THE PIKE, PARTIZAN, SPETUM, RANSEUR, AND SPONTOON.

The pike is a footman’s weapon used greatly in conjunction with the halbard and harquebus; and these three were pre-eminently the weapons of the infantry of the later “middle ages” and the “renaissance.”

It was probably introduced into England in the reign of Edward III., being mentioned by Froissart, anno 1342, and did not fall into disuse much before the time of Charles II., when a writer in 1703 refers to it as a weapon “formerly” in use, the bayonet having superseded it. Viscount Dillon states in Archæologia, vol. li., p. 221, that “In 1515, Pasqualigo, the Venetian, writes that he had seen in the Tower pikes for 40,000 infantry, and that they have a like store at Calais, a place near Scotland!” The pike has a narrow lance-formed head, to which long strips of iron four feet in length are attached, which are screwed down the sides of a long wooden pole, the end of which is shod with iron, for fixing into the ground, to resist a charge of horsemen. There is a tassel along the shaft for easing the shoulder when the weapon is carried at the “port,” and also for preventing the rain from running down the shaft.

The earlier length of the pike was ten feet, but Sutcliffe, in his Practice of Arms, speaks of it as up to twenty-two feet in length. A statute of 1662 fixes the length at sixteen feet. During Elizabeth’s reign the cost of a pike was three shillings and eightpence, and it was “fifteene foote long besides the head.” The usual length, however, was about ten feet.

It was the bayonet that deposed the pike.

The partizan, like the pike, was introduced in the reign of Edward III. The blade is long, broad, and double-edged, with hatchet-like or pointed branches at the base. It was greatly used as a pageant weapon, and much skill and taste were expended in chasing it and inlaying it with gold. The spetum is narrower and lighter, a long spear at the point, and narrow curved side branches.

The ranseur is very similar to the partizan, with a long broad blade in the centre, and projecting shorter blades on each side. It was much used in the reign of Edward IV.

The spontoon is a half pike, or something between the pike and partizan, and was carried by infantry officers.

A selection of staff and club weapons are represented in [Fig. 49], and most of the weapons referred to are there given.

PART XXIV.
EARLY ARTILLERY.

It is stated that some sort of cannon was known to the Moors very early, and that artillery was used in Spain during the second half of the thirteenth century in the defence of fortified places; but this is believed to be merely traditional, and that the piece of ordnance stated to be mentioned in the Archives of Ghent[46] as being in possession of that town in 1313, was probably a very rough weapon and highly tentative in character. Without wishing to cast doubt on this statement, occurring in a work published in 1843, we may remark that frequent efforts have since been made to find the passage, but without success.

Fig. 48.—Principle of the Ballista.

Fig. 49.—Staff and Club Weapons, etc.

The earliest firearms were only adapted for throwing fire into fortified places by means of a hollow tube, such as those described by the Princess Anna Comnena in the Alexiad, “tubes fixed to the prows of the Emperor’s galleys for throwing Greek fire,” and cannon discharging missiles by the agency of detonating gunpowder were probably not invented before the fourteenth century. All guns made in this century were of the crudest description, fastened on to blocks of wood, and were of wrought iron, loaded at the breech, and used principally in sieges.

There is frequent mention of firearms in German and Italian “chronicles” late in the first half of the fourteenth century, but these references are invariably characterised by extreme vagueness. Froissart frequently alludes to cannon, and says that these weapons were used by the besieged at Cambray in 1339;[47] his remarks concerning them are quite casual, and convey the impression that he attached very little importance to them. A French MS. of about 1338, in the Republican Library at Paris, mentions ordnance. This occurs in an account of the war treasurers, “To Henri de Vaumechon for buying powder and other necessaries for cannon;” and a year later reference is made to cannon in the Archives of Bruges, “niewen enginen di men heet ribaude.” The statement of Villani, so often repeated, that artillery was in operation at the battle of Creçy, in 1346, is open to very considerable question, as it is tolerably certain that there were no field-pieces so early, or indeed any cannon whatever that could be moved about to any useful purpose in a battle. Froissart makes no mention of any used in campaigning; but he refers to a bombard at the siege of Oudenarde, “the noise of its discharge could be heard five leagues away,” and he also states that bombards and cannon were in operation at the siege of Quesnoy in 1340—“Those of Quesnoy let them hear their cannon,” when huge bolts were used as missiles; and that artillery was in use at the siege of Vannes, both by the besieged and the attacking English.[48] What gave rise to the tradition, if it be one, is probably the fact that Edward III. had established an ordnance factory, for siege guns, two years before the battle. Artillery of this date was quite unsuitable for field operations, and was only employed with other engines, as these examples show, in the reduction of fortified places. Demmin gives a drawing of a breech-loading cannon, open at both ends, strengthened by iron coils, which he states came from the field of Creçy, but we know not on what authority. This weapon was of forged iron, like all the earlier ordnance. Grose, in his History of the English Army,[49] cites a MS., which has already been referred to in these pages, giving the force constituting the English army in Normandy and before Calais, in the twentieth year of the reign of Edward III., in which items appear for payments to gunners and artillerymen; but it would seem that their duty consisted in serving siege guns before Calais. Still, why should there be mention of what would appear to be two classes of gunners?

