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 ere | iiijs. |
| Item, gonepowder | iiijs.” |
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.