CannonA cannon is any tubular piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellants to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
in the Middle Ages were large tubular
firearmA firearm is a device which projects either single or multiple projectiles at high velocity through a controlled explosion. The firing is achieved by the gases produced through rapid, confined burning of a propellant. This process of rapid burning is technically known as deflagration...
s designed to fire a heavy
projectileA projectile is any object propelled through space by the exertion of a force which ceases after launch. Although a thrown baseball could be considered a projectile, the word more often refers to a weapon...
over a long distance. They were used in
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
,
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
during the period, and became an important type of
artilleryArtillery is a military combat Arm that employs weapons capable of discharging large projectiles in combat. They are generally capable of adding considerable fire power to the military capability of an armed force...
.
Although
gunpowderGunpowder, also called black powder, is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. It 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. The term gunpowder also refers broadly to any...
was known in Europe during the
High Middle AgesThe High Middle Ages was the period of European history in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
, it was not until the
Late Middle AgesThe Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe European history in the period of the 14th and 15th centuries . The Late Middle Ages were preceded by the High Middle Ages, and followed by the Early Modern era ....
that cannon were widely developed. The first cannon in Europe were probably used in
IberiaThe Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas...
, during the
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
ic wars against the
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
s in the 13th century; their use was also first documented in the Middle East around this time.
English cannonThe first recorded usage of cannon in Great Britain was in 1327, when they were used in battle by the English against the Scots. Under the Tudors, the first forts featuring cannon batteries were built, while cannon were first used by the Tudor navy...
first appeared in 1327, and later saw more general use during the
Hundred Years' WarThe Hundred Years' War was a prolonged conflict lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne, which was vacant with the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings. The two primary contenders were the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known...
, when primitive cannon were engaged at the
Battle of CrécyThe Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 near Crécy in northern France, and was one of the most important battles of the Hundred Years' War...
in 1346. By the end of the 14th century, the use of cannon was also recorded in
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
,
ByzantiumByzantium was an ancient Greek city, which was founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas or Byzantas . The name "Byzantium" is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
and the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
.
The earliest medieval cannon, the
pot-de-ferThe pot-de-fer was a primitive cannon made of iron. It is known as the first metal cannon, and was used by the French in the Hundred Years' War. The name means "iron pot" in French...
, had bulbous, vase-like shape, and was used more for psychological effect than for causing physical damage. The later
culverinA culverin was a relatively simple ancestor of the musket, and later a medieval cannon, 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 weapon had a...
was transitional between the
handgunA handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand, with the other hand optionally supporting the shooting hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from their larger counterparts: long guns such as rifles and shotguns , mounted weapons such...
and the full cannon, and was used as an
anti-personnel weaponAn anti-personnel weapon is one primarily used to injure or kill people. Because these do not discriminate between soldiers and civilians, there are international political movements to ban these various weapons...
. During the 15th century, cannon advanced significantly, so that
bombardsA bombard is a large-caliber, front-loading medieval cannon or mortar, used chiefly in sieges for throwing heavy stone balls. The name bombarde was first noted and sketched in a French historical text around 1380. The modern term bombardment derives from this.Bombards were usually used during...
were effective
siege engineA siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some have been operated close to the fortifications, while others have been used to attack from a distance. From antiquity, siege engines were constructed largely of wood and...
s. Towards the end of the period, cannon gradually replaced siege engines—among other forms of aging weaponry—on the battlefield.
The
Middle EnglishMiddle English is the name given by historical linguists to the diverse forms of the English language in use between the late 11th century and about 1470, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the introduction of the printing...
word
Canon was derived from the
Old ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
word
cannone, meaning
large tube, which came from
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
canna, meaning
cane or
reed. The Latinised word
canon has been used for a gun since 1326 in Italy, and since 1418 in English. The word
Bombardum, or "bombard", was earliest term used for "cannon", but from 1430 it came to refer only to the largest weapons.
Early use in China and East Asia
Use in the Islamic world
The Arabs acquired knowledge of gunpowder some time after 1240, but before 1280, by which time Hasan al-Rammah had written, in Arabic, recipes for gunpowder, instructions for the purification of saltpeter, and descriptions of gunpowder incendiaries.
