Trenholm 1

The Impact of Gunpowder on Medieval Warfare

David Wm. TrenholmDecember 4th, 2006HIST 2723 X1Dr. Gerry Gerrits

Trenholm 2It is no mystery that the introduction of gunpowder to the medieval army changedwarfare forever—indeed, the onset of the cannon and firearm revolutionized the wayhumankind warred. Gunpowder changed many facets of medieval warfare, and hadforced military commanders of the day to reform their opinion on how a war should befought.

Military leaders that recognized the potential of the firearm were immenselysuccessful, such as the French King Charles VIII, whose siege-weapons dominated allmedieval fortifications that stood in his way. Machiavelli writes, on Charles’ campaign inItaly, that he had, “seized Italy with chalk in hand”

, a reference to one marking a targetwith chalk on a map

. Particularly successful against those who did not seize theadvantages offered by gunpowder, firearm-equipped armies instilled a great fear into themedieval knight, bowman and lowly infantryman. The archaic stone fortifications of thedark ages could not stand against iron and brass cast artillery cannons; lowly peasantscould gun down well-trained and disciplined knights of noble blood, and as a result therole of the mighty medieval horseman was forever changed. The psychological impact of the use of gunpowder alone was a mighty asset on the battlefield, making up for thelogistical challenge in employing those firearms—inaccurate shooting, misfiring, andaccidental explosions all plagued the medieval gunner. With any new technology,however, one must accept the faults that would undoubtedly be corrected in time. Onething is for certain, though: the impact of gunpowder on medieval warfare was profound,and its introduction was the first great step on the evolutionary path to modern warfare.

Michael Jones, eds.

The New Cambridge Medieval History

. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1995), 11-12.

Bernard and Fawn M. Brodie,

From Crossbow to H-Bomb

. (Bloomington and London: Indiana UniversityPress, 1973) 51.

Brodie, 51.

Trenholm 3The initial impact of gunpowder in medieval warfare was the changes made tosiegecraft. Before the age of cannons and bombards, medieval fortifications were soimpregnable that the only strategy that guaranteed success was starvation, “By 1300defense was so superior to offense that the only certain weapon in siegecraft wasfamine.”

The offensive capabilities of the medieval army were outmatched by the mightystone fortifications of keeps and castles. The development of the artillery cannon wasdreadfully slow, and many countries were not so quick to adopt and put them to practicaluse. In the beginning they were small, ineffective and unpredictable. Early forms of firearms were more of a nuisance, and more effective at instilling a sense of terror than producing satisfactory results.

These guns still saw military combat, however, andevidence shows that they were in use during the siege of Cividale in Italy, and wereemployed in the battle of Crécy by the English—early cannons were even mounted onwheels, offering early manoeuvrability during the Hussite Wars of 1419-1424.

With theintroduction of the bombard to the medieval battlefield, the vision of an impregnablemedieval fortress quickly vanished. Although much larger fortresses and cities remainedsafe for a while, military commanders were forced to strategize differently should theywish to counteract this new threat.

The true test of the bombard occurred during the siegeof Constantinople in 1451, led by Mohammed II. Twelve bombards and fifty-six lesser cannons were used, including a behemoth of a bombard, the Basilica, “[It] was made of hooped iron and measured thirty-six inches at the bore; it was so heavy it required twohundred men and sixty oxen to move it. Its ball weighed 1,600 pounds and could travel

Bernard and Fawn M. Brodie,

From Crossbow to H-Bomb

. (Bloomington and London: Indiana UniversityPress, 1973) 31.

Brodie, 43.

Brodie, 45.