Gunpowder Artillery History and Development

To affirm his political regime, Pandolfo Petrucci (1452-1512) took advantage of the potentialities
given by the Camera del Comune. It had been the arsenal of the city of Siena for a long time, but
Pandolfo changed its organization and widened its assignments. The maintenance and production
of weapons was still the principal purpose of this institution of the city. Under Pandolfo the production
of artilleries, ammunitions and the fortification activity was increased, thanks to specialists
like Francesco di Giorgio, Giacomo Cozzarelli and Vannoccio Biringucci, personalities who deeply
influenced the technical and military culture of all Europe. The Camera del Comune also managed
the military intelligence, useful tool to the dissembling politics of the Petrucci, and to the management
of the army. The Army of Siena was composed by a Condotta in Aspetto, which Pandolfo used
to create alliances. But the most important troops were the Provvisionati di Piazza, a professional
infantry faithful to the political regime and depending, both economically and for the supply of
weapons, on the Chamber of the town and the leadership of Pandolfo. The military politics of Pandolfo
Petrucci brought Siena among the greatest European powers of that time but its purposes,
mainly finalized to the maintenance of his own personal power, obstructed a true modernization
of the war apparatus of Siena, which in the following years had been inferior than its adversaries.

ТОЛЬКО ОЗНАКОМИТЕЛЬНЫЙ ФРАГМЕНТ, электронная версия не распространяется.

Роджер Бэкон: алхимия, астрология, магия и медицина (сборник) / М. М. Пэттисон Мьюр, Г. С. Редгроув, Л. Торндайк, Э. Т. Уитингтон, Г. У. Л. Хайм / Пер. с англ. и лат., коммент. Ю. Ф. Родиченкова ; предисл. Б. К. Двинянинова, Ю. Ф. Родиченкова ; послесл. С. А. Панина ; под общ. ред. Б. К. Двинянинова. — СПб.: Издательство «Академия исследований культуры», 2021. — 240 с.: ил. — (Серия Librarium Aureum. Opus Minus). ISBN 978–5-94396–224–0 Уменьшенный формат, тв. обложка, тираж 300 экз.

Роджер Бэкон (ок. 1214 — ок. 1292) — английский философ и естествоиспытатель, монах-францисканец, профессор богословия, автор трактатов по алхимии. В сборник включены ранее не переводившиеся на русский язык работы известных и мало известных авторов конца XIX века начала XX века о Роджере Бэконе. В начале небольшая книга Герберта Стенли Редгроува «Роджер Бэкон. Отец экспериментальной науки и средневекового оккультизма» дает представление об экспериментах и эзотерическом наследии философа. Статья М. М. Пэттисона Мьюра «Роджер Бэкон: его отношение к алхимии и химии» более подробно раскрывает алхимический аспект его творчества. Далее следуют две одноименные, но различные в подходах работы — «Роджер Бэкон и порох», посвященные экспериментам с порохом, подполковника Г. У. Л Хайма и религиоведа Линна Торндайка. В заключение в статье «Роджер Бэкон и медицина» Э. Т. Уитингтон. раскрывает исторические особенности медицины XIII века и подробно останавливается на медицинских трактатах Р. Бэкона. Перевод снабжен предисловием и послесловием. Книга будет интересна широкому кругу читателей, а также культурологам, историкам философии, историкам науки, в частности химии и медицины, эзотериологам и всем интересующимся западной эзотерической традицией и корнями формирования экспериментальной науки.

Содержание

Б. К. Двинянинов, Ю. Ф. Родиченков.
Вместо предисловия переводчика ...................................... 5
Роджер Бэкон о секретах алхимии и магии ............................... 9
Роджер Бэкон и «Зеркало алхимии» .......................................... 13
Пророчества Роджера Бэкона о перспективах науки.................. 17

Г. С. Редгроув. Роджер Бэкон. Отец экспериментальной
науки и средневекового оккультизма.................................. 21
Заметка о портрете Роджера Бэкона ................................... 23
Глава I. Формирование взглядов Роджера Бэкона ............. 25
Глава II. Плоды обучения Роджера Бэкона......................... 37
Глава III. Астрология ........................................................... 49
Глава IV. Алхимия............................................................... 57
Глава V. Медицина............................................................... 67
Глава VI. Магия и открытие пороха.................................... 75

М. М. Пэттисон Мьюр. Роджер Бэкон: его отношение
к алхимии и химии............................................................... 85

