A kartouwe (plural: ''kartouwen'') is a

siege gun Siege artillery (also siege guns or siege cannons) are heavy guns designed to bombard fortifications, cities, and other fixed targets. They are distinct from field artillery and are a class of siege weapon capable of firing heavy cannonballs o ...

used in European warfare during the 16th and 17th centuries.Meyers (1907), p. 682; Brockhaus (1911), p. 943 The name ''kartouwe'' is of

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

origin, a corruption of

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 ...

''quartana''Meyers (1907), p. 682; Brockhaus (1911), p. 943; Adelung (1796), p. 1506 (quarter cannon).Llewellyn (1936), p. 24 In the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

the gun was called Kartaune in German or cartouwe in contemporary Latin usage,Adelung (1796), p. 1506 in the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire or the Great Power era () was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which Sweden became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic regi ...

Kartow, spelling variants include kartouw, kartouve,Peterson (2007), p.95 cartow, cartaun, courtaun, and others.

Characteristics

Kartouwen were developed from bombards. A kartouwe has a

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, but not #As a measurement of length, artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge ( ...

of , weighs about , and is designed to fire cannonballs weighing up to .Kasekamp (1990); Peterson (2007), p. 95 As a minimum, twenty horses or oxen were needed to move a kartouwe. In addition to "whole" ("''hele''") kartouwen, there were also double,Kasekamp (1990) half ("''halve''")Kasekamp (1990); Adelung (1796), p. 1506 and quarter kartouwen. The barrel of a whole kartouwe has a length of 18 to 19 times the caliber, weighs to and was transported on a special wagon by 20 to 24 horses, another four to eight horses were needed to transport the mount (''lafette'').Medick & Winnige, entry "Stück" The barrel length of a half-kartouwe is 32 to 34 times the caliber, which ranges between and . Its barrel weighs to , the whole gun to . Half-kartouwen fired cannonballs weighing between and , and for the transport of its barrel, 10 to 16 horses were needed. The huge size of the cannon and the weight of its 48-pound projectiles (standard value, though real projectiles could vary from 30 to 60 pounds) made it onerous to maneuver and reload. William P. Guthrie estimates that a single kartouwe averaged only 8 to 10 shots under sustained combat conditions, half to a third as much as the more common 3 to 6 pounder field guns, though in all cases "well-drilled troops could shave these times."

Use and perception

Kartouwen were used for example in the

Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) concerned control of Terra Mariana, Old Livonia (in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia). The Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of the Denmark–Norway, Dano-Norwegian Realm, the Kingdom ...

by the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

forces. During the Battle of Narva (1581), the besieging Swedish forces destroyed the walls of

Narva Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia border, E ...

, strong, within two days using twenty-four double and half-kartouwen. Kartouwen were also the characteristic of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

.Hartung (1995), p. 329 As such, they were featured in contemporary poems, e.g. in ''Am liebsten bey der Liebsten'' by

Sibylla Schwarz Sibylla Schwarz, also known as Sibylle Schwartz (14/24 February 1621 in Greifswald – 31 July/10 August 1638 in Greifswald) was a German poet of the Baroque era. Life Sibylla Schwarz was the daughter of Christian Schwarz (1581–1648), mayor ...

("''grausame Kartaune''", "gruesome kartouwe") and ''Tränen des Vaterlandes, anno 1636'' by

Andreas Gryphius Andreas Gryphius (; 2 October 161616 July 1664) was a German poet and playwright. With his eloquent sonnets, which contains "The Suffering, Frailty of Life and the World", he is considered one of the most important Baroque poets of the Germanos ...

("''donnernde Karthaun'''", "thundering kartouwe"). In his 1844 poem ''Die Tendenz'',

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

Characteristics

Use and perception

Sources

References

Bibliography