The cannonballs were likely fired by Dracula's forces, or the defending Turks, from culverins, a 13th-century precursor to larger cannons and handheld muskets.
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Polearms were also stored there in considerable numbers, again probably for use by the militia. Initially the fort was equipped with between 26 and 28 artillery pieces, including brass demi-cannons, culverins, demi-culverins and a falconet, and wrought-iron guns, such as portpieces, bases and slings. After 1568, the castle typically held around nine or ten guns for most of the 16th century, including cannons, demi-cannons, culverins and demi-culverins. Brass guns could fire more quickly, up to eight times an hour, and were safer to use than their iron equivalents.
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The armament of ships of this period was fluid; guns might be added, removed or changed for different types for dozens of reasons. Revenge was particularly heavily armed during her last cruise: she carried 20 heavy demi-cannon, culverins and demi-culverins on her gun deck, where the sailors slept. On her upper decks were more demi- culverins, sakers, and a variety of light weapons, including swivel-mounted breech-loaders, called "fowlers" or "falcons".
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The ship was initially armed with twenty-two 24-pounder cannon on her main gundeck, twenty- two 9-pounder demi-culverins on her upper gundeck, ten 6-pounder cannon on the quarterdeck and four 3-pounder guns on the poop deck. This was revised in 1703 to twenty-four 18-pounder culverins, twenty-six 9-pounder demi-culverins and fourteen 6-pounders. The ship had a crew of 240–365 officers and ratings.Winfield, p. 743.
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The Elector's Landsknechte who, unlike the peasants, had received military training, were also better armed. Their weapons included several kartouwes (siege guns), scharfmetzes, notschlangen, culverins, demi-culverins, and falconets. Elector Louis also had several so-called Fähnchens, cavalry squadrons each comprising about 150 troopers.
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Gloucester had a length at the gundeck of , a beam of , and a depth of hold of . The ship's tonnage was 755 tons burthen.Lavery, p. 159. Originally built for 50 guns, in 1667 she actually carried 57 (19 demi-cannon, 4 culverins, and 34 demi-culverins).
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These included recently captured pieces and; 2 basilisks; 2 demi-cannon; 3 culverins; 2 demi-culverins; 3 sakers; 16 falcons; 94 arquebus a croc with wooden tails (muskets for fixed positions); and 21 iron guns.Jordan, W. K., ed., The Chronicle and Political Papers of Edward VI, George Allen & Unwin, (1966), 21–22.
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Sketch of Edinburgh in 1544 looking south, detail showing the Netherbow Port On 18 August, five cannon brought down from Edinburgh Castle to the Netherbow Port at St Mary's Wynd for the invasion set off towards England dragged by borrowed oxen. On 19 August two 'gross culverins', four 'culverins pickmoyance' and six (mid-sized) 'culverins moyane' followed with the gunner Robert Borthwick and master carpenter John Drummond. The King himself set off that night with two hastily prepared standards of St Margaret and St Andrew.Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, vol.
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Cornwall had a length at the gundeck of and at the keel. She had a beam of , and a depth of hold of . The ship's tonnage was 1,186 tons burthen. As built, the lower gundeck carried 24 broadside demi- cannon and a pair of chase culverins and the upper deck mounted 26 more culverins on the broadside and another pair as chase guns.
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As a stockade had been built, Ieyasu began to starve out the huge castle. However, supplies were sufficient to feed everyone for several years. Ieyasu then resorted to artillery bombardment. Sakers fired from the north, no less than 300 culverins blasted from the south, and more culverins firing from the north and the east were able to do considerable damage.
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Brass artillery pieces were therefore rounded up from the forts along the south coast, including Camber. The number of guns at the castle remained around the same, but the larger, brass culverins and demi- cannon were removed, being replaced with smaller iron demi-culverins, sakers and a minion. In 1594 another royal survey suggested that £95 of repair work was needed on the fortifications.
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According to the royal inventory of 1547, the Antelope had a crew of 170 with 30 gunners. Her armaments included; a brass demi- cannon; 3 brass culverins; 4 iron demi-culverins; 3 sakers; 4 port pieces; 2 slings; 2 demi-slings; 2 quarter-slings; 11 iron single bases; 8 hagbuts and 4 hail-shot pieces. Handarms included 50 yew bows, 86 bills, and 72 Moorish pikes.Starkey, David, ed.
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English ordinance 1626 to 1643 Demi-culverins were valued by generals for their range, accuracy and effectiveness. They were often used in sieges for wall and building demolition.
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Gradisca Castle In 1616 the Venetians besieged Farra and Gradisca, and the archduke attacked from Gorizia and Lucinico. With three large culverins, four guns and three small culverins, Farra (despite damage to its buildings) repulsed the enemy artillery with heavy losses. The Venetians launched another futile assault before Giustiniani lifted the siege and retreated to Mariano. In September, Johan Ernst van Nassau-Siegen agreed to raise 3,000 men from the Dutch Republic for Venetian service.