Г. У. Л. Хайм. Роджер Бэкон и порох ....................................... 139
Cap. IX. De modo faciendi ovum philosophorum ................ 148
Cap. X. De codem, sed alio modo......................................... 152
Cap. XI. De eodem, tamen alio modo................................... 158

Л. Торндайк. Роджер Бэкон и порох ........................................ 167

Э. Т. Уитингтон. Роджер Бэкон и медицина............................ 175
Медицина тринадцатого века .............................................. 177
Медицинские трактаты Роджера Бэкона............................. 196

С. А. Панин. Роджер Бэкон и его историческое значение ....... 217

Библиография .............................................................................. 231

ABSTRACT in English (résumé en français plus bas): "Artillery and the art of the 'petite guerre': a long progression"
In 1744, for the first time in France, some pieces of artillery are associated to a unit of light troops from its inception. Indeed, the regiment of the harquebusiers of Grassin, a mixed body of infantrymen and cavalrymen, received two pieces of the light cannon known as "à la Suédoise" (in the Swedish way). With examples, the article shows on the one hand that narrative sources make it possible to identify a use of cannons in the "petite guerre" – the tactic in which light troops are specialized – from the War of the Austrian Succession in Flanders (1744-1748) onwards. But on the other hand, it is observed that only the theoretical treatises of the "petite guerre" published after the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) seriously consider the use of artillery in this area and encourage it. To clarify this discrepancy, we must return to the tactical and technical developments as well as to the political choices during the 18th century.

RESUME en français :
« Artillerie et art de la petite guerre : un long cheminement »
En 1744, pour la première fois en France, des pièces d’artillerie sont associées à un corps de troupes légères dès sa création. Le régiment des arquebusiers de Grassin, corps mixte de fantassins et de cavaliers, se voit en effet attribuer deux pièces du canon léger dit « à la suédoise ». L’article montre d’une part, exemples à l’appui, que les sources narratives permettent d’identifier un usage du canon à la petite guerre – la tactique de spécialité des troupes légères – dès la guerre de Succession d’Autriche en Flandre (1744-1748). Mais, d’autre part, on observe que seuls les traités théoriques de petite guerre publiés après la guerre de Sept Ans (1756-1763) envisagent sérieusement le recours à l’artillerie dans ce domaine et l’encouragent. Pour éclairer ce décalage, il faut revenir sur les évolutions tactiques et techniques ainsi que sur les choix politiques au long du XVIIIe siècle.

This paper studies steel built-up guns made in Josiah Vavasseur's London Ordnance Works in 1880s that were sold to China and used in coastal forts and warships. It uses the Vavasseur album in the collection of Southwark Local History Library to identify each type of Vavasseur guns that was used in China and has drawings, photos or surviving examples.

Theme One: Waterloo Artillery
Lt-Col Townend RA gives an informative introduction to the Artillery at Waterloo. Waterloo is one of the most written about battles but the role of the artillery is still poorly understood and controversial. Much of this revolves the letter written by the Duke of Wellington on 21 December 1815 that accused the Royal Artillery of cowardice and despite the evidence is repeated even in books published recently. David Wright revisits the Tactical Deployment of the Royal Horse Artillery at Waterloo as described by Maj-Gen BP Hughes. Stephen Summerfield gives an overview of The Board of Ordnance and Army Supply in 1815 and British Artillery at Waterloo. Erwin Muilwijk gives details upon the Netherlands Artillery at Waterloo.

Theme Two: Horse Artillery [Part 2]
This carries on the discussion of the role of horse artillery with papers by Hume upon the Classification of Artillery. Digby Smith translated Scharnhorst’s comments upon Horse Artillery. Stephen Summerfield explores Towards Tactical Mobility and Napoleonic Horse Artillery. Anthony Dawson and Stephen Summerfield demonstrate that the Origins of British Horse Artillery pre-dates 1793 when it received the Royal Warrant.

Theme Three: Prussian Artillery of Napoleonic Wars
Digby Smith continues his translation of the Geschichte der Brandenburg Preussischen Artillery [History of the Prussian Artillery] by Milnowsky and Bonin (1841).

Theme Four: French Gribeauval and AnXI Cannon (1791-1828)
Stephen Summerfield gives a chronology for French cannon over the period of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. The Notes on Artillery dictated by Napoleon translated by F.E.B. Laws justifies replacing of the Gribeauval System by the AnXI System.

