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The bombard is a type of
cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
or mortar which was used throughout the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
and the early modern period. Bombards were mainly large calibre,
muzzle-loading A muzzleloader is any firearm into which the projectile and the propellant charge is loaded from the muzzle of the gun (i.e., from the forward, open end of the gun's barrel). This is distinct from the modern (higher tech and harder to make) desig ...
artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
pieces used during sieges to shoot round stone projectiles at the
walls Walls may refer to: *The plural of wall, a structure *Walls (surname), a list of notable people with the surname Places * Walls, Louisiana, United States * Walls, Mississippi, United States * Walls, Ontario, neighborhood in Perry, Ontario, C ...
of enemy fortifications, enabling troops to break in. Most bombards were made of
iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...
and used
gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...
to launch the projectiles. There are many examples of bombards, including
Mons Meg Mons Meg is a medieval bombard in the collection of the Royal Armouries, on loan to Historic Scotland and located at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. It has a barrel diameter of making it one of the largest cannons in the world by calibre. ...
, the
Dardanelles Gun The Basilic (cannon), Basillica or Great Turkish Bombard ( tr, Şahi topu or simply ''Şahi'') is a 15th-century Siege engine, siege cannon, specifically a large-calibre artillery, super-sized Bombard (weapon), bombard, which saw action in the ...
, and the handheld bombard. The weapon provided the name to the
Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * ...
of bombardier and the word bombardment.


Terminology

The term "bombard" was first used to describe guns of any kind from the early to mid-14th century, but it was later applied primarily to large cannons during the 14th to 15th centuries. Despite its strong association with large cannons, there is no standard size for bombards, and the term has been applied to cannons only a meter in length as well as cannons several meters long weighing up to 20 tonnes.


History

The oldest known representation of a bombard can be found in the
Dazu Rock Carvings The Dazu Rock Carvings () are a series of Chinese religious sculptures and carvings and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Dazu District, Chongqing, China. The carvings date back as far as the 7th century AD, depicting and influenced by Buddhi ...
. In 1985, the Canadian historian Robin Yates was visiting Buddhist cave temples when he saw a sculpture on the wall depicting a demon firing a hand-held bombard. The sculpture was later dated to the early 12th century. Early bombards also include two Chinese c. 1377 cast-iron mortars weighing over 150 kg, each with 4 trunnions on their barrels. England began using cannons in the early 14th century. Field artillery was deployed by King Edward III at the
Battle of Crecy A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
in 1346 but equipment which may have been an artillery piece was listed as captured on a French ship by the English, at Sluys, as early as 1340. Inverted 'keyhole' gun loops at Bodiam Castle,
Cooling Castle Cooling Castle is a 14th-century quadrangular castle in the village of Cooling, Kent on the Hoo Peninsula about north of Rochester, Kent, Rochester. It was built in the 1380s by the Baron Cobham, Cobham family, the local lords of the manor, to ...
and
Westgate Canterbury The Westgate is a Middle Ages, medieval gatehouse in Canterbury, Kent, England. This high western gate of the defensive wall, city wall is the largest surviving city gate in England. Built of Kentish rag-stone, ragstone around 1379, it is the l ...
have all been identified as for firing heavy handguns. These defences are dated 1380–1385. Initially used as defensive weapons primitive bombards began to be used as siege weapons in the later 14th century. Henry IV and Henry V won battles with the use of bombards. Henry V captured Harfleur with bombards in 1415. King Henry's army later came under artillery fire at the Battle of Agincourt. James II of Scotland destroyed many castles with his one and a half ton cannon named "The Lion". The French re-conquest of their kingdom from English control saw the use of considerable French artillery in the siege role. The French in this period preferred to avoid attacking English longbowmen in open battle and relied on siege tactics. However the last battle of the Hundred Years' War saw English commander John Talbot lead an Anglo-Gascon army against dug-in French troops equipped with 300 pieces of artillery at the
Battle of Castillion The Battle of Castillon between the forces of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France took place on 17 July 1453 in Gascony near the town of Castillon-sur-Dordogne (later Castillon-la-Bataille). Historians regard this decisi ...
in 1453. The French camp had been laid out by ordnance officer Jean Bureau to maximise the French artillery arm. The Anglo-Gascons were shot to pieces and Talbot was eventually killed. Most bombards started with the construction of a wooden core surrounded by iron bars. Then, iron hoops were driven over these bars in order to surround and cover them. The whole structure was then welded with a hammer while it was still hot at about 2,500 °F (1,400 °C) (Pure iron can be welded when nearly white hot; between 2,500 °F (1,400 °C) and 2,700 °F (1,500 °C). See
forge welding Forge welding (FOW), also called fire welding, is a solid-state welding process that joins two pieces of metal by heating them to a high temperature and then hammering them together. It may also consist of heating and forcing the metals together ...
.) The rings then subsequently cooled and formed over the bars to secure them. The last step was to incinerate the wooden core and to attach a one-piece cast. The complicated procedure required a highly skilled forge who could work quickly and precisely with a hammer.


