Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe: Gunpowder, Technology, and TacticsWeapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe explores the history of gunpowder in Europe from the thirteenth century, when it was first imported from China, to the sixteenth century, as firearms became central to the conduct of war. Bridging the fields of military history and the history of technology -- and challenging past assumptions about Europe's "gunpowder revolution" -- Hall discovers a complex and fascinating story. Military inventors faced a host of challenges, he finds, from Europe's lack of naturally occurring saltpeter -- one of gunpowder's major components -- to the limitations of smooth-bore firearms. Manufacturing cheap, reliable gunpowder proved a difficult feat, as did making firearms that had reasonably predictable performance characteristics. Hall details the efforts of armorers across Europe as they experimented with a variety of gunpowder recipes and gunsmithing techniques, and he examines the integration of new weapons into the existing structure of European warfare. |
Contents
Alternative Weapons and Tactics in the Later Middle Ages | 9 |
The Evolution of Tactics and the Role of Cavalry 10 Missile Weapons | 16 |
Gunpowder | 38 |
Copyright | |
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Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe: Gunpowder, Technology, and Tactics Bert S. Hall No preview available - 2002 |
Common terms and phrases
appeared archers armor arquebus arquebusiers artillery assault attack ballistic barrel battle battlefield became bombards bullets burn campaign cannon Cerignola changes charge Christine de Pizan Chroniques Raynaud commanders Contamine corned gunpowder corned powder Crécy crossbowmen crossbows defensive Delbrück early modern effective English European Feuerwerkbuch field warfare fifteenth fight fire firearms flanks Flemish foot soldiers forces formations fortifications French Froissart garrison Gonzalo grain gunners gunpowder gunpowder's guns Habsburg Harfleur heavy cavalry historians horses Hussite Ibid increased infantry Jean Bureau knights Knollen lance Landsknechte larger later longbow m/sec medieval men-at-arms meters Middle Ages military missile Monluc mounted musket Muslim muzzle velocities nitrate numbers Oman ordnance Parker Pavia percent perhaps period Pescara pike pikemen pistol pounds range ranks recruit Revolution ribaudequins role saltpeter seems serpentine serpentine powder shot siege sixteenth century small arms Spain Spanish Swiss tactics target tercio tion trace italienne trebuchet troops Wagenburg walls wheel lock