BERTHOLD SCHWARZ

RALPH E. OESPER
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio

N 0 CHEMICAL invention has affected the course

of history more profoundly than the discovery of
gunpowder, yet chemical historians can discuss
about 1360.5 He believed that in the accounts of
early battles and sieges, written long after the events,
the writers applied the terms cannon and bombards,
this topic in general terms only. "It is probably quite with which they were familiar, to mechanical engines
incorrect to speak of the discovery of gunpowder. Prom of war, such as catapults and ballistae. Gunpowder
modem researches it seems more likely and more just to in warfare was used a t first to frighten the enemy and
think of it as a thing that has developed, passing through for incendiary purposes; the development of a device
many stages, mainly of improvement, but some un- in which this explosive combustible could he used for
doubtedly retrograde." There really is not sufficient
solid evidence on which to pin down its invention to one
man. The honor, however, has been associated with
two names in particular, Berthold Schwarz, a German
monk, and Friar Roger Bacon. Of the former, Oscar
Guttmann writes (Monumate pulveris pyrii, 1904,p.
6), "Berthold Schwarz was generally considered to
be the inventor of gunpowder, and only in England has
Roger Bacon's claim been upheld, though there are
English writers who have pleaded in favor of Schwarz.
Most writers are agreed that Schwarz invented the
first firearms, and as nothing was known of an in-
ventor of gunpowder, it was perhaps justifiable to give
Schwarz the credit thereof."'
No contemporary documents or accounts dealing
with Schwarz2 are known, those who contend that he
never existed may be correct, but a t least tradition,
which usually has an historical basis, justifies the
monument to his memory a t Freiburg. The most
exbaustive study of the Schwarz question is that of
Hansjakob3who, after a critical review, was convinced
that a Franciscan monk, Constantin Anklitzen, later
known as Berthold Schwarz, discovered gunpowder
and invented firearms a t Freiburg about 1250. There
is no need to present here the minutiae of the reasoning
by which he arrived a t these conclusions, hut some of
the evidence he adduces is of sufficient general interest
to he given wider circulation.
The monument gives 1354 as the date of the inven-
tion; this cannot be correct as there are authentic
records of gunpowder and firearms in the first half of
the fourteenth ~ e n t u t y . ~Hansjakob, however, ac-
cepted the verdict of Temler that guns and powder
were not used in the modem sense in Europe until
"Encyclopedia Britannica," 11th ed., Encyclopedia Britan-
nica Co.. New York City, 1910; article "Gunpowder."
The spelling Schwartz is not used now by the Germans. propelling missiles might well have consumed the
a HANSJAKOB, HEINRICE,"Der schwarze Berthold. Der greater part of a century or more. The manufacture
Efinder des Schiesspulvers und der Feuerwaffen. Eine kri- -
tische Untersuchung." 91 pp. Herder'sche Buchhandlung, The earliest record of the actual use of cannon in Germany
Freibure im Breiseau. 1891. This is out of mint: it could not is 1365. See LOCKEMANN, G., "Die Burg Salederhelden" (pri-
be locacd in Unitid States: after considera& difficulty a copy vately printed) 1916. H e c i t e R a r ~ c m B.,
, "Das Geschiitz im
was found in Germany. Mittelalter," Berlin, 1928, who gives 1321 as the date of the first
' 1324, Metz; 1326, Florence; 1338. Paris; 1342, Aachen. use of firearms in warfare.
of practical guns required considerable engineering skill,
and their development t o the stage of artillery that was
not more dangerous t o the user than t o the target could
never have been accomplished between 1354 and the
period when firearms came into quite general use.
PREPARATION
FOR THE EXPCRIMEN.~
Hansjakob rests his case for 12.50 principally on three
facts. (1) A deed drawn up a t St. Martin's Church
in Freiburg in 1245 was witnessed by a Magister Ber-
thold. This title indicates a man of learning who may
well have been acquainted with chemicals. (2) A
drinking song written before or a t the completion of
the spire of the Freiburg cathedral in 1296 mentions
"shooting from a gun." (3) The earliest known
printed reference to Berthold's invention was that of
Hemmerlin (1359-1464) who wrote, "From the writings
it may be seen that the invention came to light for the
first time within two hundred years." Hansjakob
takes this as proof that the inventor could have been
alive in 1250. Aventinus (1466-1534), on the other
hand, who believed that Hemmerlin wrote in 1454,
took the mean of the "two hundred years" and so
arrived a t 1354@the date accepted by the sponsors
Andri Theilel, "Portraits el oies des hornm.2 illurtres," Paris,
1584
of the statue erected on the five hundredth anniversary,
i. e., 1853.
The name Berthold Schwarz had a rather interesting
development. Most of the chroniclers agree that the
inventor was Constantin Anklitzen, who took the