This research will describe the first major operation launched by an Italian army against a heavily fortified city after the assimilation of the French style artillery into the warfare of the Peninsula. The paper will examine, in particular, the preparations for this “marvellous enterprise,” stressing the difficulties with the procurement of ammunition during the early stages of employment of these new guns.  Data have been gathered from the State Archives of Florence, Pisa, and Lucca. Furthermore, numerous chronicles and several diaries have been useful in highlighting the political, social, and economic background of the campaign.
The article demonstrates that, from the last years of the fifteenth century, the issues with supplying ordnance compelled the Italian regional states to develop the manufacture of pieces, shot, and powder, facing a “revolutionary challenge” in terms of management, commerce, and production.

Some documents from the Friuli area, dating back to 1336, attesting the use of firearms in Venzone and the preparation of black powder, were quickly forgotten immediately after their publication, not finding feedback, even today, even in local publications.
Their rediscovery and contextualization, considered also the recent discoveries on the subject occurred for the neighboring Veneto area, confirms their importance for the history of the hoplology offering a more secure and documented datum of the famous quotation referring to the year 1331 reported in the Chronicle of Cividale («ballistabant cum sclopo versus terram») whose oldest specimens, as known, do not go beyond the XV century.

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Alcuni documenti di ambito friulano attestanti l’uso di armi da fuoco a Venzone e la preparazione della polvere nera risalenti al 1336, furono rapidamente dimenticati subito dopo la loro pubblicazione, non trovando, a tutt’oggi, riscontro neppure nelle pubblicazioni di argomento locale.
La loro riscoperta e contestualizzazione, alla luce anche dei risultati avuti dalle recenti indagini sull’argomento avvenute per la confinante area veneta, conferma la loro importanza per la storia dell’oplologia offrendo un dato più sicuro e documentato della famosa citazione riferita all’anno 1331 riportata nella Cronaca di Cividale («ballistabant cum sclopo versus terram») che, come noto da tempo, è giunta solamente in copie del secolo XV.

This work will revolve around the analysis of the so-called "Duncan Guns", a total of 4 bronze cannons from Italy and Spain cast in the 18th century. The objective of this will be to carry out an in-depth study of the foundry marks, as well as the general condition of the pieces to obtain all possible information about their past and how they arrive at HMS Unicorn. To highlight some of the weapons' most striking features, the guns' engraving decorations were covered in talcum powder and the photographs of the objects were digitally manipulated. By applying image-editing filters to these photographs, it was possible to make details of the cannons more visible and easier to decipher.

y B. Joel, “Death Be Not Proud: A Denouement of How one Man and his Death Made One Small Island Become More Detrimental to England Than All the Forces of her Enemies, A Story of Isaac Van Dam of Statia". Gunpowder and the American Revolution

Scholars who study craft books and books of secrets in the Middle Ages can engage on internal debates about the modes of transmission or interpretations of numerous facets of these important treatises, but they can all agree on two relatively firm facts. First, in the past, technical knowledge was more an art (techne) than a science (scientia); that is, it was about doing rather than necessarily knowing for knowing's sake. To put it another way, it was decidedly not philosophia naturalis, with its emphasis on causes but rather ars practica, with an emphasis on doing and making. Second, practitioners of these arts tended to disseminate knowledge from one generation to the next more or less directly
through the apprenticeship system rather than through written texts. What this means, on both counts, is that in the Middle Ages and early modem period textbooks in the modem sense were generally unavailable, irrelevant, and simply not needed. The craft treatises, which survive then, can only represent a small fraction of the vast craft tradition, and that they were ever written down at all should give us pause to consider by whom and for what purpose.

Considering the craft of gunnery and its preserved treatises also adds another layer of interpretive difficulty: the study of the rise of gunnery overlaps chronologically with the Scientific Revolution and its historiography in a peculiar manner. For the Scientific Revolution, a traditional narrative exists of the increasing rationalization, quantification, and geometrization of nature. For the military use of gunpowder weaponry, the narrative argues that the gunners, seeking ever-more-accurate bombardment of fortifications, turned to exacting understandings of ballistic trajectories to accomplish this task. The conflation of these two narratives is that the gunners became "scientific," that is, using science in the modem sense, and by some extension, quantitative natural philosophy in the historical sense.

