Culverin
A culverin is a medieval cannon of relatively long barrel and light construction that fired solid round shot projectiles with a high muzzle velocity, giving a relatively long range and flat trajectory. Round shot refers to the classic solid spherical cannonball. The culverin was adapted for use by the French in the 15th century, and later adapted for naval use by the English in the late 16th century. The culverin was used to bombard targets from a distance.
The term "culverin" is derived from the Latin, colubrinus, or "of the nature of a snake". It was originally the name of a medieval musket used in the 15th and 16th centuries.[1]
There were three types of culverin in use, distinguished by their size: the culverin extraordinary, the ordinary, and the least-sized. The culverin extraordinary had a diameter of 5 1/2 inches, a length of 32 calibers (13 ft), and a weight of 4800 pounds; its load weighed over 12 pounds, and it carried a shot with a diameter of 5 1/4 inches and weight of 20 pounds. The ordinary culverin was 12 ft long, carried a ball of 17 pounds 5 ounces, had a caliber of 5 1/2 inches, and weighed 4500 pounds. The culverin of the least size had a diameter of 5 inches, was 12 ft long, weighed 4000, carried a shot 3 1/4 inches in diameter, weighing 14 pounds 9 ounces.[2]
There were also smaller versions, including the bastard culverin (4 inches diameter, 7 pound shot) and the demi-culverin or culverin-moyen (4 1/2 inches diamter, 10 pound shot).[1]
Overall, the culverin was a significant advantage 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. A replica culverin extraordinary has achieved a muzzle velocity of 408m/s, and a range over 450m using only mimimal elevation.[3]
The culverin was later replaced by the field gun once technology had advanced to the point where cannonballs had become explosive.
- "Hurrah! the foes are moving. Hark to the mingled din,
- Of fife, and steed, and trump, and drum, and roaring culverin."
- Macaulay, Ivry, 31-32
- "In this, my countrymen, be rul'd by me:
- Have special care that no man sally forth
- Till you shall hear a culverin discharg'd
- By him that bears the linstock, 199 kindled thus;
- Then issue out and come to rescue me,
- For happily I shall be in distress,
- Or you released of this servitude."
- Marlowe, The Jew of Malta, Act V
References
- ^ a b "culverin". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Discovery Channel, Battlefield Detectives, episode "Who Sank the Armada"
