What is a gun: description, types, characteristics and photos

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:48

The history of the cannon as a type of weapon began in the Middle Ages. The earliest known depiction of a cannon dates back to China's Song Dynasty as early as the 12th century, however, solid archaeological and documentary evidence of the weapon's existence does not appear until the 13th century. In 1288, the troops of the aforementioned dynasty allegedly marked themselves by firing from a cannon, and the earliest example of this weapon with a specified date of production dates from the same period. By 1326, these guns had already appeared in Europe, and their use in battle was recorded almost immediately. By the end of the 14th century, cannons were widespread throughout Eurasia. They were used primarily as weapons against infantry until 1374, when cannons were invented in Europe, first used against fortified walls.

In 1464, the Ottoman Empire created a huge cannon known as the Great Turkish Bombard. The cannon, as a type of field artillery, began to play a more important role after 1453. European guns have achieved their longer, lighter, more accurate andmore efficient "classical form" around 1480. This classic European gun design remained relatively unchanged well into the 1750s.

Why is the gun called that way?

The English word for this weapon, cannon, comes from the old Italian word cannone, which means "big pipe". This word was originally used for a gun from 1326 in Italy and from 1418 in England.

The Russian word "cannon" is of Old Russian origin and has a common root with the words "launch" and "let".

History

The cannon may have originated as early as the 12th century in China and was probably a parallel development or evolution of the firearm, a short ranged anti-personnel weapon combining a gunpowder-filled tube and something like a spear. The first projectiles, such as iron scraps or porcelain shards, were once placed in the cavities of long bamboo spears, but paper and bamboo barrels were eventually replaced by metal. The ancient Chinese clearly had no idea what a cannon was in the usual sense of the word.

Medieval China

The earliest known depiction of a cannon is a sculpture from the Dazu Rocky Mountains in Sichuan dated 1128, but the earliest archaeological examples and textual evidence do not appear until the 13th century. The main surviving examples of 13th-century cannon are the Wuwei bronze cannon dated 1227, the Heilongjiang hand cannon dated 1288, andXanadu pistol, dated 1298. However, only the Xanadu pistol is inscribed with the date of manufacture, which is why it is considered the earliest confirmed cannon so far. This weapon is 34.7 cm long and weighs 6.2 kg. Apparently, the Chinese did not know what a cannon was and what a pistol was - during their days these types of weapons were approximately different.

The Heilongjiang hand gun is also often regarded by some historians as the oldest firearm. It was discovered near the area associated with the battle recorded in the annals, during which a cannon was allegedly fired. According to Yuan history, in 1288, a Jurchen tribal commander named Li Ting led armies armed with hand-held weapons against the rebellious Prince Naiyang.

Chen Bingying argues that before 1259 there were no such guns in China, and Dang Shushan believed that Wuwei weapons and other examples of the Xia era indicate the appearance of cannons in 1220. Stephen Ho goes even further, stating that the weapon was developed as early as 1200. Sinologist Joseph Needham and Renaissance siege expert Thomas Arnold give a more conservative estimate, citing 1280 as the date of the "true" cannon. Whether they are correct or not, it seems likely that at least pistols definitely appeared sometime in the 13th century.

In 1341, Xian Zhang wrote the poem "The Iron Case of the Cannon", which describes a cannonball fired from a bamboo pipe that can "pierce the heart or stomach, striking a person or a horse, and even cut severalfaces.”

By the 1350s, these guns were already widely used by the Chinese in local wars. In 1358, the Ming army was unable to capture the city due to the use of cannons by the defenders.

The first of the Western cannons to be introduced were the early 16th century explosive cannons, which the Chinese began producing by 1523 and later improved.

During the 1593 siege in Pyongyang, 40,000 Ming troops fired cannons at Japanese troops. Despite the advantage in defense and the use of arquebuses by Japanese soldiers, they were in a difficult position due to the lack of weapons of comparable power. During the Japanese invasions in Korea (1592-98), the Ming and Joseon coalition made extensive use of artillery in land and sea battles, including on turtle ships.

