The history of firearms
The history of firearms is related to the invention and the development of gunpowder. The first references was found in ancient Chinese documents, one from the year 618 b.c., referred to some form of gunpowder which was mainly used for fireworks, but also as a propellant for projectiles,which not arrived to Western world until the 15th century. The Great Wall of China (constructed 200 years b.c. aprox.) , was built by the Chinese Emperor Schi Huang Ti as a defence against Mongol, has been built with embrasures for the firing of guns. In the Greek Era some 200 years later, fire was sometimes used as a weapon during wars, the Greek philosopher Aeneas wrote a dissertation on firebombs. This outlined the use of the called “Greek Fire”, a mix of: oil, resin, lime, flax and sulphur. The oil allowed Greek fire to float on water, very used in naval battles. In the early Middle Ages alchemists experimented with the composition of this incendiary. Antique documents refer to the ingredients: charcoal, pitch, camphor, tartaric acid, saltpetre, salt and sulphur. It wasnt until the end of the Middle Ages that gunpowder was introduced to the Western world.
One theory say that the secret was brought fromChina to Europe by Marco Polo, the famous merchant who travelled crossing Europe to: Peking , Russia and China, in the period 1271-1292. Also are theories that say that gunpowder was discovered in Europe, these theories mention the names of Roger Bacon (a Franciscan monk) and Berthold Schwarz (a monk from Germany). This latter theory isnt very posible and its more probable that Schwarz and Bacon already knew that gunpowder existed due to merchants contacts with the Orient. The mixture of black powder is :70% saltpetre, 20% sulphur and 10% charcoal.
The development of firearms began in the early 14th century when it was discovered that black powder could not only be used to make attractive fireworks. The first handguns also emerged during the middle 14th century various names for firearms had appeared, such as bombard, bombardelle (a small cannon) and mortar. Another version is the Arquebuse (a wooden stock with a short iron barrel on it). In the 15th century every city had its own iron or bronze cannon to defend the city walls. Initially pebbles were used as the projectiles for cannons, but soon amunition was forged from iron.
After this the carriage-mounted with a cannon appeared, a good example of this is the canon of Mons in Belgium which dates back to 1449. Until Medieval times knights were very well protected against spears,arrows and swords by their armour, this changed when the use of gunpowder increased; their armour could be easily penetrated. The technology advanced since that time, but the antiques principles still apply: an iron barrel, sealed on one side, with a small hole left open, or added later.The charge and the gunpowder were driven down into the barrel through the open end. The gunpowder was then ignited and the projectile was forced from the barrel.