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The typical artillery cannon of the Sardinian army was the mod.704 rearload saker, which was regularly used until 1848. The heavy artillery was characterised by long cannons (8-16-32 pound culverins).
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Charles VIII, during his invasion of Italy, brought with him the first truly mobile siege train: culverins and bombards mounted on wheeled carriages, which could be deployed against an enemy stronghold immediately after arrival.
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Hongyipao (; ) was the Chinese name for European-style muzzle-loading culverins introduced to China and Korea from the Portuguese colony of Macau and by the Hendrick Hamel expedition to Joseon in the early 17th century.
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The Key does not, but most eyewitness accounts that mention them brigade these two regiments together. Both broke and ran :General of the Ordnance Sir Alexander Hamilton ::(Not all the guns listed below would have been present at the battle) ::8 brass demi- cannons ::1 brass culverin ::3 brass quarter-cannons ::9 iron demi-culverins ::48 brass demi-culverins :Almost all the senior officers of the Covenanter army had experience in the Thirty Years' War. Many of the regiments had served during the Bishops' Wars in Scotland (1639-1641) and the Irish Rebellion of 1641.
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These included four great guns furnished with stocks, wheels, vices and wedges, six falcons with stocks and wheels, 33 hagbutts, four iron culverins, bullets, gunpowder and ramrods. John took away a 10 foot long brass gun barrel.Macphail, JRN, ed.
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Muzzleloading artillery evolved across a wide range of styles, beginning with the bombard, and evolving into culverins, falconets, sakers, demi-cannon, rifled muzzle-loaders, Parrott rifles, and many other styles. Handcannons are excepted from this list because they are hand-held and typically of small caliber.
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2913 Dacre to Council 17 May 1514. The Earl of Surrey captured the Scottish guns, including a group of culverins made in Edinburgh by Robert Borthwick called the "seven sisters", which were dragged to Etal Castle. The Bishop of Durham thought them the finest ever seen.
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The garrison was only around 3,000 men and 50 culverins and other artillery pieces, commanded by Jean Carrebe, a 'judicature' or judge from the mairie of Louvain. Vieilleville thus immediately prepared fifteen large boats and twenty smaller ones with artillery pieces and enough powder to fire 15,000 shot.
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The guns of Boulogne were listed in the inventory of English crown possessions taken after Henry VIII's death on 28 January 1547. Most of their wheels and stocks were said to be rotten and decayed. The totals were; 4 cannons; 5 demi-cannons; 10 culverins; 14 demi-culverins; 18 sakers; 21 falcons, falconets, and chamber falcons; 25 great brass mortars; 19 small brass mortars; 9 iron mortars; 3 iron bombards; 3 iron cannon-perrier; 16 port-pieces; 24 fowlers; 7 slings; 12 double bases; 54 shrimp bases; 114 privy bases; 2 robinets; and 73 brass hagbuts. The guns were in four positions; the Old Man; High Boulogne; Base Boulogne; and the Boulemberg (Mont Lambert).
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Ce tant rude Gévaudan, op. cit., tome I, p. 835 It was at this time that the Non Pareille was melted, the biggest bell in the world, to manufacture culverins and other cannonballs. The city was liberated on bail that year thanks to the intervention of the King of Navarre.
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Some of these guns appear in the English royal inventory of 1547–48, at the Tower of London where sixteen Scottish brass guns were recorded. They were a demi-cannon, 2 culverins, 3 sakers, 9 falconets, and a robinet.David Starkey, The Inventory of Henry VIII, vol. 1 (Society of Antiquaries: London, 1998), p.
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Macdougall, Norman, James IV, Tuckwell, (1997), 274. The Scottish artillery, as described by an English source, included five great curtals, two great culverins, four sakers, and six great serpentines.Petrie, George, "An account of Floddon", Proceedings Society Antiquaries Scotland, (1866–7), 146. The King's secretary, Patrick Paniter, was in charge of these cannon.
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Cruden, p.209 Sir Thomas Howard, England's Lord Admiral, admired their graceful shape and brilliant finish, declaring them the most beautiful [cannon] for their size and length that he had ever seen.W Mackay Mackenzie, The Secret of Flodden, Grant & Murray, Edinburgh 1931, p.50 From 1510 Dutch craftsmen were also producing hand culverins, an early firearm.
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Immediately behind the fore chase were two demi-culverin drakes, long, weighing some 1.9 tons (1900 kg). Then came twenty-two culverin drakes weighing a total of 30.4 tons (30400 kg). On the upper gun deck there were two fortified demi-culverins in the fore chase and two in the stern chase, both pairs weighing 2.8 tons (2800 kg).