Ahmad Y. al-Hassan claims that the
Battle of Ain JalutThe Battle of Ain Jalut took place on 3 September 1260 between the Egyptian Mamluks and the Mongols in Palestine, in the Jezreel Valley, not far from Ein Harod....
in 1260 saw the
MamlukA mamluk was a soldier who converted to Islam and served the Muslim Arab caliphs from the 9th to the 16th centuries. They were of mixed ancestry but mainly Kipchak Turks...
s use against the
MongolsThe name Mongol specifies one or several ethnic groups, now mainly located in Mongolia, China, and Russia.-Definition:...
in "the first cannon in history" gunpowder formulae which were almost identical with the ideal composition for explosive gunpowder, which he claims were not known in China or Europe until much later. However, Iqtidar Alam Khan states that it was invading
MongolsThe name Mongol specifies one or several ethnic groups, now mainly located in Mongolia, China, and Russia.-Definition:...
who introduced gunpowder to the Islamic world and cites
MamlukA mamluk was a soldier who converted to Islam and served the Muslim Arab caliphs from the 9th to the 16th centuries. They were of mixed ancestry but mainly Kipchak Turks...
antagonism towards early riflemen in their infantry as an example of how gunpowder weapons were not always met with open acceptance in the Middle East.
Al-Hassan interprets
Ibn KhaldunIbn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun (full name, , , (May 27, 1332 AD/732 AH – March 19, 1406 AD/808 AH) was a North African polymath — an astronomer, economist, historian, Islamic scholar, Islamic theologian, hafiz, jurist, lawyer,...
as reporting the use of cannon as siege machines by the
MarinidThe Anglicised name used for this article derives from the Arabic Banu Marin or the Berber Ayt Mrin, which is the source of the Spanish name....
sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf at the siege of
SijilmasaSijilmasa was a mediaeval trade entrepôt at the Western edge of the Maghreb in what is now Morocco. The ruins of the city lie along the river Ziz in the Tafilalt oasis near the town of Rissani. The city's colorful history was marked by several successive invasions by Amazigh dynasties during the...
in 1274. Super-sized
bombardBombard may refer to:*The act of carrying out a bombardment*Bombard , a type of late medieval siege weapon.*Bombard , a contemporary double reed instrument used to play traditional Breton music....
s were used by the troops of
Mehmed IIMehmet II , was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for a short time from 1444 to September 1446,...
to
captureThe Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire which occurred after a siege laid by the Ottoman Empire, under the command of Sultan Mehmed II. The siege lasted from Thursday, 5 April, 1453 until Tuesday, 29 May, 1453 , when the city fell to the Ottomans...
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
, in 1453. Urban, a
HungarianHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
cannon engineer, is credited with the introduction of this cannon from
Central EuropeCentral Europe is the region lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. The term and widespread interest in the region itself came back into fashion after the end of the Cold War, which, along with the Iron Curtain, had divided Europe politically into East and West,...
to the Ottoman realm. It could fire heavy stone balls a mile, and the sound of their blast could reportedly be heard from a distance of . A piece of slightly later date (see pic) was cast in bronze and made in two parts: the chase and the
breechA breech-loading weapon is a firearm in which the bullet or shell is inserted or loaded at the rear of the barrel, or breech; the opposite of muzzle-loading....
, which, together, weighed 18.4
tonneA tonne or metric ton , also referred to as a metric tonne, is a measurement of mass equal to , or approximately the mass of one cubic metre of water. It is not an SI unit but is accepted for use with the SI...
s. The two parts were screwed together using levers to facilitate the work.
Another weapon invented in the
Islamic worldThe term Muslim world has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Muslims, adherents of Islam. This community numbers about 1.3-1.5 billion people, roughly one-fifth of the world population. This community is spread across many different nations and ethnic...
, fashioned for killing infantry, was the first known
autocannonAn autocannon is a rapid-fire projectile weapon firing a shell as opposed to the bullet fired by a machine gun. Autocannon often have a larger caliber than a machine gun . Usually, autocannon are smaller than a field gun or other artillery, and are mechanically loaded for a faster rate of fire...