In the UK

Outside of China, the earliest texts that mention gunpowder are Roger Bacon's Opus Majus (1267) and Opus Tertium. The latter text, however, is interpreted as describing the first fireworks brought to Europe. In the early 20th century, a British artillery officer suggested that another work tentatively attributed to Bacon, A Comparative Description of Heavy Shooting Guns, also known as Opus Minor (i.e., "little work"), dated 1247, contained an encrypted formula for gunpowder hidden in the text. These claims, however, have been disputed by academic historians, so it is not known for certain whether Bacon knew what a cannon was. ATin any case, the very formula given by the famous scientist is useless for making firearms or even fireworks: such gunpowder burns slowly and produces mostly smoke.

In continental Europe

In Europe there is a record of firearms dated 1322 and discovered in the nineteenth century, but lost for unknown reasons. Fortunately, even in the photo, guns from different centuries are easily distinguished from each other depending on their "age".

The earliest known European depiction of this weapon appeared in 1326 in a manuscript, although not necessarily written by W alter de Milemet, known as De Nobilitatibus, sapientii et prudentiis regum ("On the Majesty, Wisdom and Prudence of Kings"). This manuscript can be considered the beginning of the history of the cannon in Europe, because it describes a weapon with a large barrel, cannonballs and a long cane designed to push these same cannonballs. A document from the suburbs of Turin, dated 1327, contains a record of a certain amount paid for the manufacture of a certain device or device invented by Friar Marcello for throwing "lead pellets".

In turn, the record, dated 1331, describes an attack organized by two German knights against the ruler of the city of Friuli. During this attack, they used some kind of weapon whose power is based on gunpowder. The 1320s appear to have been the launching point for the first firearms in Europe, with which most Europeans agree.medieval historians. However, some scholars suggest that the absence of gunpowder weapons in the well-filled Venetian catalog for the new crusade in 1321 means that Europeans did not yet know how to shoot from a cannon - and, in general, did not yet know what it was. such. We can only hope that in the future archeology will provide us with more data to finally resolve this issue.

Ancient weapons

The oldest cannon in Europe is a small bronze muzzle found in Loshula, Scania, in southern Sweden. It dates from the early mid-14th century and is currently in the Swedish Historical Museum in Stockholm. Photos of the cannon in the museum are available to anyone who is interested in the history of weapons, but who cannot afford to go to Stockholm.

But not only the Swedes were noted for their weapon ingenuity. The characteristics of the cannon produced in 13th century France, of course, leave much to be desired, but at that time the Gallic guns were very popular throughout Europe. At that time, these tools were known under the French names pot-de-fer and tonnoire, as well as the German ribaldis and büzzenpyle. Ribaldis, who fired large arrows and simplified cannonballs, was first mentioned in the reports of the English Privy Ambassador during the preparations for the Battle of Crécy, between 1345 and 1346. Subsequently, traces of this German cannon are lost, and the word "ribaldis" quickly fell into disuse.

Approaching the Renaissance

The Battle of Crécy, which took place between the English and the French in 1346, recorded early use of a cannon to help fend off a large group of crossbowmen deployed by the French. Initially, the British intended to use the massive gunpowder cannon against the cavalry, pulling their archers away, believing that the loud noises made by the cannons would frighten the advancing horses and kill the mounted riders.

Early models of artillery could be used not only to kill infantry and scare away horses, but also for defense. The English cannon was used as a defensive tool during the siege of Breteuil Castle, when the British fought off the advancing French. Thus, the cannon could be used to destroy siege equipment before it reached the fortifications. Shooting from a cannon was probably already carried out at that time for the siege, because in this way it was possible not only to break the fortifications, but also to set them on fire. The special igniter used in these guns was most likely a special powder mixture.

Another aspect of early European artillery is that it was a rather small, compact bombardment that nevertheless moved rather slowly and was the last to reach the battlefield. In fact, it is likely that the cannon used in the Battle of Crécy was capable of moving fairly quickly, as there is an anonymous chronicle that notes that the weapon was used to attack the French camp, indicating that it wasmobile enough to attack. These dwarf cannons eventually gave way to the larger wall-busting guns that appeared throughout Europe by the late 1300s.