There was a gun foundry in France in 1346, Germany in 1378, in Switzerland in 1371. The first mention of any guns cast in England was, we believe, in 1521, when, according to Stone, brass cannon were first “cast” there; the founder’s name was Hugget, of Uckfield, in Sussex, and there are some specimens of about this date at Woolwich. Early cannon were fired by a live coal; later, by a slow match. There is nothing to indicate the date of the wooden cannon strengthened with iron coils, brought from Cochin China, and now in the Musée des Invalides at Paris. There is a mortar in the arsenal at Vienna, made in several layers of coiled hempen rope, with an outside covering of leather, which is said to have been captured from the Turks. There are also mortars made of paper, covered with leather, in the arsenal at Malta, but without any reliable record concerning their origin—doubtless they also came from the East. In Johnes’s version of Froissart, vol. ii., p. 252, is an account of a sea-fight between the English and Spanish fleets off Calais, King Edward commanding in person. It is there stated that the Spanish ships were amply provided with artillery, and a later passage specially mentions “cannon,”—this was probably the year after the battle of Creçy;[50] but in 1340 these weapons are referred to in connection with the naval battle of Sluys.

In 1372 some of the French ships undoubtedly carried ordnance at the battle of Rhodes; and the Venetians used bombards a few years later at the battle before Chioggia, when some of the guns burst on the first discharge; one of these weapons, which is made of leather, is still preserved at the Vienna arsenal. Leathern cannon were also used at the siege of Hohensalzburg in 1525, and by Gustavus Adolphus in 1631. We may take it that some time before this both artillery and hand-guns were regularly used in battle, but side by side with catapultæ and other engines of war, thus clearly showing that they were at this time largely experimental. They were still but sparingly found at sea in the middle of the fifteenth century, when an English war vessel sometimes carried only one gun, and the largest ships never more than eight; and each piece of ordnance was then only provided with thirty rounds of ammunition for a month’s cruise. After this time, however, the progress was rapid, and some of the Mediterranean galleys of late in the sixteenth century were armed with as many as two hundred guns. In 1377, Thomas Norbury was directed by King Richard II. to provide “two great and two less engines called cannon,” to be sent to the castle of Bristol. The first reliable mention of field guns is on the occasion of a battle between the forces of Bruges and Ghent in 1382.

The first piece of ordnance was probably a mortar, the earliest form of which was a hollow tube, like an inverted cone, the butt-end being blocked with wood—they were short pieces of large bore.

The earliest artillery was breech-loading and called bombards, and some of these, towards the end of the century (the fourteenth), were capable of throwing two hundredweight shot, describing a parabolic curve of a radius of only three hundred yards, showing that the powder must have been very weak. In 1388, a stone shot, weighing 195 pounds, was discharged from a bombard called the “Trevisan.”[51] Drawings of these engines may be seen in MSS. 851 and 852 in the Nat. Lib., Paris. One is on a flat wooden stand, the other on a low platform with small solid wheels. [Fig. 50] exhibits one of these weapons. These guns, at first without trunnions, were made of bars of wrought iron, in overlapping coils or sections, welded together on a mandrel, and then hooped—in fact, similar in principle to the “Armstrong” gun. There is a breech-block in which the charge was previously laid, and fitted into the body of the piece by means of a wedge, but no apparent arrangement for sustaining the recoil. The Scottish cannon, “Mons Meg,” is forged in this fashion, and a rent near the breech is instructive in laying bare the system of construction. It is of fifteenth century date, and is said to have been wrought at Mons in Flanders, but there is no evidence of this being the case—indeed, it was probably made in Scotland about the middle of the century. The calibre is 20 inches, and length 13 feet 6 inches. The projectiles used were stone shot, weighing 330 lb. The powder-chamber is less in diameter than the barrel.

Culverins were long pieces, whose projectiles were usually of lead.

Bronze bombards were made by Aran of Augsburg as early as 1378; but it was considerably later before these pieces began to be cast in iron. A very early iron specimen may be seen in the Rotunda collection at Woolwich.

Breech-loading cannon were pieces of small calibre, and were followed by those constructed on the movable chamber system, and after that by muzzle-loaders. There is an interesting piece preserved at the Artillery Museum, St. Petersburg, dating from the end of the fourteenth or beginning of the fifteenth century; it is strengthened with coils: also some good fifteenth century specimens. To judge from the quantity of old arms of all sorts found in Belgium, that country must have been as much the cockpit of Europe during the middle ages as it was in much more recent times. At the Porte de Hal Museum at Brussels are pieces of artillery of the fifteenth century, including some very early examples of considerable interest, and among these is a breech-loading cannon, mounted on a carriage with wooden wheels which are encircled by studded iron hoops. The weapon is of wrought iron, clasped round with thick iron coils—length, 0.74. There is another of similar construction and date—calibre, 0.135; length, 0.77. The carriages have been reconstructed. A bombardelle, the calibre of which is 0.13, and length, 1.30.