Notable examples

A notable example of a bombard is the large
Mons Meg Mons Meg is a medieval bombard in the collection of the Royal Armouries, on loan to Historic Scotland and located at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. It has a barrel diameter of making it one of the largest cannons in the world by calibre. ...
weapon, built around 1449 and used by King James II of Scotland. It was very powerful and used for bringing down castle walls. The origins of the Mons Meg are not fully known but according to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, it was his idea. It was ordered around 1449 and had similar construction to a typical bombard. However, the Mons Meg was seldom used because of several factors. Mons Meg was capable of firing 180 kg (396 lb) shots and was one of the largest bombards in its time. It is now housed on public display at Edinburgh Castle. A bombard with a bore of approximately 12 inches was found when the moat of Bodiam Castle, Kent, was drained. A muzzle-loader of hoop-and-stave construction, it is believed to be the oldest piece found in England and may be late 14th or very early 15th century. It was possibly dumped in the moat following an abortive siege at the castle during the Wars of the Roses. The original is now at the Royal Artillery Museum at Woolwich, but a copy has been on show at the castle for many years. The Star Gun Company has built a Bodiam Bombard replica while local newspapers report a replica was being fired at the castle for visitors during 2012. Other known 15th-century very large-calibre guns include the wrought-iron
Pumhart von Steyr The Pumhart von Steyr is a medieval large-calibre cannon from Styria, Austria, and the largest known wrought-iron bombard by caliber. It weighs around 8 tons and has a length of more than 2.5 meters. It was produced in the early 15th century an ...
and Dulle Griet as well as the cast-bronze Faule Mette, Faule Grete, and Grose Bochse. The
Tsar Cannon The Tsar Cannon (russian: Царь-пушка, ''Tsar'-pushka'') is a large early modern period artillery piece (known as a ''bombarda'' in Russian) on display on the grounds of the Moscow Kremlin. It is a monument of Russian artillery casting ar ...
is a late 16th-century show-piece. The
Dardanelles Gun The Basilic (cannon), Basillica or Great Turkish Bombard ( tr, Şahi topu or simply ''Şahi'') is a 15th-century Siege engine, siege cannon, specifically a large-calibre artillery, super-sized Bombard (weapon), bombard, which saw action in the ...
, built in the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in 1464 by Munir Ali, with a weight of 18.6 t and a length of 518 cm, was capable of firing stone balls of up to 63 cm diameter.Schmidtchen (1977b), pp. 226–228 The
Tsar Cannon The Tsar Cannon (russian: Царь-пушка, ''Tsar'-pushka'') is a large early modern period artillery piece (known as a ''bombarda'' in Russian) on display on the grounds of the Moscow Kremlin. It is a monument of Russian artillery casting ar ...
, built in 1586 and today located on the grounds of the Moscow Kremlin, is the largest bombard ever built. Eventually bombards were superseded by weapons using smaller
calibre In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore match ...
iron projectiles fired from longer barrels with more powerful
gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...
.


Gallery

File:HandBombardWesternEurope1390-1400.jpg, "Hand bombard", 1390–1400 File:200KgWroughtIronBombard1450MetzFrance.jpg, 200 kg
wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...
bombard, circa 1450,
Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...
, France. It was manufactured by forging together iron bars, held in place by iron rings. It fired 6 kg stone balls. Length: 82 cm. File:Great Turkish Bombard at Fort Nelson.JPG, The
Dardanelles Gun The Basilic (cannon), Basillica or Great Turkish Bombard ( tr, Şahi topu or simply ''Şahi'') is a 15th-century Siege engine, siege cannon, specifically a large-calibre artillery, super-sized Bombard (weapon), bombard, which saw action in the ...
. File:Mons Meg at Edinburgh Castle.jpg, Mons Meg at Edinburgh Castle, mid-15th century File:Mons Meg cannonballs, Edinburgh Castle Scotland.jpg, Mons Meg cannonballs File:Cannons abandonded by Thomas Scalles at Mont Saint-Michel.jpg, English Bombards abandoned during the Hundred Years' War and now exposed on the Mont-Saint-Michel. File:Kwidzyn bombarda.jpg, Bombard from the beginning of the 15th century, the only surviving bombard used by
Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...
, now exposed in
Kwidzyn Castle Kwidzyn Castle (german: Burg Marienwerder) is a large brick gothic castle in the town of Kwidzyn, Poland. It is an example of the Teutonic Knights' castle architecture. Description The castle is located by Gdańska Street (''Ulica Gdańska'' in ...
. File:明朝一三七七年火銃.jpg, Early Ming bombard with two pair of trunnions, 1377 AD. File:Beschrijving Koloniale geschiedenis, Atjehoorlog. Indonesië (voorheen Nederlands-Indië) Twee Atjehse kanonnen in de kraton van Kotaradja. Sumatra, 1880-1910.jpg, Acehnese guns including two bombards (closer to the camera). File:Bombard from XV century.PNG, 15th century bombard mounted on carriage, Warsaw. File:Bombard.jpg, Bombard in its siege position, Denmark. File:Cardiff Castle, October 2017 39.jpg, A bombard recovered from the well of Cardiff castle, in swivel configuration.


See also

* List of the largest cannons by caliber


Notes


References

* * . * * Sands, Kathleen. "Though One Of The Best-Documented Of Medieval Bombards, Mons Meg Was The Subject Of Exaggeration And Legend." Military History 16.3 (1999): 22. * Lu Gwei-Djen, Joseph Needham and Phan Chi-Hsing. Technology and Culture, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Jul., 1988), pp. 594–605 * W. H. Finlayson. The Scottish Historical Review, Vol. 27, No. 104, Part 2 (Oct., 1948), pp. 124–126 * Cvikel, Deborah, and Haim Goren. "Where Are Bonaparte's Siege Cannon? An Episode In The Egyptian Campaign." ''Mediterranean Historical Review'' 23.2 (2008): 129–142.


Further reading

* * * {{Early firearms Medieval artillery Chinese inventions English inventions Scottish inventions Siege artillery Large-calibre artillery