monastic name Berthold. T o his neighbors, both lay
and clerical, his chemical endeavors were black magic,
and in the early chronicles he was dubbed Bertholdus
niger. Later this was changed to Bertholdus Niger,
so that, in German, der schwarze Berthold became
Berthold Schwarz.'
The birthplace of the inventor or the scene of the
invention has been placed in no less than six other
cities: Cologne, Goslar, Dortmund, Mainz, Nurem-
6 Felicis Malleoli vulgo Hemmerlin . . . de nobilitate et rustici-
tate dialogus. AVENTINUS (Johannes Thurmayr aus Abensberg)
Annales Bojorum.
Hansjakob holds Aventinus responsible for this error also.
He ooints out that it would be iust as silly to change Albertus
ahu us to Albert Gross,
 MAKING
GUNPOWDER
Goya, Madrid, Polucio Real
berg, Prague. There is now agreement that only
Freiburg, if any, has valid claims, but this imposing
list serves to emphasize how the chroniclers have let
their imaginations run riot on this subject.
Tradition is always more than ready to fill the gaps
in recorded history; there are numerous fanciful ac-
counts of the genesis of the invention. According to
the earliest versions the "Master, niger Berchtoldus,
a Nygermanticus," was seeking to prepare a tincture
(pigment) for gilding metals. He heated saltpeter,
sulfur, lead, and oil in a well-closed copper pot; the
resultant explosion led him to t r y again on a greater
scale. Encouraged, he substituted charcoal for the
lead and oil, had a cylindrical box cast, and tried
whether he could project a stone. Hemmerlin states
that he was trying to fix quicksilver so that it could be
worked like silver. Seeking first to kill its spirit, he
heated it, because fire and spirit are antagonistic, and
the spirit flies away in the smoke when a metal is
brought too close to the fire. However, the spirit of
mercury could not be extinguished by fire and Berthold
then tried another procedure. He knew fiery sulfur
and frigid saltpeter are hostile to each other, so why
not subject the mercury to the heat of the battle
between these natural enemies? The three were
sealed in a stout vessel, put over the fire, and the vessel
was shattered with a terrific noise. He then used
stronger vessels, bound with iron, the walls of the
laboratory were blown to pieces. His inventive mind
- *The records of the Franciscan chapter in Freiburg were
8 A Freiburg manuscript of 1432 dealing with fireworks.
carried this chance observation into a practical form,
and improved day by day, the gun a t last surpassed
all other instruments of warfare. Another version tells
that he was concocting a medicament and heated
together oil, sulfur, and saltpeter. The oil caught
fire and the cover flew into the air. A variant of this
tale is that he was grinding the mixture and a spark
flew into the mortar. A deafening roar followed, the
pestle was blown out of his hand.
Was the invention purely accidental or was it the
consequence of purposeful experimentation? Some
will have it that Berthold followed a plan when he
pried into Nature's secrets. He had made a deep
study pf philosophy and had learned that two bodies
cannot simultaneously occupy the same space, and
that the lighter elements, fire and air, occupy more
space than the heavier earth and water. Nature will
not tolerate space void of all corporeal matter, and so
everything composed of the four elements must even-
tually be resolved into fire. A mixture of pulverized
sulfur and saltpeter exposed to fire in a closed pot,
exploded with the production of smoke and flame.
Encouraged by this realization of his expectations he
went on, added charcoal to the mixture, and set it off
in holes in tree trunks and stones. These successful
blastings led logically to the construction of wooden
and then metal guns.
Why are there no contemporary records of Berthold
and his achievement?o If he is a purely . lecendary
.
destroyed or scattered before the Reformation.
inventor the answer is obvious. However, history may
have taken no interest in his doings because guns were
said to be execrable inventions and their employment
(except against the unbelievers) was decried as de-
structive of manly valor and unworthy of an honorable
warrior. Berthold was reputed to have compounded
powder with Satan's blessing, and the clergy preached
that as a co-worker of the Evil One he was a renegade
to his profession and his name should be forgotten.
There is a tradition that he was imprisoned by his
fellow-monks, and some say he made his diabolic in-
vention while in prison. According to another legend,
Berthold blew himself up while demonstrating the
power of his discovery; another states that he was
executed.
The lovers of fine points may argue over Berthold's
existence, but i t can be historically established that
Freiburg in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was
a flourishing center for the casting of cannon and the
training of gunners. What, then, could be more fitting
than the interesting statue to the inventor-monk-
chemist in the square before the Freiburg town hall?