The muzzle-loading crapeaudeau of the first half of the fifteenth century is a small iron tube, mounted in a thick piece of wood, which stands on a small square block, with side handles for transportation—calibre, 32 mm.; it is a model executed from an old MS. A small culverin, the progenitor of the early petronel and later blunderbuss—length with mount, 1.80; barrel, 1.15; calibre, 25 mm. A breech-loading culverin of the first half of the fifteenth century—calibre, 0.065; length, 1.97. This weapon was found at Luxemburg during the demolition of part of the ramparts; it has a ring for hoisting.

There is a serpentin forged on the “Mons Meg” principle, the carriage of which is constructed from an ancient MS. ([Fig. 50]). A ship falconet ([Fig. 50]), early sixteenth century, breech-loader; turning on a pivot—calibre, 0.035; length, 1.31. The collection of early ordnance at the Königl. Zeughaus at Berlin contains some interesting specimens. Among them is an example of the short early bombard, dating from the close of the fourteenth century; and a long serpent cannon, shooting a projectile of two and a half pounds weight, of the year 1419 (these two weapons have been constructed after contemporary drawings); two cannon, eighty-pounders; a seven-pounder bombard used by Charles the Bold, and taken by the Swiss at the battle of Nancy. There are also many others similar in character to specimens described in these pages. An interesting series of drawings of late fifteenth century artillery exists in the ordnance books of the Emperor Maximilian I., where you have examples of the bombard, serpentin, snakes, falconets, mortar, and orgue. The lighter guns are mounted on rude carriages, with heavy wooden wheels encircled with iron-hooping.

Fig. 50.—Early Artillery.

The elbow bombard, used in Italy early in the fifteenth century, was a tube fixed at right angles on to a carriage—the angle was capable of manipulation by a prop, and the breech-block is inserted in the side.

The orgue, the prototype of the modern mitrailleuse, was invented early in the fifteenth century—examples are mentioned with as many as thirty and forty barrels, and even more. There is an early specimen in the museum at Sigmaringen; and one dating from the beginning of the sixteenth century, with forty barrels, in the Imperial collection at Vienna. Another with five barrels, dating from about the end of the fifteenth century, and one a century later with sixty-four barrels; both in the collection of the Königl. Zeughaus at Berlin. A breech-loading gun of the fifteenth century may be seen in [Fig. 50].

The connecting link between artillery and hand-guns has been mentioned in an example at the Porte de Hal Museum, Brussels, and there are many other specimens there, called bâton à feu. Among them is a harquebus-mitrailleuse; this weapon, which is only twenty-five inches long, has nine barrels, moves on a pivot, and is fired by a wheel-lock.

The transport of the heavy and cumbrous guns of the fourteenth century was found to be attended with so much difficulty and expense that lighter cannon were introduced in the century following for field use, and rude carriages on wheels drawn by oxen were added. The bombard thus mounted was called “cerbotana ambulatoria.” Gun carriages were vastly improved during the reign of Henry VIII., when horses were employed to draw them. Means of sighting and convenience for trajectory had to be thought of, and trunnions were invented towards the middle of the fifteenth century. There was another contrivance for raising and depressing by means of a long thin prolongation, a sort of tail in fact, attached to the piece behind, and a fork was sometimes used for holding up the breech. There is a specimen with this adjustment at the Musée d’Artillerie at Paris, with an inscription bearing the date 1490. Projectiles of iron did not become common until a little later, but there was nothing specially new in a metal projectile, for such had long been used for early war engines, throwing balls both cold and hot.

The English army before Orleans in 1428 had a train of fifteen breech-loading mortars. Valturio, an Italian, writing in 1472 describes the engines of war then in use, including cannon.

Specimens of ancient ordnance are not very numerous in England. There is a very interesting wrought-iron bombard in the collection at the Rotunda, Woolwich, dating from the commencement of the fifteenth century, or possibly somewhat earlier. It is lined with cast-iron,[52] has a calibre of 15.1 inches; interior diameter of chamber, 14 inches; capacity of chamber, about 3.5 lb.; length of chase, 34 inches; present weight, 6 cwts. Also a wrought-iron cannon of about the same date—length, 24 inches; original calibre about 2 inches, without trunnions or cascabel, but provided with a couple of rings for transportation.

