Serpentine lock (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''serpens,'' literally ''serpent-like''), the earliest lock mechanism developed for the early firearms in the first half of the 15th century. The simplest form of

matchlock A matchlock or firelock is a historical type of firearm wherein the gunpowder is ignited by a burning piece of flammable cord or twine that is in contact with the gunpowder through a mechanism that the musketeer activates by pulling a lever or Tri ...

, used on early

arquebuses An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. The term ''arquebus'' was applied to many different forms of firearms ...

and (after 1520) muskets.

History

At the beginning of the 15th century, hand cannons were given a wooden stock that could be held with both hands and supported on the shoulder, which gave rise to the first

and slightly smaller calivers. By the middle of the 15th century, the

touch hole A touch hole, also known as a cannon vent, is a small hole at the rear (breech) portion of the barrel of a muzzleloading gun or cannon. The hole provides external access of an ignition spark into the breech chamber of the barrel (where the com ...

had been moved from the top to the right side of the barrel, and a flash pan with a cover was attached to the barrel, which greatly facilitated firing with a lit match or hot iron held in right hand. Around 1450-1470, the matchlock mechanism was invented, which gave rise to the first matchlock guns, which were first called

, and then, as their weight and caliber increased after 1520, muskets. The first matchlock mechanism to be invented was serpentine lock.

Mechanism

Serpentine lock was the earliest and simplest form of matchlock. It was developed in Italy in the first half of the 15th century. The serpentine was simply a lever in the shape of the letter "S" that rotated around a transverse axis, fixed on the right side of the stock, before the flash pan on the right side of the

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...

. A slow burning match was threaded through the clamp on the upper part of the lever (so called ''cock'') and secured with a screw. Before the battle, the match was lit and the weapon was ready for action. By pressing the lower part of the lever (the forerunner of the trigger), the cock with the lit match was lowered and ignited the primer (black powder) in the flash pan, and from there the flame, through the

, ignited the gunpowder charge in the barrel.

Popularity and influence

According to Venetian and Ottoman sources, arquebuses with serpentine lock were already used in large numbers well before 1450. It is well documented that the first serpentine lock

were adopted into the armament of the

Janissaries A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted du ...

as early as the reign of

Murad II Murad II (, ; June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1421 to 1444 and from 1446 to 1451. Early life Murad was born in June 1404 to Mehmed I, while the identity of his mother is disputed according to v ...

(r. 1421–1451). Simple serpentine lock was developed into several advanced types of matchlock before the end of the 15th century. However, simple serpentine mechanism was perfected in the Ottoman empire early in the 16th century and remained in use at least until 1688. This form of matchlock spread from the Ottomans to the

Safavid Iran The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

(after 1514) and Mughal India (after 1526), reaching

Ming China The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

circa 1524. In India it remained in use until the great rebelion of 1857, and in China at least until the end of the 19th century.

References

Literature

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