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Blockhouse in the 17th century A 1600 survey showed 10 pieces of artillery to be ineffective, while the gun platforms on either side of the fort were in bad condition and of planking, 650 joists and over 19 cartloads of other timber was needed for the repairs. Little investment was forthcoming under James I or Charles I and by 1630 the garrison's pay was in arrears, with the fort was in need of repairs estimated at £1,248. In 1631 the blockhouse was equipped with two brass demi-culverins and sakers, and an iron culverin, six demi-culverins, four sakers and one minion; the brass guns, which were needed for naval units, were exchanged for iron weapons in 1635. In 1642 civil war broke out between the supporters of King Charles I and those of Parliament.
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Most of the 200 National Guards defending the city were captured, as well as their three culverins, the largest of which was renamed the "Marie-Jeanne" by the peasants of Anjou who made it a true mascot. The victories of Cathelineau provoked the uprising of hundreds of other parishes which joined the small army of the insurgents, with notably Jean-Nicolas Stofflet.
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120; Hennes maintains the Italian captain's name was Ranuccini. To besiege the fortress, Ferdinand brought more than 400 Fussvolk (foot soldiers) and five squadrons of mounted soldiers, plus a half dozen heavy caliber cannons, called culverins. Hennes, p. 121. His soldiers, among them Spanish and Italian mercenaries, took up quarters in neighboring villages, a process accompanied by pillage, arson, murder and rape.
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12 (Edinburgh, 1970), p. 324. At the end of the 'lang siege' of Edinburgh Castle, in June 1573, Gardiner dismantled the culverins used as siege cannons against the castle and took them to Holyrood Palace and then to Leith. He was paid for cables and rope, soap, tallow, axles, wedges, and other equipment.Charles Thorpe McInnes, Accounts of the Treasurer: 1566-1574, vol.
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The Salamander and the Scottish-built Unicorn were captured at Leith and used as transport for the return journey of a part of Lord Hertford's land army on 14 May 1544, after the burning of Edinburgh, with ballast of 80,000 Scottish iron cannon-shot.Stevenson, Joseph ed., The History of Mary Stewart by Claude Nau, Edinburgh (1883), pp. 318, 338-9: The Late Expedition in Scotland (London, 1544), reprinted in Tudor Tracts, London (1903) pp. 41, 44. With 200 crew and 20 gunners, her armament in the English fleet listed on 1 January 1548 consisted of: 2 brass culverins; 3 brass demi- culverins; 4 sakers; 7 iron port pieces; 3 iron fowlers; 2 iron quarter slings; 17 iron double bases; and 11 hand guns. There were 140 yew bows; 90 bills; and 70 moorish pikes.Starkey, David, ed.
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The inventories of both the Mary Rose and the Tower had changed radically by 1540. There were now the new cast bronze cannons, demi-cannons, culverins and sakers and the wrought iron port pieces (a name that indicated they fired through ports), all of which required carriages, had longer range and were capable of doing serious damage to other ships. Various types of ammunition could be used for different purposes: plain spherical shot of stone or iron smashed hulls, spiked bar shot and shot linked with chains would tear sails or damage rigging, and canister shot packed with sharp flints produced a devastating shotgun effect. Trials made with replicas of culverins and port pieces showed that they could penetrate wood the same thickness of the Mary Rose's hull planking, indicating a stand-off range of at least 90 m (295 ft).
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On 11 October 1491, Tantallon Castle was besieged by James IV, with guns sent from Edinburgh and Linlithgow, and crossbows and culverins (a primitive type of hand gun) from Leith. However, Angus submitted and the castle did not suffer extensive damage. By 1493 Angus was back in favour as Chancellor of Scotland. In 1498 the Constable of Tantallon Castle was Patrick Mathewson of Little Spot.
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The English formation was 4,000–5,000 strong and gathered in a long line behind a thicket of stakes and low earthworks. In the afternoon, the French opened the engagement with a failed assault on the English position with their dismounted men-at-arms. French cavalry charges on the English flanks were also defeated. Clermont then deployed two culverins to open fire on the English defenders.
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Two left Ancient peoples also used larger cannons made of iron and resembling culverins that provided heavier firepower. They were sometimes mounted on a boat or fortification that can be wheeled, allowing the gunner to quickly track a moving target. The iron cannon at Rajah Sulayman's house was about 17 feet long and was made out of clay and wax moulds. Armors and shields in the Philippines.
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Her armament had been reduced to 40 guns by 1685, with eighteen demi-culverins (drakes) on the lower deck, eighteen sakers (6-pounder guns) on the upper deck, and four 3-pounder guns on the quarter deck. She was downgraded to a fifth rate in 1691, scheduled to be reduced to 28 guns, but before this took effect she was captured on 12 July 1691 off Portugal by a French squadron.
