EARLY HANDGONNES OF THE MIDDLE AGES
"There was a new noise in the world. A brilliant orange flash leaped from the tiny package of black dust. Thunder smote the ears of the bystander and a cloud of white smoke filled the air. There was a strong smell of sulphur, too, a hellish atmosphere that signified the presence, and perhaps the directing hand, of the Devil himself. Altogether it was enough to frighten any inhabitant of the Thirteenth Century. For this was an age when magic, both black and white, was an accepted fact, when Beelzebub was believed to intervene personally in human affairs, and when thunder and lightning were terrifying evidence of divine power. Yet this time these mysteries had been invoked at the bidding of man."
-Taken from "Friar Bacon and his Secret Powder" (The Treasury of the Gun, by Harold L. Peterson)
In discussing black powder firearms, people often ask where black powder had its beginnings and how it became a weapon. To answer that question, we must go many years back into history, to the European Wars of the Middle Ages, when Chivalry, Battle-Swords and the Armored Knight on horseback ruled the field of battle...
As previously mentioned, the backbone of medieval warfare was the armored knight. Trained from youth to be a warrior, these "men-at-arms" wore heavy armor, rode armored horses, carried shields, and relied on sword and lance. Sometimes other weapons such as an ax, a war hammer or the dreaded "Falchion" were employed. Safe within their armored garments, they had little to fear from period infantry, which for the most part was composed of ill-trained, poorly armored and cowardly peasant rabble and freemen. Armed mainly with pikes, clubs farm tools and the occasional bow and arrow, their lines generally broke and ran in fear upon the approach of mounted knights.
With the introduction of the crossbow came a new class of infantry, the professional soldier. Constructed of a short, but powerful bow mounted crosswise on a stout wooden shoulder stock, it incorporated a bow composed of a compound of whalebone or horn, wood and sinew. It was so stiff that it could not be bent by hands alone and required a mechanical device to bend it. Slow to load, it nonetheless possessed great power and was able to penetrate armor using a short, iron-pointed arrow commonly known as a "Bolt" or "Quarrel". Deemed to be an un-chivalrous device, the crossbow was prohibited first by the Holy Church of Rome and later by the Magna Carta.
However, in about 1250 A. D., the English longbow began to rise in popularity in that country. By 1300, the longbow had become the national weapon of the English. A six-foot long elm longbow could hurl a three-foot long arrow with such force that it could penetrate a four-inch thick oak plank. Its only drawback being that it took years of practice to develop a skilled Archer. English law saw to this by requiring that all freeborn Englishmen between the ages of 16 and 60 own and practice with the long English bow. Backed by pikemen and cavalry, English longbowmen were a force to be feared when they took to the field of battle. Initially, the ratio of longbowmen to skilled men-at-arms was 1 to 3, but by the Fifteenth Century longbowmen outnumbered knights 7 to 1.
In about 1250 AD, an English Franciscan Friar named Roger Bacon allegedly discovered black powder. A scientist as well as a monk, Friar Bacon supposedly discovered the explosive compound during experimentation. Some believe that he merely discovered Chinese or Indian documents describing the recipe for making black powder and "re-discovered" it. Despite arguments for Roger Bacon's discovery, historical documents have proven that gunpowder had been in use in China since 1000 AD and had been employed in catapult-launched bombs and grenades and in fireworks as early as the T'ang Dynasty.
While Friar Bacon may have sensed the power contained in black powder, it took another inventor to discover it usefulness as a propellant for European Middle-Aged weapons. This occurred sometime between 1313 and 1393. Mostly a legend, Franciscan Monk Berthold Schwarz, also known as Black Berthold" was allegedly experimenting with black powder in a stone mortar when an explosion occurred. The stone pestle was propelled across the room and smashed into many pieces, thus revealing black powder's propellant properties.
Who actually conceived or constructed the first gun is lost to history, however, what is known is that the earliest guns were in use shortly after 1300 AD. Known as "Handgonnes", these first primitive firearms were little more than an iron or brass tube, perhaps eight inches in length. Initially they were held in the hand, but this was soon found to be impractical due to violent recoil and the heat generated from repeated firings. Consequently these barrels were attached by means of brass or iron bands to a stick or haft known as a "Tiller." An English manuscript dated 1374 compared the tiller with the hafts of period pikes.
