What can you tell me about Gunpowder during the Old Age and during the Renaissance?

2 Comments

1. Jay says:

   February 10, 2010 at 12:56 pm

   Gunpowder was first used in ancient China where the Chinese military forces used gunpowder based weapons technology (i.e. rockets, guns, cannons) and explosives (i.e. grenades and different types of bombs) in warfare and also in fireworks.

   How it got to Europe has never been proven, given trading links between Europe and Asia there must have been someone who saw it, brought it back and then maybe a chemist (alchemist at the time) worked out what the components were. The other theory is that it was also co-invented independently of the Chinese. I’m not sure I believe that.

   In Germany the legend is that Berthold Brunen (actual name Berthold Schwarz) who was a monk invented the stuff. If you ever go to Freiburg in the Black Forest there’s a statue of him in the centre of town. But there are some records that demonstrate that gunpowder was in use in Europe prior to his discovery in the 1300s. I suspect being a monk he had some learning and curiousity and made gunpowder from a recipe handed on to him and being that there were few people in that part of Germany with knowledge of chemistry he used it to his advantage. Other people not knowing any different would have attributed it to him.

   Anyway from that point onwards its use in warfare became obvious and from then on it took precdence as a battlefield weapon. Agincourt – 1415 was the last major battle fought with longbows and knights in armour slugging it out. At that battle some primitive artillery was used, but within a generation the longbow’s usefulness as a weapon was superceded by cannon and musketry which had a longer range than arrows, and you can guess the rest.
2. GOW! says:

   February 10, 2010 at 12:56 pm

   It wasn’t smokeless powder like modern day stuff. When you fired a weapon it would cause a huge plume of smoke.