Focusing on the contemporary manuals, this conflation is found to be quite unfounded for gunnery before at least the later seventeenth century. The vast majority of gunners' manuals, treatises, notebooks, and manuals before the eighteenth century have much more in common with cookbooks than they do with the Principia of Newton or even The Two New Sciences of Galileo. Gunnery manuals, in particular, preserve collections of the description of a variety of substances, processes, and mixtures that provided aides memoire to the users and perhaps didactic tools for the preservation and transmission of such knowledge. This study analyzes a number of gunners manuals and notebooks for their content, range of coverage, and material knowledge, and then looks in-depth at a number of firework recipes across a number of manuals to understand the gunners' interests, background knowledge, and goals. The material demonstrates
their great felicity with material properties and substances, and at the same time a remarkable disinterest in philosophical frameworks in which these materials might have meaning (notably, alchemical connections are entirely absent, and even Scholastic terminology does not appear).

In 2001 The Arms and Armour Society sponsored a translation of Das Feuerwerkbuch. (FWB) This manuscript contains the earliest (Western) references to gunpowder. The editorial comment of the translation contained the unsubstantiated assertion that, since certain processes were not specifically mentioned in the text, they were not carried out and that consequently the nitrate of medieval gunpowder was calcium based.
This has been shown to be incorrect but the concept seems to have taken root among some historians unable to understand the clear technical evidence in the manuscript.ii
Although the processes described in the FWB were evidently capable of delivering substantially pure potassium nitrate, there remains a possibility that some calcium (or magnesium) nitrate could remain as a minor impurity sufficient to affect the quality of the gunpowder.
This present paper gives evidence that such contamination was sometimes (but not always) present but was neutralised during the manufacturing process.

It took up to two hundred years to progress from the first confirmed appearance of gunpowder weapons in Europe and the Middle East to the first new fortifications wholly designed according to geometric principles and based on the use of low-lying, interlocking bastions and outworks to defend against and to mount artillery. The authors are researching this long process in detail , to explore how and when changes were made in fortress design, but also what inspired such developments and how effective they were. One challenge is that there are thousands of examples across the Christian and Muslim worlds; the second is that there is uncertainty about dating many of them. This paper suggests a few critical turning points (Fig.1). One thing is clear at the start. Wherever a change was made, it did not remain private for long. The medieval ruling class was international and so were medieval engineers. 1 Technological change diffused rapidly. It is rare that we can prove which country or which ruler was the first to make something wholly new. There is, however, good evidence to suggest that the first changes to fortifications to accommodate the new weapon were made in England, during the Hundred Years War with France. This fits well with the evidence that gunpowder was first used in war in Europe in the early 14 th century. The English used guns at the battle of Crécy in 1346 and at the siege of Calais immediately after, although with little effect. The first datable evidence of fortifications being adapted so that the defenders could use these small and inaccurate weapons was at the abbey of Quarr on the Isle of Wight, which was subject to seaborne attacks by the French, when a wall was built with two square holes cut through it (Fig. 2), in 1365. 2 The gun must have sat on a timber 1 See Purton 2018, passim. 2 Renn 1968, 301-302. Abstract: The authors set out the key turning points in the evolution of defensive architecture in response to the appearance of firearms in the 1 st quarter of the 14 th century in Europe, for both attack and defence. Between the first adaptations to defences during the middle of the 14 th century to the emergence of geometric whole defensive systems based on low-lying bastions and interconnected outworks in the 16 th century, there was a long period of evolution, experimentation and development, responding to continuous improvement in the range and destructive power of gunpowder artillery. New designs of castles, fortresses and town walls focussed on the need to shield high medieval walls and towers against the power of the gun, but also on how to mount guns on defences and integrate loop holes to keep an attacker as far away as possible. Ideas diffused rapidly across Europe and the Muslim world. Factors such as the builder's wealth and the purpose of the fortress also determined what was constructed.

The guns of the coast artillery were built to match those carried by the warships of the era. Mortars have long been an essential part of defense. The article focuses on the different types of french mortars, 17th c. to mid 19th c., and their mode of action.

This article offers a study and edition of a collection of Middle English recipes for gunpowder from the early fifteenth century in London, Society of Antiquaries, MS 101. These are entirely unknown outside of their descriptions in a few works listing the texts in the manuscript and studies of the manuscript itself. These four distinct recipes are the earliest in Middle English and also include the earliest mention of gunpowder corning in England (the earliest in Europe is from Germany in 1411), which made the resulting product more reliable (especially against spoilage) and more powerful.