Loading the early handgonne was a very involved process. First, black powder was poured into the barrel. A wooden plug was pushed then down the barrel and pressed firmly against the powder charge with a ramming-rod. Next, the ramrod was again used to seat a lead ball atop the plug. A small amount of priming powder was then poured into a touchhole atop the barrel. Taking care not to spill the priming powder, the "Gonner" [gunner] then raised the tiller to his shoulder, sighted along the barrel and touched a slow-match to the touch-hole, thus igniting the load and discharging the piece. Sometimes gunners would use a U-shaped fork to steady the piece. Other times, a tall shield, which rested on the ground, was used. Such shields incorporated a cutout window for bracing the piece and simultaneously shielded the gunner from the enemy's bolts and arrows.
This whole process was fraught with problems however. First of all, accuracy often suffered because the gunner had to take his eyes off the target to locate and touch the slow-match to the gonne's touchhole. Then, the weather could turn poor and rain or mist could wet the charge or extinguish the slow match. The powder itself was often ballistically inconsistent. And then, the casting of the barrel could be flawed and the barrel might detonate, maiming or killing the "gonner" [I wonder if maybe that's where the term "He's a Goner" came from?!]. Finally, the line of gunners could be overrun by the opposing force. Soldiers armed with handgonnes were well advised to carry a sword, dagger or other portable [edged] weapon to back up their piece!
Although they were little more than a novelty when first introduced, within a hundred years time handgonnes became refined and more powerful. Now a Baron could field a whole "Company of Handgonners", trained in very little time and armed inexpensively with a device which could reliably penetrate armor and unhorse even the most intrepid Knight. As one period writer recorded, "Gunpowder makes all men alike tall." Indeed, in 1364, the Italian city of Perugia purchased five hundred handgonnes for their defense.
As a result of the weaponization of black powder, the face of military warfare was changed forever. No longer was battle a chivalrous event; now it was merely the means to a political or social end. These changes did not come easily, however. Knights tried desperately to prevent or hold back the use of firearms, in order to keep war "chivalrous" or "honorable." To make their point, Knights had captured Handgonners put to death or had their hands removed whenever they were taken under arms!
The Knight's feelings were perhaps best described by Miguel de Cervantes, author of "Don Quixote" in which he wrote, "...the Devil's invention, it enables a base cowardly hand to take the life of the bravest gentleman...a chance bullet, coming from whence, fired perchance by one that had fled affrighted at the very flash of his villainous piece, may in a moment put a period to the vastest designs." The bottom line being that individual courage, long years of arduous training and noble birth were no longer key elements in battle; indeed, any commoner could now shoot and kill a Knight.
However villainous they may have been deemed, firearms were here to stay and their value could not be ignored. In 1326 AD, England's young monarch, King Edward III, was presented with a book entitled, "On the Duties of Kings", which was especially written and prepared for his tutelage. It included an illustration of a gonne and described its operation and employment in battle. It is the earliest known [dated] picture of a gun. Soon, a wheeled multi-barreled battery gun known as the "Ribauldequin" was introduced. The largest of these were constructed in Italy in 1387. Three of them were constructed, consisted of 144 barrels arranged in three stories and stood twenty feet tall!
Perhaps the most skillful use of handgonnes occurred during the Hussite Wars of 1420 - 1434. Bohemian hero John Zisca developed special wagons with heavy shields mounted on the sides. Once on the battlefield, these wagons were formed into circles making a field-expedient fortified position from which his gonners and crossbowmen could load and fire at attacking German and Hungarian Knights without fear of being slaughtered. The gaps between the wagons were defended by men armed with pikes and polearms. It was devastating to the enemy and those knights fortunate enough to reach the fortified position, were soon overwhelmed by foot infantry. Once in retreat, they were pursued by Zisca's own Hussite cavalry, backed by peasant infantry.
Today, many people reenact the combat skills of the Middle Ages or the Elizabethan Renaissance periods, choosing to practice with, and promote, the sword, lance and bow. Some regard the handgonne as a wicked device that helped to bring about the end of chivalry and would deny it a place in history. Nonetheless, it cannot be denied that the handgonne helped to make "All Men Tall."
Manny Silva 2002. All rights reserved
BC DISCUSSION: Gunpowder & Naffatun
Centenarius
EYE-PATCH FETISH
Praeses
Get born again.
Originally Posted by Col. Roy Mustang
ahhh the good ol days!!
Eternal Sorrow
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SURPRISE PEOPLE, i bet its been a loon time since you seen Medieval Total War 