. It was invented in the 16th century, by Fathullah Shirazi, a
PersianThe Persian people are the majority ethnic group in Iran. However, there are sub-groups who speak the Persian language as their mother tongue throughout the Iranian plateau. The term Persian has also a supra-ethnic significance and has been historically referred to a part of Iranian peoples...
-
IndianThe known history of India - the name in this context includes the areas now known as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE. Its Mature Harappan period...
polymathA polymath is a person whose expertise fills a significant number of subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply refer to someone who is very knowledgeable...
and mechanical engineer, who worked for
Akbar the GreatJalaluddin Muhammad Akbar , also known as Akbar the Great was the third Mughal Emperor of India. He was the son of Nasiruddin Humayun whom he succeeded as ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1605, and the grandson of Babur who founded the dynasty...
in the
Mughal EmpireThe Mughal Empire was an Islamic and Persianate imperial power of the Indian subcontinent which began in 1526, invaded and ruled most of Hindustan by the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th century...
. As opposed to the
polybolosPolybolos was a repeating ballista reputedly invented by Dionysius of Alexandria and used in antiquity. Philo of Byzantium encountered and described the polybolos, a catapult that like a modern machine gun could fire again and again without a need to reload...
and
repeating crossbowA repeating crossbow is a crossbow where the separate actions of stringing the bow, placing the bolt and shooting it can be accomplished with a simple one-handed movement, all the while keeping the crossbow stationary. This allows the bow to shoot at a faster rate compared to a normal crossbow....
s used earlier in
Ancient GreeceAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
and China respectively, Shirazi's rapid-firing machine had multiple
gun barrelA gun barrel is the tube, usually metal, through which a controlled explosion or rapid expansion of gases are released in order to propel a projectile out of the end at a high velocity....
s that fired from a hand cannon.
Use in Europe
In Europe, the first mention of gunpowder's composition in express terms appeared in
Roger BaconRoger Bacon, O.F.M. , also known as Doctor Mirabilis , was an English philosopher and Franciscan friar who placed considerable emphasis on empiricism...
's "
De nullitate magiæ" at Oxford, published in 1216. Later, in 1248, his "
Opus Maior" describes a recipe for gunpowder and recognized its military use:
In 1250, the
NorwegianNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
Konungs skuggsjáKonungs skuggsjá is a Norwegian educational text from around 1250, an example of speculum literature that deals with politics and morality...
mentioned, in its military chapter, the use of "coal and sulphur" as the best weapon for
ship-to-ship combatNaval warfare is combat in and on seas, oceans, or any other major bodies of water such as large lakes and wide rivers.-History:Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Land warfare would seem, initially, to be irrelevant and entirely removed from warfare on the open ocean,...
.
Muslim and Christian Iberia
The Almohad dynasty of
Al-AndalusAl-Andalus was the Arabic name given to the parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Arab and North African Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492....
used
MoorishThe description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Muslim people of Berber, Black African and Arab descent from North Africa, some of whom came to conquer and occupy the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. The North Africans termed it Al Andalus, comprising most...
cannon defensively at the sieges of
SevilleSeville is the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level. The inhabitants of the city are known as Sevillanos or...
, in 1248, and
NieblaNiebla is a town and municipality located in the province of Huelva, Spain. According to the 2005 census, it has a population of 3,953 inhabitants. A 2-km town wall surrounds the perimeter of the town.-External links:...