The battles fought between the Genoese and the Venetians in the lagoon of Chioggia, between 1379 and 1380, marked a turning point for naval warfare. Namely, these battles saw for the first time a massive use of embarked artillery, in a process carried out thanks to the navies in the Mediterranean rather than in the Northern seas, despite what a certain historiography claims. The early presence of bombards on galleys, cogs and ganzaroli would change the course of sieges and of amphibian operations: since Chioggia, naval warfare had not only been left in the hands of crossbowmen and crew anymore, but it would have become also one of exhausting bombardments. My contribute will be an attempt to propose hypothesis on the tactics and aims of the Genoese, that almost reached the enemy's capital; to investigate the symbolic dimension of the conflict, always present in the fighting between Genoa and Venice, with the stealing of relics and insignias. The usage of the new weapons employed in the lagoon will be then examined, starting from the coeval chronicles that can give first-hand information on their first use, showing the changes occurring in the art of warfare. This will allow to carry out an in-depth analysis on the new ways of managing the conflict, especially in the uncommon circumstances of an amphibian siege. This naval and trenches warfare, in which artillery was for the first time relevant, marked one of the transformations that preconized the positional warfare of the following centuries.

In 1459, the manuscript called Thott 290 2° (now stored in Copenhagen) was completed at the request Hans Talhoffer. Most of its teachings related to the myriad forms of fighting that were the trade of a fencing master. However, modern readers paging through it for the first time are quick to notice an anomaly: 36 pages toward the beginning of the manuscript contain fantastic depictions of complex war machines, exotic inventions, and strange scenarios. They tend to conclude that Talhoffer must have been an inventor or technologist, his generation’s Leonardo da Vinci. What is not apparent is that these are not creations of Talhoffer at all; they are a remnant of Konrad Kyeser’s treatise _Bellifortis_ and predate Talhoffer’s manuscript by over fifty years. To date, there has been no substantial work on _Bellifortis_ in English, so my intent with this article is threefold: 1. To give a sense of Kyeser’s life and place in history; 2. To briefly outline the origin and evolution of _Bellifortis_ and its tradition; 3. To review the contents of the 7-chapter _Bellifortis_, with attention to the parts found in Copenhagen.

Since the seminal works of Needham and Partington, accounts of saltpetre have been dominated by historical writers with scant attempts to verify the technical details. This paper seeks to follow the progress of saltpetre production from the earliest collection of the natural product to the large scale production demanded by the rapid growth of gunpowder weapons. The basic chemistry of the production and purification process is described and the important and much misunderstood role of lime is explained,  Other similar nitrates are briefly described, chiefly to eliminate them as credible substitutes for saltpetre in gunpowder.

Key words: Saltpetre, Nitre, Gunpowder, Medieval Gunpowder Chemistry.

This paper gives an overview of the emergence and development of mobile light field artillery in selected European countries during the first half of the Thirty Years' War. In the final part of the paper, the importance of the collection of four field bronze cannons from the period of the Thirty Years' War at the Opočno Castle in East Bohemia is also discussed.

Futur instrument de la construction étatique, l’artillerie n’est pas (encore), au début du XVe siècle, l’apanage du prince. Outre certains seigneurs, les villes des Pays-Bas disposent de parcs d’artillerie parfois impressionnants. Dans une perspective comparative, cet article examine, à un moment où le rôle du canon sur les théâtres d’opération s’accroît sensiblement, les politiques princières vis-à-vis de l’artillerie communale dans trois principautés des Pays-Bas : la Flandre de Jean sans Peur (1405-1419), le Brabant de son frère cadet Antoine (1406-1415) et le Hainaut de leur beau-frère et allié commun Guillaume IV (1404-1417). Ces principautés sont privilégiées pour deux raisons : d’une part, le développement considérable, depuis le milieu du XIVe siècle, d’un artisanat du canon et l’émergence de formes d’organisation de l’arme dans leurs villes ; d’autre part, alors même que des liens familiaux et politiques entre les trois princes favorisaient des influences réciproques, ils devaient composer avec des réalités politiques internes différentes. Envisagées sous l’angle de la dépendance des princes vis-à-vis de l’artillerie communale ainsi que des incitants ou freins mis à son développement, les politiques princières reflètent les rapports de pouvoir entre prince et villes au sein des trois principautés.

This article examines technological developments in the production of weapons, especially firearms, during the Florentine Quattrocento, from the early conflicts against the Visconti (1423–1433) until the first years of the Pisan War (1494–1499). The aim is an analysis of the qualitative standards achieved by gunmakers and gunpowder makers before and after the appearance and the assimilation of the most efficient French ordnance into Italian warfare. Data have been collected from the State Archive of Florence. Fiscal sources (catasto, decima) and the documentation of guilds (fabbri and speziali) provided the information on craftsmen and their workshops. The registers of military officers (Dieci di Balìa and Otto di Pratica) show the leading role that public demand played in the introduction of technical changes and innovative tools such as new furnaces, bronze cannons, cast iron shot, and corned powder. The same records provide information about the spread of innovations and the migration of artisans. The results of the research demonstrate that the commune actually enhanced its management of war production, fostering improvements in the fabrication of firearms and a significant growth in the weapons market. Numerous artisans were employed in manufacturing munitions and in supplying soldiers and fortresses, and some famous artists, such as Andrea del Verrocchio, may have been involved in casting beautiful firearms for the Florentine Republic in this period.

