HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A culverin was initially an ancestor of the hand-held
arquebus 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. Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbu ...
, but later was used to describe a type of medieval and Renaissance
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 during ...
. The term is derived from the
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
"''couleuvrine''" (from ''couleuvre'' "grass snake", following the Latin ''colubrinus'' "of the nature of a snake".) From its origin as a hand-held weapon it was adapted for use as
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 sieges, ...
by the French in the
15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian dates from 1 January 1401 ( MCDI) to 31 December 1500 ( MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Renaissance, and the early modern period. M ...
, and for
naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It includ ...
use by the English in the
16th century The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1501 ( MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 ( MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582). The 16th centur ...
. The culverin as an artillery piece had a long
smoothbore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. History Early firearms had smoothly bored barrels that fired projectiles without sign ...
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 staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...
with a relatively long range and flat
trajectory A trajectory or flight path is the path that an object with mass in motion follows through space as a function of time. In classical mechanics, a trajectory is defined by Hamiltonian mechanics via canonical coordinates; hence, a complete traje ...
, using solid round shot projectiles with high muzzle velocity.


Hand culverins

The hand culverin consisted of a simple smoothbore metal tube, closed at one end except for a small
touch hole A touch hole, also called a 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 combustion ...
designed to allow ignition of the gunpowder. The tube was attached to a wood or metal extension which could be held under the arm. It was loaded with gunpowder and lead bullets and fired by inserting a burning
slow match Slow match, also called match cord, is the slow-burning cord or twine fuse used by early gunpowder musketeers, artillerymen, and soldiers to ignite matchlock muskets, cannons, shells, and petards. Slow matches were most suitable for use aroun ...
into the touch hole.
James IV of Scotland James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...
was an enthusiastic user of hand culverins in 1508. He held shooting matches in the great halls of
Holyrood Palace The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh ...
and Stirling Castle, took a culverin to stalk deer in the park of
Falkland Palace Falkland Palace, in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a royal palace of the Scottish Kings. It was one of the favourite places of Mary, Queen of Scots, providing an escape from political and religious turmoil. Today it is under the stewardship of ...
, and shot at sea birds from a row boat off the
Isle of May The Isle of May is located in the north of the outer Firth of Forth, approximately off the coast of mainland Scotland. It is about long and wide. The island is owned and managed by NatureScot as a national nature reserve. There are now no ...
with his culverin. In addition to the arquebus, the culverin also evolved into the heavier
breech-loading A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition ( cartridge or shell) via the rear (breech) end of its barrel, as opposed to a muzzleloader, which loads ammunition via the front ( muzzle). Modern firearms are generally breec ...
swivel gun weighing around , which required a swivel for support and aiming. This weapon was designed to use removable mug-shaped
chambers Chambers may refer to: Places Canada: *Chambers Township, Ontario United States: *Chambers County, Alabama *Chambers, Arizona, an unincorporated community in Apache County * Chambers, Nebraska * Chambers, West Virginia * Chambers Township, Holt ...
which were prefilled with gunpowder and projectiles to speed up reloading. Breech-loading swivel guns were often used on ships against enemy crew or boarders. Image:HandBombardWesternEurope1390-1400.jpg, "Hand bombard", or early culverin, 1390–1400 Image:HandCulverinWithSmallCannonsEurope15thCentury.jpg, Hand culverin (middle) with two small cannons, Europe, 15th century Image:EarlyCoulevrines.jpg, Early culverins (15th century): a hand culverin (top), and a culverin with removable chamber (bottom) Image:40KgWroughtIronMurderer1410France.jpg, "Murderer", France, 1410 Image:Culverin with side flash-pans.jpg, Culverin with side flash-pans Image:Early culverin and hand culverin with bent stock.jpg, Above: Early culverin, below: Hand culverin with bent stock


Field culverins

Three types of culverin artillery pieces were used, distinguished by their size: the "culverin extraordinary", the "ordinary", and the "least-sized". There were also smaller versions, including the "bastard culverin" (), shot and the "
demi-culverin The demi-culverin was a medium cannon similar to but slightly larger than a saker and smaller than a regular culverin developed in the late 16th century. Barrels of demi-culverins were typically about long, had a calibre of and could weigh up to ...
" or "culverin-moyen" (), shot. Overall, the culverin was a significant advance over earlier cannons. Since it fired iron round shot instead of stone projectiles and had a longer barrel to enable the gunpowder to fully burn and impart more force to the projectile, the culverin could fire the denser projectile to a relatively greater range and with a flatter
trajectory A trajectory or flight path is the path that an object with mass in motion follows through space as a function of time. In classical mechanics, a trajectory is defined by Hamiltonian mechanics via canonical coordinates; hence, a complete traje ...
. A replica ''culverin extraordinary'' has achieved a muzzle velocity of 408 m/s, and a range over using only minimal elevation. This velocity and mass imply that the cannonball had a kinetic energy of roughly when leaving the muzzle. In Britain, Brigadier General Michael Richards was appointed Master-General of the Ordnance in 1714 and he commissioned a Danish expert, Albert Borgard, to design a new artillery system. Borgard did away with the traditional nomenclature of culverins, sakers and minions, and devised a new system based on the weight of shot that each gun used, from 4 to 64 pounds. Although Borgard's gun designs were quickly superseded, the practice of naming ordnance by weight of shot persisted in Britain into the 20th century.


See also

* Arquebus *
Demi-culverin The demi-culverin was a medium cannon similar to but slightly larger than a saker and smaller than a regular culverin developed in the late 16th century. Barrels of demi-culverins were typically about long, had a calibre of and could weigh up to ...
* Doglock *
Flintlock Flintlock is a general term for any firearm that uses a flint-striking ignition mechanism, the first of which appeared in Western Europe in the early 16th century. The term may also apply to a particular form of the mechanism itself, also know ...
* Hand cannon *
Matchlock A matchlock or firelock is a historical type of firearm wherein the gunpowder is ignited by a burning piece of rope that is touched to the gunpowder by a mechanism that the musketeer activates by pulling a lever or trigger with his finger. Befor ...
* Miquelet *
Musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually di ...
*
Pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, a ...
* Snaphance *
Snaplock A snaplock is a type of lock for firing a gun or is a gun fired by such a lock. A snaplock ignites the (usually muzzle-loading) weapon's propellant by means of sparks produced when a spring-powered cock strikes a flint down on to a piece of hard ...
* Wheellock


References


External links


"Culverin (cannon)"
at the ''
Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...
''
Specifications and pictures of a French culverin found in the Azores
{{Artillery of the Middle Ages Cannon Medieval artillery Muskets Renaissance-era weapons