Pre 1800's cannons





An Iron Bombard weighing in at around one and a half tons
n.p. The Bombard. The company of St.Barbara,The Company of St.Barbara. Web. January, 23,2011

 

Pre 1800s

By the 1400's century the basic artillery weapons had evolved into huge weapons called Bombards  which were constructed of a solid bronze piece or made of iron bars held and bound by hoops. The difference between the two is that bronze bombards  made of one piece were less likely to back fire however iron (which could not be cast) was a cheaper metal at the time made it easier to make the multi piece bombards.

Great Turkish Bombard made of Bronze
Joseph Needham Dardanelles. Science and Civilization in China, Cambridge University,Muslim Heritage. Web. January, 23,2011



Bombard Round
n.p. bombard cannonball.,All empires. Web. January, 15,2011

 The most formidable bombards were created by the Turks who's bronze bombards weighed a whopping 19 tons and could fire a 600 pound stone ball 7 times in one day. These bombards took around 200 men to move and needed to be placed on heavy wooden mounts. Another problem with these Bombards was that moving crews or gunners were not permanent so they were hired as needed; usually master gunners were civilian artists and not professional soldiers.  Bombards played a role in the Ottoman victories such as in the Siege of Constantinople  which marked the end of the Byzantine Empire, an empire which had lasted for over 1,100 years and some mark it as the end of the middle ages



A Mounted Culverin
A Culervin. American Rennisance. Web. January, 23,2011



In the 1400's-1500's gunnery, the making of guns and of gun powder had become a closely guarded secret. It was kept so secretive that society believed gunners and gunnery as a form of sorcery and that they were in league with demons. To go along with this captured artillery men were often tortured or mutilated. Around 1470 the art of casting drastically improved along with improvements in gun powder lead to smaller and stronger cannons throughout the 1500’s.  This evolution lead to the creation of cannon’s such as the Culverin family. Culverins came in several different varieties and are the ancestor to the musket. They came in different varieties such as the hand culverin which was basically a hand held smooth bore cannon that relied on gunpowder and a match cord which was a slow burning fuse that would ignite the gunpowder. The hand Culverin eventually evolved into a portable but heavier Culverin which required a swivel for aiming purposes. However even though cannons mobility improved somewhat through the 1500’s cannons were still rather cumbersome to move around as well as the ammunition. Which at the time consisted of either a standard cast iron cannon ball, or a Grape shot (a round that contained multiple spheres that would scatter out upon firing) .  During the 1500’s cannons became so valuable that they were sometimes stolen by freebooters and the like. Not only this but during battle since cannons were so difficult to maneuver they were captured with every turn in a battle.

Grape shot
n.p. Grape and Canister Imgegloss.Looking for Whitman. Web. January, 23,2011

However as the 1600’s came Gustavus began reducing the caliber of Switzerland’s artillery which helped make his guns more mobile. These improvements helped king Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden win several battles in the Swedish war which was part of the Thirty Years war which limited the power of the Holy Roman Empire and decentralized German power, as well as influence future cannons.

Resources:

Rob Ossain,. "The Pirate King".. History Channel,. Internet. January 15-23, 2011.

"Fall of Constantinople." Wikipedia.com. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 16, January 2011



"Culverin Information." ireference.ca, Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 16, January 2011



"Thirty Years war." Knowledge4Africa.com, Knowledge4Africa, n.d. Web. 16, January 2011



"What was the result of the Thirty Years War." Answers.com. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 16, January 2011