Double cannon, strengthened with coils, were common at this period, with the breech in the centre, and barrels running in two opposite directions. There are specimens at Woolwich, and at the Porte de Hal Museum, Brussels. There are several wrought-iron pieces at Woolwich, of the reign of Henry VI., and among them a serpent gun 8 feet 6 inches long, without trunnions, but provided with two rings for lifting—calibre, 4.25 inches; weight, about 9 cwts. A wrought-iron breech-loading gun with carriage was recovered from the wreck of the Mary Rose, sunk off Spithead in 1545, which is now at Woolwich; original calibre about 8 inches; the gun is a tube 9 feet 8 inches long, strengthened by a succession of heavy hoops, and is fixed by iron bolts to a beam of wood. The breech-block being removed for loading and charge inserted, the block is replaced and wedged, and the recoil was sustained by an upright piece of wood. There is no arrangement visible for raising or lowering the gun for taking aim. Similar guns may be seen at the Tower.

During the early days of artillery guns were constantly taken and retaken in battle after a first discharge, the process of reloading being so protracted that cavalry, or even infantry, were upon them long before the operation could be completed.

The fourteenth or early fifteenth century bombardier was clad in chain-mail, when stone shot was fired. He ignited his charge with a hot iron, guarding his face with his left hand from the sparks thrown off by the old-fashioned powder.

During the fifteenth century cannon were usually entrusted to the care of foreign mercenaries who were better disciplined than mere feudal or communal levies, and much less liable to panic. John Jedd was appointed Master of Ordnance in England, 1483, and the office was not abolished before 1852. Hand-grenades appear in 1536. Each gun was known by a special name, of which “Mons Meg” is a familiar example. The general estimation of the use of cannon in campaigning was for long discredited by reason of the manifold imperfections of the weapons, the frequency of their capture by the enemy, and the dangers attending their discharge; they were for long employed simultaneously with the more ancient projectile engines, and the latter were preferred by many commanders to the former; but the dawn of the sixteenth century saw such manifest improvements that artillery then began to take the first place among projectile weapons. The petard was an invention of the Flemings in the sixteenth century.

Ordnance of the sixteenth century varies very much in size, cannon throwing a projectile of from thirty to forty pounds; culverins, bastard-culverins, falcons, falconets, and many other varieties discharging balls from sixteen pounds down to a single pound.

Mortars were greatly used in the middle of the sixteenth century, and howitzers for throwing hollow balls a little later.

Gunpowder first became granulated during the second half of the fifteenth century, up to which time the powder was of a fine dust, and divided from the stone projectile by a wooden wad. There were coarse and fine granulations made for charging and priming respectively. That made in the seventeenth century had become much more powerful, and a proportionate amount of metal had to be allowed in the construction of cannon. Mr. John Hewitt quotes the author of Pallas Armata, which states “that a culverin that shot 16 pounds of iron had but a hundred pound of metal allowed for every pound of her shot, and so she weighed then but 1,600 pounds; but now and long before this she weighs 4,300 pounds, and consequently hath the allowance of near 270 pounds of metal for every pound of shot.”

All the gunlocks we are accustomed to associate with hand-guns were used with ordnance; they were fixed to the vent-field by pins passing laterally through it, or by side screws.

The first mention of bombs occurs in 1588.

Artillery had now become an important and independent arm in all campaigning, and it will be seen how numerous cannon had become when it is stated that the train of guns attached to the army of the Emperor Ferdinand in 1556 consisted of fifty-four heavy and one hundred and twenty-seven light pieces of artillery.

Rifled cannon, the principle of which was first applied to hand-arms in Germany, were introduced in this century; examples of which may be seen in the arsenal at Berlin, and in the museums of Nuremberg and the Hague.

Viscount Dillon, P.S.A., writing in Archæologia, vol. li., quotes Lord Herbert of Cherbury, who consulted the records for the compilation of his history of the reign of Henry VIII. Lord Herbert writes that “great brass ordnance, as cannons and culverins, were first cast in England by one John Owen in 1535; and that about 1544 iron pieces and grenades were first cast.” Viscount Dillon remarks “that the facts as to time and place seem to be different, for in September 1516 there occurs a payment of £33 6s. 8d. to John Rutter of London, for “hurts and damages by him sustained in a tenement to him belonging wherein the king’s great gun called the ‘Basiliscus’ was cast, and for rent.” In 1532 Carlo Capello, the Venetian, writes that Henry “visited the Tower daily to hasten the works then going on there, and was founding cannon and heavy gunpowder made.” This was in anticipation of the Scottish war.