Although soundly defeated in the War of Austrian Succession by the brilliance of Frederick the Great and his Prussian Army, the army of Austria was the most significant of his opponents. Their campaign history has been expertly documented in recent times, but very little has been written on their uniforms. This new volume is a companion to the author’s AUSTRIAN SEVEN YEARS WAR INFANTRY AND ENGINEERS.

It documents the campaign history, uniforms, flags, horse furniture as well as a complete record of its Inhaber [colonel-in-chief] for each Austrian cavalry regiment, whether Cuirassier, Chevauleger, Dragoons, Grenz Hussars or Hussars. The work draws upon most of the major sources on Austrian uniforms of the Seven Years War including the contemporary works of Albertini, the Bautzen Manuscript and Raspe which influenced all later artists. The 340+ colour illustrations include 191 of uniforms after Albertini, Brauer, Donath, Knötel, Neucetz and Teuber-Wekersdorf plus 43 flags / standards, 102 uniform / equipment details, 10 line drawings from Die Österreichische Armee 1700-1867 by Ottenfeld & Teuber and 10 Tables.

In addition this new volume provides a detailed study of Austrian artillery pieces and organization for the period. The chapter is illustrated with 15 photos of extent guns tubes, 9 plans and 6 Tables. In addition there are 46 short biographies of generals and designers of the Liechtenstein artillery system with 12 portraits."

Among the objects from Mughal India (1526-1858), a small group of luxury priming flasks stand out. Some of them can be traced to the seventeenth century in inventories of European royal collections.
Some 85 such flasks have been published. The flasks can be organised into groups based on carving style, iconography or decoration structure. It is now possible to see that they were subject to a stylistic evolution. The individual flasks and the groups of flasks can also be arranged to propose a clear chronology of their production and link them to the imperial mughal workshops under Akbar

Il Museo d'Artiglieria di Torino è stato fondato negli anni 1842-43 sull'onda di quella rapida maturazione di idee, di interessi e di tecnologie che, nella prima metà del secolo XIX e soprattutto durante il regno di Carlo Alberto, ha accompagnato e reso possibile il Risorgimento in Italia e in Europa e innescato il processo di crescita industriale del nostro Paese. Lo ha preceduto, nel Settecento, nell'Arsenale di Torino, un insieme di sale di oggetti a carattere militare legate a specifiche aree di attività (formazione dei quadri dell'esercito sabaudo, forniture di armamenti, ecc.). Per molti anni il Museo torinese è stato l'unico a carattere storico militare in Italia, stimolando poi la creazione di numerosi altri musei, ed un precursore anche in ambito europeo: ad esempio, i musei militari di Vienna, Dresda e Londra sono di gran lunga posteriori. Ancora oggi è unico nel suo genere per le due importanti finalità che persegue: la prima, comune agli altri musei d'Arma, è di documentare le glorie-dell'Artiglieria attraverso un ricco apparato di cimeli e di ricordi la seconda, molto più peculiare, è di costituire un insieme unitario di-collezioni (dalle armi portatili ai cannoni, ai modelli in scala, ai dipinti, alle bandiere) che documenta il particolare momento storico che ha visto organizzarsi e combattere quello strumento della politica risorgimentale che è stato l'Armata del Regno di Sardegna. A questo nucleo originario si affiancano cimeli e documenti della storia militare italiana e della millenaria evoluzione della tecnologia militare. Nonostante la denominazione riduttiva ("d'Artiglieria") è dunque ben più di uno dei tanti, pur pregevoli, musei militari sparsi sul territorio. Dopo una lunga e non facile permanenza nel Maschio della Cittadella torinese, le collezioni sono ora depositate, sempre in Torino, presso la Caserma C. Amione. Esse attendono opportuna sistemazione e valorizzazione non solo nella loro antica sede, finalmente in restauro, ma anche in altri adeguati spazi per conservare ed esporre tutto quanto il Maschio non potrà più accogliere. Questo libro, attraverso una serie di ricerche originali, analizza vicende e contenuti del Museo e mira a far conoscere ed apprezzare l'ampiezza della storia che documenta e la ricchezza delle sue insostituibili collezioni.
Giancarlo Melano, torinese nato nel 1939, laureato in economia e commercio, ha percorso una lunga carriera nell'industria elettrica, fino ad occupare il ruolo di Direttore della Segreteria Generale nel Compartimento Enel di Torino, competente per l'Italia di Nord-ovest. In seguito si è dedicato agli studi storici che lo avevano sempre appassionato, operando nell'ambito di varie Associazioni torinesi, che ha contribuito a creare o ad animare (Torino 1706/2006, Amici del Museo Storico Nazionale d'Artiglieria, Passepartout 2011). Nell'ambito dell'Associazione Torino 1706/2006 ha curato alcune importanti iniziative realizzate negli ultimi anni e, fra queste, le celebrazioni del tricentenario dell'Assedio e della Battaglia di Torino (per le quali ha avuto il prezioso sostegno del Gen. Guido Amoretti) realizzando la Mostra "L'alba di un regno" nei locali del Maschio della Cittadella e del Museo Pietro Micca. Sempre nel quadro di quelle celebrazioni ha contribuito alle altre iniziative (convegni, rievocazioni storiche, concerti, spettacoli, pubblicazioni). D'intesa con il Comando della Regione Militare Nord ha poi seguito le fasi più recenti dell'attività del Museo d'Artiglieria fino a giungere alla redazione di questo volume.

