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Walter de Milemete was an English Taking Flight: Inventing the Aerial Age, from Antiquity Through the First World War
Richard Hallion, pages 9-10
Walter de Milemete was an English scholar
A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...
who in his early twenties was commissioned by Queen Isabella of France
Isabella of France ( – 22 August 1358), sometimes described as the She-Wolf of France (), was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the wife of Edward II of England, King Edward II, and ''de facto'' regent of England from 1327 ...
to write a treatise on kingship for her son, the young prince Edward, later king Edward III of England
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...
called ''De nobilitatibus, sapientiis, et prudentiis regum'' in 1326. The Treatise includes images of siege weapons and what is probably the first illustration of a firearm: a ''pot-de-fer
The ''pot-de-fer'' was a primitive cannon made of iron. It was used by France in the Middle Ages, the French in the Hundred Years' War. The name means "iron pot" in French language, French. In Italy, ''pots-de-fer'' were known as ''vasi'' or ''v ...
''. One of the marginal border illustrations in the Milemete Treatise shows a soldier firing a large vase-shaped cannon, the arrow-shaped projectile is seen projecting from the cannon which is pointed at a fortification. In the 1331 siege of Cividale
Cividale del Friuli (, locally ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity of Udine, part of the Northern Italy, North-Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The town lies above sea-level in th ...
, German knights used guns which were probably very similar to Milemete weapons.
The treatise includes an illustration of St. George giving Prince Edward a shield decorated with coat of arms. The manuscript, in a red velvet binding, is now held by the library of Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...
. The treatise also depicts a group of knights flying a firebomb kite
An Incendiary kite(also Firebomb kite, flaming kite, Fire Kite) is a kite with a bomb, incendiary device, or Molotov cocktail attached.
Historical use
Kites were first used in warfare by the Chinese.
laden black-powder filled firebomb over the wall of city.Richard Hallion, pages 9-10
See also
*History of firearms
The history of the firearm begins in 10th-century China, when tubes containing gunpowder projectiles were mounted on spears to make portable fire lances. Over the following centuries, the design evolved into various types, including portable f ...
*History of artillery
Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, 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, and l ...
*History of gunpowder
Gunpowder is the first explosive to have been developed. Popularly listed as one of the "Four Great Inventions" of China, it was invented during the late Tang dynasty (9th century) while the Wujing Zongyao, earliest recorded chemical formula f ...
References
14th-century English writers English military writers Siege warfare Medieval military writers Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown {{England-writer-stub