^ a b Manucy, p 3
  12. ^ Partington, p 191
  13. ^ Mariana
  14. ^ Watson, p 331
  15. ^ Hoffmeyer, p. 217.
  16. ^ a b Bottomley, p24
  17. ^ a b Carman, W.Y.
  18. ^ Brodie, Fawn McKay; Brodie, Bernard
  19. ^ Nossov (2006), pp 205-208
  20. ^ Bottomley, p 24-25
  21. ^ a b c d e Nicolle, p 21
  22. ^ a b c d e f g Sadler, p 22-23
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Stephen Turnbull, The Walls of Constantinople, AD 324–1453
  24. ^ Military and War Weapons: the Cannon
  25. ^ Wilkinson, Castles (Pocket Guides).
  26. ^ Chartrand, Spanish Main 1492-1800

References

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