A valuable account of the guns in the Tower, numbering 64 of brass and 351 of iron, of which follow some abridged extracts, may be seen in some notes by Viscount Dillon, appearing in Archæologia, vol. li., pp. 223–225. He states “that there are two bronze guns, octagonal externally, with bores 2½ and 2¾ inches, corresponding in form with types of 1500–1530, presumably of Venetian make. The ‘Brode Fawcon, shooting iij shotte,’ is rectangular externally, has three bores side by side, and the three spaces for placing the three chambers, as in early breech-loading cannon. The ‘French gonnes of Brasse’ may have been part of the spoils of Boulogne in 1554, or else the work of the same Peter Bawde who cast brass guns for King Henry at Houndsditch as early as 1525.” His lordship is of opinion that the seventeen “Scottishe gonnes of Brasse” would include some of the pieces taken at Flodden, which, according to Hall, consisted of “5 great curtalls, 2 great culverynges, 4 sacres (hawks), and 5 serpentynes, etc.” Viscount Dillon mentions in his notes that the Scotch made cannon in 1460, and that the iron guns in the Tower comprise eleven of the numerous varieties in use in Henry VIII.’s time, and he gives the names of makers of that period, both English and foreign. These notes, of which this is but a very imperfect outline, should be read in extenso by all specially interested in the subject.

PART XXV.
EARLY HAND-GUNS.

The invention, or at all events the first application of these weapons for the purposes of warfare, in the sense of the use of detonating gunpowder for the discharge of projectiles, in contradistinction to those applied merely for setting fire to buildings, is probably due to the Flemings or Italians, but the approximate date of their introduction is very difficult to trace, as early writers on the subject so often confound hand-guns with cannon, and vice versâ; besides, some of the earlier guns were innocent of any projectile whatever, being simply used for frightening horses, an office at that time far from being contemptible in repelling an onset of men-at-arms. The earliest mention of hand-guns occurs in connection with Perugia as early as 1364,[53] and an inventory of Nuremberg, of 1388, refers to forty-eight of these weapons as being in the possession of that city. There are other examples of the use of what would appear to be hand-guns occurring in Italian, French, and German manuscripts of the last quarter of the century, but it is rarely absolutely clear whether artillery or hand-guns are meant, especially when the word “bombard” or “bombarde” is used, unless, as in the case of Perugia, where the dimensions are given. In German MSS. the use of the word “handbüchsen” is, of course, conclusive; and such a case occurs in connection with Ratisbon in 1379. These early “handbüchsen” or “handbombards” could not be very heavy, as there exist several “illuminations” at Vienna, where one of the two gunners who served the piece holds the weapon with his right hand, with the round thin stock against his breast; his colleague stands apart with the ramrod in his hand, apparently after having loaded the piece. One of these “illuminations” shows that the charge is being ignited near the mouth of the piece, which might go to show that the gun was innocent of projectile. These pictures would seem to date very early, probably not later than 1350–60. Juvenal des Ursins mentions a hand-gun as being in use in 1414. A Florentine writer states that these weapons were used at the siege of Lucca, in 1430; and what is still more to the point is that an actual and early specimen, made of brass, was found among the débris at Tannenberg, a castle besieged and demolished in 1399: this weapon was probably of as early make as the Nuremberg guns. It was only with great difficulty that the early rough hand-guns made their way at all against those weapons where manual or mechanical force was used. Both the longbow and crossbow were infinitely superior to the clumsy tube stuck on to the end of a stick, not only in regard to precision of aim, but also in the number of missiles that could be discharged within a given time, and it was principally on this account that these firearms are so rarely mentioned by mediæval writers. Actual specimens preserved are few and far between, and this is not surprising when one considers how very soon the weapons became obsolete in the rapid improvements that took place.

There is a connecting link between early artillery and hand-guns in various weapons from the small elementary semi-portable cannon fixed to the end of a long wooden shaft, and fired from a forked support or from a wall; and later, large models of guns of the harquebus type manipulated in the same manner. The latter form was the “arquebus à croc,” weighing up to sixty pounds, and was from five to six feet long. This class of weapon was much used in sieges, and they were sufficiently portable to be carried and worked by three or four men. Most national collections contain specimens of these firearms.

Mr. John Hewitt figures an early hand-gun, taken from the Burney MS., which is simply a replica of the weapon found at Tannenberg. Hand-cannon were being made at Augsburg in 1381. An early weapon of this kind is figured on a piece of tapestry in the church of Notre-Dame de Nantilly, Saumur. The piece is served by two soldiers, one holding it with both hands, while his comrade applies a hot coal. The form of the visored bassinet worn by these soldiers would fix the date as being late in the fourteenth century, and actual specimens of this time may be seen at the Historische Museum at Berne, and at the Germanische National Museum at Nuremberg.

In the collection at the Königl. Zeughaus, Berlin, is a hand-gun dating from late in the fourteenth century or early in the fifteenth, consisting of a stock and barrel. The former is rudely cut for the shoulder, like the butt of a crossbow, while the latter is a tube between three and four feet in length, with a touch-hole on the right side; calibre, 16mm. Some drawings of about 1430 in the Hauslab Library show similar pieces. This weapon is to all intents and purposes the prototype of the modern hand-gun, and is, in fact, a very early form of “Hakenbüchse,” one of the many names for the harquebus.

