Bombard (weapon)

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Bombard (weapon)

A bombard is a large-caliber, front-loading medieval cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any tubular piece of artillery, that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellants to launch a projectile over a distance....
or mortar, used chiefly in siege

Siege

A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by Battle of attrition and/or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit." A siege occurs when an attacker encounters a city or fortress that cannot be easily taken by a coup de main and refuses to surrender ....
s for throwing heavy stone balls. The name bombarde was first noted and sketched in a French historical text around 1380. The modern term bombardment
Bombardment

A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire directed against fortifications, troops or towns and buildings. In its strict sense the term is only applied to the bombardment of defenceless or undefended objects, houses, public buildings, etc., by an assailant with the object of disheartening his opponent, and specially to force the civil popul...
derives from this.

A notable example of a bombard is the large Mons Meg

Mons Meg

Mons Meg is a large Bombard now located at Edinburgh Castle, Scotland. There are conflicting theories about its origins, but it appears from the accounts of Philip III, Duke of Burgundy that it was made to his order around 1449 and sent as a gift 8 years later to King James II of Scotland, with other artillery supplies....
weapon, built around 1449 and used by King James II of Scotland

James II of Scotland

James II of Scotland reigned as king of Scots from 1437 to 1460.He was the son of James I of Scotland and of Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scotland ....
. Mons Meg was capable of firing 180 kg (396 lb) shots and was one of the largest bombards ever built.

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Encyclopedia

A bombard is a large-caliber, front-loading medieval cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any tubular piece of artillery, that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellants to launch a projectile over a distance....
or mortar, used chiefly in siege

Siege

Mons Meg

James II of Scotland

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle is an ancient stronghold which dominates the sky-line of the city of Edinburgh from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock....
. One bombard was larger than the Mons Meg. In 1451, Urban

Orban

Orban, also known as Urban, was a Hungary gunfounder who cast the Hungarian Cannon for the Ottoman empire Fall of Constantinople in 1453....
came from Hungary to Emperor Konstantin in Constantinople, and offered him a new cannon invention (see Great Turkish Bombard

Great Turkish Bombard

The Great Turkish Bombard, Sahi in Turkish, also known as the Hungarian Cannon, Basilic, the Dardanelles Gun, Muhammed's Great Gun and The Royal Gun was a 15th century siege cannon....
). The cannon was 8 meters long, had a barrel diameter of 750mm (30 inches), fired a cannon ball weighing 700kg and took 400 men and 60 oxen to move it into position. Due to lack of funds, Konstantin refused the offer, and Urban went to Mehemet with the cannon plans. Mehemet liked the idea and built the cannon. It was tested on a foreign trade vessel outside of the coast of the Byzantine border. The ship was smashed to pieces by only one shot. Mehemet took the cannon to Constantinople, where he used it to destroy the city walls. With a reload time of 3 hours, the walls stood up to 90 days of bombardment before the Ottomans were able to take the city. The new Turkish cannon was actually so big that normal wooden construction didn't stand the mighty recoil from the cannon. Instead, they hung the cannon up with several ropes and tied it up on a wooden frame. By doing this, the recoil was absorbed by the ropes rather than the wood.

Bombards were usually used during sieges to hurl various forms of missile into enemy fortifications. Projectiles such as stone or metal balls, burning materials and weighted cloth soaked in quicklime or Greek fire

Greek fire

Greek fire was a primitive incendiary device weapon used by the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines typically used it in naval battles to great effect as it could continue burning even on water....
are documented.

The name derives from medieval Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
and French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
forms from a Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
word expressing the making of a humming noise.

Eventually bombards were superseded by weapons using smaller calibre iron projectiles with more powerful gunpowder

Gunpowder

Gunpowder, also called black powder, is an explosive mixture of sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate, KNO3 that burns rapidly, producing volumes of hot solids and gases which can be used as a propellant in firearms and as a pyrotechnic composition in fireworks....
. A bulba is a common type of bombard.