, in 1262. In reference to the siege to
AlicanteAlicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of the Alacantí, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 331,750, estimated , ranking as the...
in 1331, the Spanish historian
ZuritaJerónimo de Zurita y Castro was a Spanish historian of the sixteenth century who founded the modern tradition of historical scholarship in Spain....
recorded a "new machine that caused great terror. It threw iron balls with fire." The Spanish historian
Juan de MarianaJuan de Mariana, also known as Father Mariana , was a Spanish Jesuit priest, historian, member of the Monarchomachs....
recalled further use of cannon during the capture of
AlgecirasAlgeciras is a port city in the south of Spain, and is the largest urban area on the Bay of Gibraltar . It is the busiest port in Spain. It is situated on the Río de la Miel 20 km north of Tarifa, which is the southernmost town of the Iberian peninsula and continental Europe. It has a population in...
in 1342:
Juan de Mariana also relates that the English
Earl of DerbyHenry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster , also Earl of Derby and Leicester, was a member of the English nobility in the 14th century, and a prominent English diplomat, politician, and soldier...
and
Earl of SalisburyWilliam Montagu , 1st Earl of Salisbury and King of the Isle of Man was an English nobleman and loyal servant of King Edward III. The son of William de Montagu, the second Baron Montagu, he entered the royal household at an early age, and became a close companion of the young Prince Edward...
had both participated in the siege of Algeciras, and they could have conceivably transferred the knowledge about the effectiveness of cannon to England.
The Iberian kings at the initial stages enlisted the help of
MoorishThe description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Muslim people of Berber, Black African and Arab descent from North Africa, some of whom came to conquer and occupy the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. The North Africans termed it Al Andalus, comprising most...
experts:
Britain and France
Cannon seem to have been introduced to the
Kingdom of EnglandThe Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state and island country to the northwest of continental Europe. At its zenith, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands—what is today the legal unit of...
in the 14th century, and is mentioned as being in use against the
ScotsThe Kingdom of Scotland was a state in North-West Europe which existed from 843 until 1707...
in 1327. The first metal cannon was the
pot-de-fer, first depicted in an illuminated
manuscriptA manuscript is a recording of information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
by Walter de Milamete, of 1327 that was presented to Edward III upon his accession to the English throne. 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. A bolt protrudes from the
muzzleThe muzzle of a firearm is the end of the barrel from which the projectile will exit.Precise machining of the muzzle is crucial to accuracy, because it is the last point of contact between the barrel and the projectile...
, but no
wadWadding is a disc of material used in guns to seal gas behind a projectile or to separate powder from shot.Wadding can be crucial to a gun's efficiency, since any gas that leaks past a projectile as it is being fired is wasted. A harder or more carefully designed item which serves this purpose is...
is shown. Although illustrated in the treatise, no explanation or description was given.
This weapon, and others similar, were used by both the
FrenchFrance in the Middle Ages covers an area roughly corresponding to modern day France, from the death of Charlemagne in 814 to the middle of the 15th century...
and English during the
Hundred Years' WarThe Hundred Years' War was a prolonged conflict lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne, which was vacant with the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings. The two primary contenders were the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known...
(1337–1453), when cannon saw their first real use on the European battlefield. The cannon of the 14th century were still limited in many respects, as a modern historian summarises:
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 CrécyThe Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 near Crécy in northern France, and was one of the most important battles of the Hundred Years' War...
between 1345 and 1346. These were believed to have shot large arrows and simple grapeshot, but they were so important they were directly controlled by the Royal Wardrobe. According to the contemporary chronicler
Jean FroissartJean Froissart was one of the most important of the chroniclers of medieval France. For centuries, Froissart's Chronicles have been recognized as the chief expression of the chivalric revival of the 14th century Kingdom of England and France...
, the English cannon made "two or three discharges on the
GenoeseThe Most Serene Republic of Genoa was an independent state in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast from 1005 to 1797, when it was invaded by armies of Revolutionary France under Napoleon. It was then succeeded by the Ligurian Republic, which existed until 1805 before being annexed by the...
", which is taken to mean individual shots by two or three guns because of the time taken to reload such primitive artillery. The Florentine
Giovanni VillaniGiovanni Villani was an Italian banker, official, diplomat, and chronicler from Florence who wrote the Nuova Cronica on the history of Florence. He was a leading statesman of Florence but later gained an unsavory reputation and served time in prison due to the bankruptcy of a trading and banking...