Late in the fourteenth, or early in the following century, hand-guns like small culverins, with a touch-hole on the right side, were in use and discharged from the shoulder. The weapon was fired by applying a match to the touch-hole, and the soldier had to find his way to it while he took aim. Like the Berlin example, this class of weapon was rudely fashioned to the shoulder. The hand-cannon consists of a small bombard fixed to a wooden shaft, and fired by means of a match. The following items occur in a roll of purchases of the Castle of Holy Island, in Northumberland, for the year 1446:—

“Bought ij hand-gunnes de ereiiijs.
Item, gonepowderiiijs.”

Demmin gives a drawing from a manuscript dated 1472, and Herr Wendelin Boeheim that of a petronel (poitrine, the chest), a kind of hand-bombard, fired by a horseman from a forked rest fixed on to the saddle. The author has a specimen of this kind of support in his possession, which is hollow, and combines a long dagger screwed in at the top; but this accessory points to a rather later period than that of the hand-gun in question. It is an early form of linstock. The hand-gun when not in use hung suspended from the rider’s neck; it was attached by a ring to a necklace, and fired from the breast, and the left arm sustained the petronel, while the right hand manipulated the match-cord. The character of the armour on the figure would indicate a date in the second half of the century (the fifteenth), and the weapon is the prototype of the modern blunderbuss. The figure is taken from Victor Gay’s work. A still earlier example, but very similar, appears in one of a series of “notes” of great ability and industry, by Major Sixl in the Zeitschrift für historische Waffenkunde, and the features of both correspond very closely. The hand-gun of the earlier example is provided with a “hac” or spur; the horse on which the gunner is seated is unbarded, excepting for a crinet with a long spear springing from between the ears like a unicorn, while the horse of the later figure is barded, and the bassinet visored.

The first person of note that we hear of as having been killed by a hand-gun was the Earl of Shrewsbury at Châtillon in 1453.[54]

The type of weapon used by a contingent of three hundred Flemings in the ranks of the army of Edward IV. in 1471 was the hand-culverin; and the English Yeomen of the Guard were armed with it in 1485, as also was the Swiss contingent of six thousand men at the battle of Morat in 1476. These hand-culverins were each served by two men, one for holding the gun, and the other for applying the match, etc.; they were fired by a fuse-cord.

By the end of the fifteenth century the priming was held in a pan at the side of the barrel, and the pan was protected by a lid, which moved on a pivot. The next improvement was the attachment of the pan to the plate, and the stock was more bent. These weapons, the length and weight of which varied greatly, were in general use; the bore was usually about half an inch. Examples may be seen at the Musée des Invalides, Paris, and in many other national collections. A hand-gun of the harquebus type is figured in “The Triumph of Maximilian”; the stock is straight, and almost square. The figure bearing it wears a bandolier collar! A similar weapon, with a primitive form of serpentin, is figured in one of the books of Maximilian I., about 1500.

These early hand-guns were full of drawbacks and imperfections; an uncertain aim and form of ignition, whereby the weapons often missed fire; the long time required for loading; the cumbersome accessories, such as bullets, rest, and match; besides one granulation of powder for charging and another for priming, all combined to discredit the value of these weapons as against bills and bows; the effect of which was much more rapid in action. So much so was this the case, that owing to their dilatory habit both hand-guns and ordnance were frequently captured in battle after a first discharge, and their servers rendered hors de combat. They had practically nothing with which to defend themselves. The long dagger screwed into the butt of the rest was no match at all as against long-handled weapons, such as the gisarme, halbard, and bill. All this taxed the ingenuity of the time for the production of a surer and more reliable weapon with more simplicity of action. Here, as in the case of early crossbows, mechanical appliances came to the aid of the human arms and fingers, making the manipulation of hand firearms somewhat less cumbersome and dilatory.

The hakenbüchse, hagbut, hackbutt, hackenbuse, hequebutte, arquebus, and harquebus, are all names for the same kind of weapon, which is merely a development from the ruder forms, with a smaller calibre than the hand-culverin; but the great distinction generally observable between it and older forms is the presence of a pair of movable nippers called “serpentin,” the prototype of the “cock,” a primitive example of which has been already referred to. Hand-guns of this type, however, existed before the appearance of the serpentin; and the word “haken,” with variations, as a matter of fact refers to the “hac or haken,” which is a projecting spur of iron placed on the bottom side of the stock, near the head; the object of which was to deaden the recoil by placing the spur against a stone rampart. There are many examples in the Königl. Historische Museum at Dresden. A very early instance of the use of the “hac” occurs on a hand-gun preserved at Berne, and there are drawings in the University Library at Heidelberg of several examples of the harquebus of the fourth quarter of the fifteenth century, with the “hac,” but of course without serpentin. The oscillatory movement made in applying fire with the hand naturally caused the weapon to swerve, thus interfering greatly with the accuracy of aim; and at length the earliest form of lock called the serpentin was invented, the object of which was to let down the match mechanically. Thus we have the earliest form of matchlock, and the stock became shaped for the shoulder. Harquebuses with the serpentin gave victory to the Spaniards at the battle of Pavia. Philip de Commines mentions the weapon towards the end of the fifteenth century as a new invention.

