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Details
LOT 0283
Medieval Iron Hand Cannon Collection
15TH CENTURY A.D.
3 3/4 - 4 3/4 in. (5.6 kg total. 9.5-12 cm).
Each comprising a touch hole to base. [3]
Provenance
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s.
East Anglian private collection.
Literature
See Funcken, L. & Funcken F., Le costume, l'armure et les armes au temps de la chevalerie, de huitieme au quinzieme siecle, Tournai,1977, pp.66-69, for reconstruction of how such hand cannons were used.
Footnotes
At the beginning of the 14th century, among the infantry troops of the Western Middle Ages, developed the use of manual cannons (such as the Italian schioppetti, spingarde, and the German Fusstbusse). The new weapon had, compared to the bow and the crossbow, the advantage of not needing any particular care, of being manufactured more quickly and of being cheaper.
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