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:
Advances in the Late Middle Ages
Similar cannon to those used at Crécy appeared also at the
Siege of CalaisThe Siege of Calais began in 1346, towards the beginning of what would later be called the Hundred Years' War. Edward III of England, who was at the time claiming kingship over France as well, defeated the French navy at Sluys in 1340, then went on to make raids throughout Normandy, culminating at...
in the same year, and by the 1380s the "ribaudekin" clearly became mounted on wheels. Wheeled gun carriages became more commonplace by the end of the 15th century, and were more often cast in
bronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other elements such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon. It was particularly significant in antiquity, giving its name to the Bronze Age...
, rather than banding
ironIron is a metallic chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a group 8 and period 4 element and is therefore classified as a transition metal. Iron and iron alloys are by far the most common metals and the most common ferromagnetic materials in everyday use...
sections together. 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.
Another small-bore cannon of the 14th century was the
culverinA culverin was a relatively simple ancestor of the musket, and later a medieval cannon, 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 weapon had a...
, whose name derives from the snake-like handles attached to it. It was transitional between the
handgunA handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand, with the other hand optionally supporting the shooting hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from their larger counterparts: long guns such as rifles and shotguns , mounted weapons such...
and the full cannon, and was used as an
anti-personnel weaponAn anti-personnel weapon is one primarily used to injure or kill people. Because these do not discriminate between soldiers and civilians, there are international political movements to ban these various weapons...
. The culverin was forged of iron and fixed to a wooden stock, and usually placed on a rest for firing. Some of the
loopholeA loophole is a weakness that allows a system to be circumvented. The term loophole could also refer to:* Embrasure, a slit in a castle wall* Loophole , a short science fiction story by Arthur C...
s in the
gatehouseA gatehouse is a feature of European castles, manor houses and mansions. Originally a gatehouse was a fortified structure built over the gateway to a city or castle...
at
Bodiam CastleBodiam Castle is a quadrangular castle located near Robertsbridge in East Sussex, England . It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, with the permission of Richard II in order to defend the surrounding area from French invasion.Construction commenced four years...
appear to have been intended for culverin use.
The culverin was also common in 15th century battles, particularly among
BurgundianThe Duchy of Burgundy was a feudal territory in Medieval Europe. It roughly conforms to the modern Bourgogne, although it grew to have considerable possessions in the Low Countries as well...
armies. As the smallest of medieval gunpowder weapons, it was relatively light and portable. It fired lead shot, which was inexpensive relative to other available materials. There was also the
demi-culverinThe demi-culverin was a medium cannon similar to but slightly larger than a saker and smaller than a regular culverin developed in the early 17th century. Barrels of demi-culverins were typically about long, had a calibre of and could weigh up to . It required of black powder to fire an round...
, which was smaller and had a bore of .
Considerable developments in the 15th century produced very effective "
bombardA bombard is a large-caliber, front-loading medieval cannon or mortar, used chiefly in sieges for throwing heavy stone balls. The name bombarde was first noted and sketched in a French historical text around 1380. The modern term bombardment derives from this.Bombards were usually used during...
s" — an early form of battering cannon used against walls and towers. These were used both defensively and offensively.
Bamburgh CastleBamburgh Castle is an imposing castle located on the coast at Bamburgh in Northumberland, England. It is a Grade I listed building.-History:...
, previously thought impregnable, was taken by bombards in 1464. The
keepA keep is a strong central tower which is used as a dungeon or a fortress. Often, the keep is the most defended area of a castle, and as such may form the main habitation area, or contain important stores such as the armoury, food, and the main water well, which would ensure survival during a...
in Wark, Northumberland was described in 1517 as having five storeys "in each of which there were five great murder-holes, shot with great vaults of stone, except one stage which is of timber, so that great bombards can be shot from each of them." An example of a bombard was found in the
moatA moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
of
Bodiam CastleBodiam Castle is a quadrangular castle located near Robertsbridge in East Sussex, England . It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, with the permission of Richard II in order to defend the surrounding area from French invasion.Construction commenced four years...
, and a replica is now kept inside.