Much has been written about the sources and properties of saltpetre and charcoal but the third component of gunpowder, sulphur, has received scant attention. Although the 'modern' spelling of saltpeter and sulfur 1 are becoming more widely used, saltpetre and sulphur are almost universal in contemporary literature. The sulphur spelling is still used by the city of Sulphur, Louisiana, US technical manuals, EU legislation, major producers and many place names. As this paper deals primarily with literature pre-twentyfirst century, the original spelling is used throughout. Although gunpowder can be made without sulphur, it has been considered an essential component from the earliest times. Of the theories propounded for the invention of gunpowder, none address the question of why the three ingredients were present in proportions that could result in a credible explosion. A previous paper 2 has posited the development of gunpowder as an evolutionary process following a logical progression involving no unique inventive step. This, incidentally, explains the difficulty in assigning a specific date to the invention of gunpowder. Briefly, the sequence of development could credibly have been ... Charcoal-A fire weapon (fire pot) Charcoal + Sulphur-A chemical weapon (stink pot) Charcoal + Sulphur + Saltpetre-An enhanced flame weapon (flame thrower) By increasing the saltpetre content as an obvious means of enhancing the flame effect, the explosive properties became evident and were exploited.

"The strong links of Saxony with the Polish crown caused her to become the battleground for the competing powers of Austria, Prussia and Russia for centuries. Efficient artillery was essential but in the 1740s was neglected due to the prohibitive costs of ordnance and maintaining a standing army. This contributed by the annexation of Saxony by Frederick the Great in 1756 and the adsorption of her soldiers into the Prussian Army. The remnants of the Saxon Army fought with distinction with their Austrian and French Allies.

This unhappy experience of the Seven Years War (1756-63) led to the M1766 Hoyer system that was first used in the War of Bavarian Succession (1777-78). The gun carriage and elevating system of the M1766 4-pdr Schnellfeuergeschütz regimental gun probably influenced the design of the Austrian M1780 Wurst guns. The M1766 Granadstück based upon the Russian Unicorn was a long barrelled howitzer that could fire an early form of spherical case [Shrapnel].

The 1809 campaign showed the Saxon Army and its ordnance had to be transformed from that suited for 18th Century to Napoleonic warfare. The main influence on the M1810 gun tubes was the French AnXI with the carriages derived from those of the Saxon M1766 Hoyer System. These excellent guns performed well in 1812 and especially at Gross Beeren (23 August 1813) where they dismounted 9 Prussian guns.

The century of Saxon ordnance development is illustrated with 66x 1:24 scale plans, 64x 1:30 scale plans and 64 details drawn from contemporary sources. These are enhanced by 34 photographs, 38 contemporary plates and 32 uniform plates with 78 separate uniforms shown in colour. In addition there are 3 maps, 34 OOBs and 22 Tables.