The serpentin is adjusted on a pivot through the stock, and forms a lever for the fingers beyond it. Then, holding a match, it is brought into contact with a slow match in a holder on the barrel and ignited; then by raising the lever, it is forced into the flashpan and touch-hole, where the priming is placed, and the gun discharged. This movement is in three varieties: the earliest moves towards the pan from the stock, while later it was fixed in the opposite direction; in the third it is propelled by a snap. First manipulated by the hand, then with a lever, and afterwards by a crank in connection with the trigger. The idea of the serpentin goes back to the fourteenth century, for the Froissart preserved in the town library at Breslau shows a drawing of a hand-bombard with an elementary form of triggered serpentin; and the same adjustment occurs in representations of these primitive weapons on a drawing preserved in the Hofbibliothek at Vienna. The mainspring was a further simplification of procedure in lending a more direct action to the serpentin, which fell with greater force, and obviated the necessity for blowing on the match.

The harquebus was of several kinds and sizes, some fired from a rest, others from the shoulder or breast. There was also the heavy semi-portable weapon already referred to, served by three or four men; used both for field and fortress work. The length of the hand harquebus ranged from two and a half feet and upwards; barrels are both muzzle and breech-loaders; bores are of various sizes, sometimes very wide and bell-mouthed. The great disadvantage of the matchlock was the trouble and uncertainty experienced in retaining fire, and in it being necessary always to have a lighted match, or means of striking a light. This was especially felt in the chase, and the wheel-lock, which is said to have been invented by Johann Kiefuss of Nuremberg, in 1517, provided a much needed improvement on the older method; there is, however, at least one earlier example of this lock with the date inscribed. It did not, however, displace the matchlock for war purposes, owing to the greater cheapness and simplicity of the latter, which continued in use up to the eighteenth century. There is an example of a regimental matchlock musket at the Rotunda, Woolwich, dating about 1700—barrel, 46 inches long; calibre, 0.540 inch; steel mounts. The main principle of the wheel-lock is to generate the spark which is to ignite the powder for firing the shot in a self-acting manner, in contradistinction to the principle of the matchlock, where the ignition was served by a match which required to be kept constantly burning.

The costliness of the wheel-lock, which was made in as many as ten separate pieces, greatly restricted its use as regards hand-guns, but it was applied generally to pistols, and pieces for the hunting field. Cavalry used weapons with this lock, as it was very inconvenient to manage the match-cord on horseback, especially as it required regulating with every shot fired. Ignition was accomplished by sparks which were caused by the friction of a steel wheel, notched long and crosswise, rubbing against a flint, or by the striking of the wheel against a cube of solid pyrites. The lock was wound up by a spanner, which hung at the soldier’s belt. The main details of this lock are as follow, viz.:—A serrated wheel, connected to the backplate by a chain and spring, forming with the backplate the bottom of the flashpan, and wound up by a spanner. With the wheel-barrel is connected one end of a strong spring, by a chain, which winds round the barrel when the wheel is turned, tightening the spring until the catch of a bar drops into a corresponding notch of the wheel, thus holding spring and wheel cocked. After winding up, the trigger is pressed, releasing the wheel, which revolves round with great energy, by means of the accumulated force lent it by the winding, and coming into contact with the pyrites in the cock produces the sparks that ignite the priming in the flashpan trough, and fires the piece. Various improvements in the mechanism of this lock took place from time to time.

There are examples of wheel-lock weapons in the Tower of London dating from about the middle of the sixteenth century; a breech-loading harquebus, with a lock of something like the same date, is in the Musée d’Artillerie at Paris. A harquebus revolver, with seven barrels, may be seen in the Hohenzollern collection at Sigmaringen, and there are countless examples existing among the museums of Europe, and notably at Dresden.

During the sixteenth century, and especially in the later half, the footman wore half-armour, and usually discharged his weapon from a prop.

In a matchlock the match is lit at both ends.

The air-gun was invented in Germany in 1560. In this weapon the bellows are wound up against a spring, which is released by pulling the trigger; the receiver is in the stock, and filled by a pump.

The principle of rifling barrels was certainly applied as early as 1510, and there are very early examples of revolvers. There is one in the Tower of London with a matchlock, dating from about the middle of the sixteenth century. A patent for rifling barrels was taken out in London in 1635. It is said that the invention of grooved arms is due to Gaspard Kollner of Vienna, in 1498; other writers attribute it to August Kollner of Nuremberg, early in the sixteenth century; but whether the grooves were straight or spiral, or when they became the latter, is not so obvious; at all events, the principle was not much adopted for military arms before the seventeenth century.