Artillery crews were generally recruited from the city hookers. The master gunner was usually the same person as the caster. In larger contingents, the master gunners had responsibility for the heavier artillery pieces, and were accompanied by their journeymen as well as
smithA metalsmith, often shortened to smith, is a person involved in the shaping of metal objects.In pre-industrialized times, smiths held high or special social standing since they supplied the metal tools needed for farming and warfare.- Etymology of smith :The word smith is cognate with the somewhat...
s,
carpenterA carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who performs carpentry. Carpenters work with wood to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
s,
ropeA rope is a length of fibers, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...
makers and
carter- Musical groups and artists :*Carter , contemporary American artist*Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, British indie band 1988–1998*Carter Family, American country music group 1927–1943*Carter's Chord, country music group founded in 2006...
s. Smaller field pieces would be manned by trained volunteers. At the
Battle of Flodden FieldThe Battle of Flodden or Flodden Field was fought in the county of Northumberland in northern England on 9 September 1513, between an invading Scots army under King James IV and an English army commanded by Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey...
, each cannon had its crew of gunner,
matrossMatross was a soldier of artillery, who ranked next below a gunner.The duty of a matross was to assist the gunners in loading, firing and sponging the guns. They were provided with firelocks, and marched with the store-wagons, acting as guards. In the American army a matross ranked as a private of...
es and drivers, and a group of "
pioneersAn Assault Pioneer is a trained infantry soldier who is responsible for:* The construction of tools for infantry soldiers to cross enemy terrain and natural obstacles* Supervising the construction of military defence installations...
" were assigned to level to path ahead. Even with a level path, the gunpowder mixture used was unstable and could easily separate out into sulphur, saltpetre and
charcoalCharcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood, sugar, bone char, or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
during transport.
Once on site, they would be fired at ground level behind a hinged timber shutter, to provide some protection to the artillery crew. Timber wedges were used to control the barrel's elevation. The majority of medieval cannon were breechloaders, although there was still no effort to standardise calibres. The usual loading equipment consisted of a copper loading scoop, a ramrod, and a felt brush or "sponge". A bucket of water was always kept beside the cannon. Skins or cloths soaked in cold water could be used to cool down the barrel, while acids could also be added to the water to clean out the inside of the barrel. Hot coals were used to heat the shot or keep the wire primer going.
Some Scottish kings were very interested in the development of cannon, including the unfortunate
James IIJames 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...
, who was killed by the accidental explosion of one of his own cannon besieging
Roxburgh CastleRoxburgh Castle was a castle sited near Kelso, in the Borders region of Scotland.The castle was founded by King David I. In 1174 it was surrendered to England after the capture of William I at Alnwick, and was often in English hands thereafter. The Scots made many attempts to regain the fortress....
in 1460.
Mons MegMons Meg is a medieval supergun 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...
, which dates from about the same time, is perhaps the most famous example of a Scottish cannon.
James IVJames IV was King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to his death. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stuart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field, where he became the last monarch from Great Britain to be killed in...
was Scotland's first Renaissance figure, who also had a fascination with cannon, both at land and at sea. By 1502, he was able to invest in a Scottish navy, which was to have a large number of cannon — his flagship, the
Great Michael, was launched in 1511, with 36 great guns, 300 lesser pieces and 120 gunners.
Use in Eastern Europe
Russia
The first cannon appeared in
RussiaKievan Rus , usually written simply Kievan Rus and sometimes Kyivan Rus, was a medieval state which existed from approximately 880 to the middle of the 13th century...
in the 1370-1380s, although initially their use was confined to sieges and the defence of fortresses. The first mention of cannon in Russian chronicles is of
tyufyaks, small
howitzerA howitzer is a type of artillery piece that is characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small explosive charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
-type cannon that fired case-shot, used to defend
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
against
Tokhtamysh KhanTokhtamysh , was the last khan of the White Horde, who unified the White Horde and Blue Horde subdivisions of the Golden Horde into a single state. He was a descendant of Genghis Khan's eldest grandson, Orda Khan. - Early campaigns :...
in 1382. Cannon co-existed with throwing-machines until the mid-15th century, when they overtook the latter in terms of destructive power. In 1446, a Russian city fell to cannon fire for the first time, although its wall was not destroyed. The first stone wall to be destroyed in Russia by cannon fire came in 1481.
