From siege engines to personal weapons: discover how hand firearms began and evolved.
This book traces the early history and development of hand guns from the oldest records to the end of the fifteenth century. It situates gunpowder, ordnance, and the first portable weapons in a broad historical context, drawing on European archives, illuminated manuscripts, and museum collections to illuminate a complex story.
The work highlights how the line between ordnance and hand-guns blurred in medieval times, and how early makers experimented with stocks, barrels, touchholes, and priming. It also notes the important role of shooting guilds and royal patronage in improving weapons and advancing marksmanship.
- Early hand-guns appear in the late fourteenth century, with examples found in German and English contexts.
- Initial designs combined a short bronze or iron tube with a wooden stock; later forms show evolving mechanisms and Breech-loading concepts.
- Illustrations and surviving records reveal a wide range of forms, from simple tubes to more complex movable chambers.
- The narrative connects gunpowder’s spread, technical trials, and the social world of competitions and training that shaped the weapons’ development.
Ideal for readers of military history and those curious about the origins of firearms and their craft.