The caliver is a harquebus or light musket of a standard calibre, introduced into England during Elizabeth’s reign; it was four feet ten inches long, discharged without a rest, and the fire was much more rapid than that of its predecessors, and had the great advantage of uniformity of projectile. Edmund Yorke, writing in Queen Elizabeth’s reign, says: “Before the battle of Mounguntur, the princes of the religion caused several thousand harquebusses to be made, all of one ‘calibre,’ which was called ‘Harquebuse de calibre de Monsieur le Prince.’”[55]

Hand-grenades of the sixteenth century were made of very coarse glass, almost slag or pottery; they were nearly three and a half inches in diameter, holding from three to seven ounces of powder.

The snaphance was the immediate precursor of the flintlock, and was a German invention of the second half of the sixteenth century, fired through the medium of sulphurous pyrites. This lock forms the connecting link between the wheel-lock and flintlock, there being a hammer instead of a wheel; the pan is the same, but the cover was moved back by a spring, leaving the powder clear for the action of the sparks. A fine collection of these weapons may be seen in the Dresden Museum.

The method of extracting fire by means of flint and steel is an ancient one, being mentioned by both Virgil and Pliny. The credit of the invention of the familiar flintlock is claimed by France, anno 1640, but an actual specimen in the Tower armoury, dated 1614, effectually disposes of this pretension. The French claim that the improvements of the screw-plate, “à miqulet,” led to the mechanism of the flintlock; but it was long before the system displaced that of the old matchlock. The musketeer continued to carry his matchlock gun up to the beginning of the seventeenth century, and even later, while the flintlock continued in use until long after Waterloo; indeed, matchlock, wheel-lock, and flintlock weapons were all to the fore together for a part of the seventeenth century.

Wheel-lock pistols formed part of the equipment of the Reiters or Pistoliers of the second half of the sixteenth century. Hefner says pistols were common in Germany in 1512, before the invention of the wheel-lock. The pistol of the Reiters, who usually wore blackened demi-armour, are very easily recognisable by the round pommel.

The pistol was often combined with other weapons, both for battle and for the chase, and such combinations are often met with in the axe, mace, and even sword; while there are instances of pistols with two and even three locks. The introduction of these weapons produced great changes in warlike tactics. The etymology of the word is uncertain, some maintaining that the name arose from the weapon having been invented in Pistoja; others believe that the word originated from a coin of the time, the pistole, from the fact, if it be one, that the bore of the weapon had the same diameter as the coin.

Hand-guns of the later middle ages and the “renaissance” may be divided into plain weapons for the ordinary soldiers, and decorated guns for leaders and parade, besides hunting purposes. Brescia was a great centre for their manufacture. Numbers of these guns were fired without touching the shoulder, the recoil being provided for by placing the thumb firmly against the nose.

The musket (muchite, so named from the sparrow-hawk), which was longer and more powerful than the harquebus, though similar in construction and mechanism, appears in the third quarter of the sixteenth century, and St. Remy refers to it as being in use about the end of the seventeenth century. It was first fired from the breast, then from a long-forked rest, furnished with a spike at the end for sticking into the ground; but this fell into desuetude in the seventeenth century. It was found very difficult to keep the powder dry in the bandoliers,[56] which were cases of wood or tin, each containing a charge of powder, and strung round the neck; and powder flasks began to be used about 1540, the bullet-bag being carried on the soldier’s right hip.

Powder flasks appear very early in the sixteenth century, with the well-known arrangement for the measured charge; early examples are given in the arsenal books of Maximilian I. They were first very small, but gradually increased in size as the century wore on, mostly circular in form, but later they are often three-cornered, and frequently made of horn, wholly or in part. Cartridges superseded their use about the middle of the seventeenth century, and the bayonet is first mentioned about the same time.

Arrows or quarrels were often used as projectiles for the musket, but this happened mostly at sea.

The harquebusier of the seventeenth century carried a weapon two and a half feet long.

The carbine or caraben is a gun with a wide bore, first used in Queen Elizabeth’s reign.

The decoration of many of the hand-guns of the sixteenth century was of a most artistic character, the barrels being often enriched with chasings, fine metal incrustations, or damascened, while the stocks were curiously and delicately carved and inlaid. It is generally assumed that the material usually used for inlaying is ivory, but it is really bleached stagshorn, and inlaying with tortoise-shell was also not uncommon.

A great amount of decorative skill was also expended on powder flasks.

There were several diminutives and combinations of the leading hand-guns referred to. Examples of early hand-guns are given in [Fig. 51].

* * * * *

It is well to furbish up bygone things and ages, and to remember now and then what we owe to cumulative history. Master Wace, the chronicler of the Norman Conquest, says in his retrospections: “All things hasten to decay; all fall; all perish; all come to an end. Man dieth, iron consumeth, wood decayeth, towers crumble, strong walls fall down, the rose withereth away, the war-horse waxeth feeble, gay trappings grow old, all the works of men perish. Thus we are taught that all die, both clerk and lay; and short would be the fame of any after death if their history did not endure by being written in the book of the clerk.”

Fig. 51.—Early Hand-guns.