Caliver Books
http://www.caliverbooks.com/bookview.php?abae755a07b176dedf79a4cbd2143695&id=16444"

Gunpowder arrived in Europe from Asia in the 13th century. It was first used militarily by medieval armies in bombards, large gunpowder-fired siege guns. By the late 17th and 18th centuries gunpowder weapons were the dominant weapons used on European battlefields. The prevalence and importance of gunpowder weapons rose during the Renaissance period, between roughly 1350 and 1550. When Charles VIII of France invaded Italy in 1494, Italians were shocked at the power of his siege canons, and during the later phases of the Italians Wars, both artillery and handguns became increasingly common in battles. Gunpowder weaponry was not as important to warfare during the Renaissance as they would become in later periods, however technological developments of and tactical usage of gunpowder weapons did impact the Italian Wars. Siege guns proved to be very effective and led to the creation of new types of fortresses. Field artillery and firearms had a more limited impact on warfare but were still important weapons.

Given the difficulty that archaeologists usually encounter in order to identify, contextualize and conveniently date the artifacts of military
origin found in their excavations, a catalogue of some of them is offered, especially the projectiles for portable muzzleloader and breechloading weapons most commonly used on the cantabrian coast between 1840 and 1880.

War has been the determining factor for the survival of empires and kingdoms for long. As the ages progressed from medieval to modern, technological and intellectual breakthroughs came to be acknowledged and accepted all over. Gunpowder bridges the gap between these two ages. The development of technology for gunpowder production developed in China, reached the frontiers of Europe and the Naphtha based ammunition reverted to the Chinese shores. Indian landmass was not alien to this phenomenon and thus participated with equal zeal in the “Military Revolution”.
The development in reduction of size of firearms has been gradual from the early cannons to slightly smaller hand cannons to hand guns. At the end it left the society militarized and ruthless. Violence was the only constant employer till the British arrived with a centralized army and well established bureaucracy. The period prior to this is was marked with intense bloodshed and power struggles with the musket emerging as the central technology.

La ricerca esplora lo sviluppo militare dei paesi dell'Asia Orientale (Cina, Corea e Giappone) tra 1400 e 1800, mettendolo in relazione con il fenomeno coevo della Rivoluzione Militare in Europa in un'ottica di storia delle relazioni internazionali e World History.

The research explores the military development of East Asian countries (China, Korea and Japan) between 1400 and 1800, putting it in relation with the contemporary phenomenon of the Military Revolution in Europe with a focus on history of international relations and World History.

108pp., 4to, fully illus.,
Four themes: a translation by Digby Smith of Bleckwenn’s important woirk on Prussian artillery of the Seven Years War, together with scale plans by Christian Rogge; Saxon & Piedmont quick fire guns; Battalion guns & Amusettes in the Netherlands 1793-1795; Jan Verbruggen’s methods of artillery repairs which caused his dismissal from The Hague & employment by the Royal Brass Foundry at Woolwich.

Arguably the most important Western source on the early history of gunpowder technology is the late thirteenth century manuscript, Das Fuerwerkbuch.  When it was translated into English in 2000, it contained a commentary on the chemistry of many of the formulations given. These were largely dismissed as useless alchemical nonsense which could not work. Although some mysteries remain, much of the formulation can be understood either as contemporary 'best practice' or by comparison with modern pyrotechnic and explosive knowledge.
This paper re-examines the underlying chemistry and demonstrates some surprising innovations anticipating much later claims.

Note
An extended and peer reviewed copy of this paper was published in ICON Vol 21, 2015
available at  https://www.jstor.org/stable/24721698?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

This article examines the technological development of artillery production in Florence during the last two decades of the fifteenth century, before and after the assimilation of the most efficient French ordnance into Italian warfare. The study starts from the notes, drawings, accounts, and guns produced by Bonaccorso di Vettorio Ghiberti (1451–1516), the heir of the foundry of his illustrious ancestor Lorenzo di Cione (1378–1455). Data have been collected from the historical archives of the Istituto degli Innocenti, from the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale of Florence, and from the Florentine State Archive.
This article demonstrates the existence of a lively and reactive war-related industry in Renaissance Italy, which was aware of new ideas and new techniques. The article highlights, moreover, the leading role of public demand in fostering military innovations.

The Genoese galleys, both the Republic ones and those belonging to private ship-owners hired to the Spanish crown, at the battle of Lepanto amounted to 31 representing the third component, after Venice and Spain, of the Christian fleet. They were fitted with bronze ordnance produced in Genoa and also ten new Spanish-Neapolitan galleys had received a complete artillery equipment cast in this city. So we can calculate about 40 heavy centerline cannons and more than 160 minor pieces (sakers, petrieri and swivel guns) from Genoese manufacture fired in this battle.