Byzantine and Ottoman Empires
During the 14th century, the
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
began to accumulate its own cannon to face the
OttomanThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
threat, starting with medium-sized cannon long and of 10" calibre. 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
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
in 1396, as the attackers did not yet have any gunpowder of their own. These loud Byzantine weapons, possibly operated by the Genoese or "
FranksThe Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic tribal confederation first attested in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul...
" of
GalataGalata or Galatae is a neighbourhood in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey, on the European side. Galata is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn, the inlet which separates it from the historic peninsula of old Constantinople. The Golden Horn is crossed by...
, forced the Turks to withdraw.
The Ottomans had acquired their own cannon by the siege of 1422, using "
falconsThe falconet or falcon was a light cannon developed in the late 15th century. During middle ages guns were decorated with engravings of reptiles, birds or beasts depending on their size: a snake for the culverin, as the handles on the early cannons were often decorated to resemble serpents...
", 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." Because the Empire at this time was facing economic problems, Pope 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.
In contrast, when Sultan Mehmet II laid siege to Constantinople in April 1453, he used 68 Hungarian-made cannon, the largest of which was long and weighed 20 tons. This fired a 1,200 pound stone cannonball, and required an operating crew of 200 men. 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". However, the fact that the Byzantines 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. They were extremely loud, adding to their psychological impact, and Mehmet believed that those who unexpectedly heard it would be struck dumb.
The 55 day bombardment of Constantinople left massive destruction, as recounted by the Greek chronicler Kritovoulos:
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. Gunpowder had also made the formerly devastating
Greek fireGreek fire was an incendiary 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. It provided a technological advantage, and was responsible for many key Byzantine military victories, most notably the...
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".
Cannon at the end of the Middle Ages
Toward the end of the Middle Ages, the development of cannon made revolutionary changes to siege warfare throughout Europe, with many
castleA castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. The term has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning, but it is usually regarded as being distinct from the general terms fort or fortress, in that it describes a residence of a monarch or...
s becoming susceptible to artillery fire. The primary aims in castle wall construction were height and thickness, but these became obsolete because they could be damaged by cannonballs. Inevitably, many fortifications previously deemed impregnable proved inadequate in the face of gunpowder. The walls and towers of fortifications had to become lower and wider, and by the 1480s, "Italian tracing" had been developed, which used the corner
bastionA bastion is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , facilitating active defense against assaulting troops...
as the basis of fortifications for centuries to come. The introduction of artillery to siege warfare in the Middle Ages made geometry the main element of European military architecture.
In 16th century England,
Henry VIIIHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII.Henry VIII was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy...
began building
Device FortsThe Device Forts, also known as Henrician Castles or Henry VIII’s chain of coastal defences, are a series of artillery fortifications built in England by Henry VIII. After his divorce of Catherine of Aragon England was left politically isolated, and a treaty between France and Spain in 1538 aroused...
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 batteriesIn military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
, such as
Deal CastleDeal Castle is located in Deal, Kent, England, between Walmer Castle and the now lost Sandown Castle .-Construction:It is one of the most impressive of the Device Forts or Henrician Castles built by Henry VIII between 1539 and 1540 as an artillery fortress to counter the threat of invasion from...
, which was perfectly symmetrical, with a low, circular
keepA keep is a strong central tower which is used as a dungeon or a fortress. Often, the keep is the most defended area of a castle, and as such may form the main habitation area, or contain important stores such as the armoury, food, and the main water well, which would ensure survival during a...
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.
To guard against artillery and gunfire, increasing use was made of earthen, brick and stone
breastworksA breastwork is a fortification. The term is usually applied to temporary fortifications, often an earthwork thrown up to breast height to provide protection to defenders firing over it from a standing position...
and
redoubtA redoubt is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, though others are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldiers outside the main line of defense and can be a permanent structure or a...
s, such as the geometric fortresses of the 17th century French Marquis de Vauban. Although the obsolescence of castles as fortifications was hastened by the developments of cannon from the 14th century on, many medieval castles still managed to "put up a prolonged resistance" against artillery during the
English Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The first and second civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war saw fighting between supporters of...
of 17th century.