Middle East

According to historian Ahmad Yu al-Hasan, during the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, the Mamluks used cannons against the Mongols. He claims it was "the first cannon in history" and used a gunpowder formula nearly identical to the ideal explosive gunpowder recipe. He also claims that this "superweapon" was not known to either the Chinese or the Europeans. Hassan further argues that the earliest textual evidence for this type of weapon is from the Middle East, based on earlier originals that report that a hand cannon was used by the Mamluks at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260. However, Hasan's claims have been refuted by other historians such as David Ayalon, Iqtidar Alam Khan, Joseph Needham, Tonio Andrade, and Gabor Agoston. Khan claims that it was the Mongols who gave gunpowder to the Islamic world, and believes that the Egyptian Mamluks acquired cannons in the 1370s. According to Needham, the term midfa, dated to textual sources from 1342 to 1352, did not refer to true hand guns or bombards, and stories of the iron cannon in the Islamic world are not recorded until 1365. Andrade dates the textual description of the cannon in Middle Eastern sources to the 1360s. Gabor Agoston and David Ayalon believe that the Mamluks certainly used siege guns by the 1360s, but the earlier use of these weapons in the Islamic world is unclear. There is some circumstantial evidence for the appearance of gunpowder weapons in the Emirate of Granada by the 1320s and 1330s, but the arguments put forward in defense of this version are not very convincing from an academic point of view.

Ibn Khaldun reported the use of cannons as siege engines by Sultan Marini Abu Yaqub Yusuf during the siege of Sijilmas in 1274. Ibn Khaldun's campaign to siege Sijalmassa in 1274 is described in several sources, and all of them contain references to massive iron guns, which, when fired, emit a frightening rumbling sound, "terrifying of Allah himself." However, these sources do not correspond to the declared time and were written a century later, around 1382, and therefore, most likely, distort the real facts. This version has, as a result, been dismissed as anachronistic by most academic historians, who are wary of claims of Islamic firearms being used in the period 1204-1324, as late medieval Arabic texts used the same word for gunpowder and the earlier incendiary mixture.. The historian Needham, for example, believes that Ibn Khaldun in his descriptions had in mind ordinary burning spears, forges and catapults, which were perceived by later readers and interpreters as descriptions of cannons.

Russian guns

Documentary evidence of cannons used by Russia does not appear until 1382. Apparently, initially they were used only in sieges, and more often for defense than for attack. Only in 1475, when Ivan III founded the first Russian cannon foundry in Moscow, did these advanced weapons of destruction begin to be produced in our country. The history of these weapons in Russia has come a long way from the primitive bombards of the late 13th century to the 57 mm cannon, widely used during the Great Patriotic War.

In the Balkans

The later large cannons were known as bombards and were three to five feet long. They were used by the Croatian cities of Dubrovnik and Kotor for defense as early as the end of the 14th century. The first bombards were made of iron, but bronze became more common as it was found to be more stable and able to propel rocks up to 45 kilograms (99 pounds).

Around the same period, the Byzantine Empire began building its own cannons to counter the Ottoman Empire, starting with medium-sized 3ft (0.91m) cannons in 10 gauge. The earliest reliable mention of the use of artillery in the Balkans dates back to 1396, when the Byzantines forced the Turks to leave by firing at them from the walls of Constantinople besieged by the Basurmans. However, the Turks learned how to build their own guns and laid siege to the Byzantine capital again in 1422. By 1453, the Ottomans used 68 captured Hungarian guns to bombard the walls of Constantinople for 55 days, killing anyone who stood in their way. The largest of their guns was the Turkish Great Bombardier, which required an operational team of 200 men and 70 oxen, and at least 10,000 men to use.to transport this bronze hulk. Gunpowder rendered the formerly destructive Greek fire obsolete, and the Byzantines surrendered Constantinople in disgrace, losing their empire forever.

Conclusion

The appearance and functionality of artillery almost did not change over the centuries until the technical revolution at the beginning of the last century, when the first mechanical guns appeared. But weapons historians and just curious readers remember well how the history of artillery began. This was also facilitated by the actively developing mass culture with the popular military film industry, and therefore now every child knows what a gun is.