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His sultanate controlled the southern seas for a long time. In 1636, General Corcuera led an expedition against him and after considerable difficulty reduced his fort and defeated his forces. Kudarat had a large quantity of gunpowder and firearms, and his fort was very strongly fortified. The Spaniards captured 8 bronze cannons, 27 Lantaka or culverins, and 100 muskets. In 1645, his relations with then Imperial Spain had undergone a distinct change.
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Artillery, particularly field artillery, became an indispensable part of any first-rate army during the Italian Wars. During his invasion of Italy, Charles VIII employed the first truly mobile siege train: culverins and bombards mounted on wheeled carriages, which could be deployed against an enemy stronghold immediately after arrival. The French siege arsenal brought with it multiple technological innovations. Charles' army pulled cannons with horses rather than the oxen typically used at the time.
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Falmouth had a length at the gundeck of and at the keel. She had a beam of , and a depth of hold of . The ship's tonnage was 610 tons burthen. Records of Falmouths original armament have not survived, but one of her sister ships was armed with 21 culverins, 18 eight-pounder cannon and 10 minions while another had 22 twelve-pounder guns, 22 six-pounder guns and 6 minions in 1696.
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Demi-culverin cast circa 1587 The demi-culverin was a medium cannon similar to but slightly larger than a saker and smaller than a regular culverin developed in the late 16th century.Artillery through the ages Barrels of demi-culverins were typically about long, had a calibre of and could weigh up to . It required of black powder to fire an round shot (though there were heavier variants firing or round shot). The demi-culverin had an effective range of .
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The roof platform was wide enough to deploy culverins whose longer barrels increased their accuracy. North of the tower are the remains of an enceinte which used to surround it, and immediately to the northeast is a castle well, now filled in. Little France was linked to the main castle by a tunnel which, for much of its length, was a concealed ditch covered by stone slabs and concealed with earth and vegetation; it has almost entirely collapsed.
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The Siege of Chartres in February to March 1568 was the pivotal event which ended the Second War of Religion, an episode of the French Wars of Religion. The Huguenot army besieged the town at the end of February. The Prince of Condé had five battering cannons and four light culverins. Part of the army acted as block and the rest, about 9,000 men, encircled the town and used their nine guns to breach the north wall.
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From 1660 Fairfax carried 52 guns. In 1666 this was increased to 66, comprising twenty- two demi-cannons, four culverins, twenty-six 12-pounders and fourteen 5-pounder sakers. A further substantial increase in armament occurred in 1672, with the replacement of the unwieldy demi-cannons and an increase in total weaponry to 72 guns. Her lower deck was fitted with twenty-six iron-cast 24-pounders, supported by twenty-four 12-pounders on the upper deck.
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The remainder comprised a company of trained band, 100 dragoons and a troop of cavalry. The city's dozen or so artillery pieces ranged in size from light cannon to two nine- pounder demi-culverins. Stamford's regiment was experienced and well led, though of uncertain discipline. The Town Regiment lacked experience but was motivated by its ties to the city it was defending, although there is evidence that some of its men would refuse to oppose the King.
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The Spanish then made no further attempts were made to relieve it. On the third day the French mounted an emperor- calibre cannon on the banks of the Moselle and the six large culverins only 1,500 paces from the town. This severely damaged the town's defences and destroyed all its artillery. The Franco-German force then attacked by the right bank of the Moselle, aiming at Tour-aux-Puces and the fortifications on the town's south-east side.
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Having seen the shelling the French auxiliaries and General Vegas' Mexicans thus evacuated themselves to the ships and sailed to Laguna. The fleeing garrison left big amount of supplies behind among these were two pieces of 68-pound artillery, one 12-pound and 4-pounder culverins, an 8 pounder cannon and its rotating platform, three small 2-pounder pieces, 90 firearms with bayonets, 8 lances, 77 cans of shrapnel, a barrel of grenades and five horses.
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His work continued at Edinburgh Castle, making and mounting new guns. In March 1539, the English messenger Henry Ray was told by a "secret friend" who was an associate of the banished Earl of Angus and an officer of the Scottish royal ordnance that 16 great cannons or culverins and 60 smaller guns had been refurnished or newly made in Edinburgh Castle. All the guns would be ready 20 days after Easter.State Papers Henry VIII, vol. 5 part 4 (London, 1836), pp.
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Branching off Briggate were Kirkgate and Boar Lane; the town had a population of around 6,000. Unlike towns such as Hull, Leeds was not walled and had minimal natural defences. Savile made preparations for the town's defence, by having a trench dug from St John's Church on Upper Head Row down to the river. He built breastworks on the town side of the bridge over the river, and had demi-culverins (medium- sized cannons which fired shots) placed to cover Briggate.
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While long-range culverins kept up a bombardment, miners began digging in an attempt to weaken the walls. As there were still uncommitted clans who might be tempted to attack the Tokugawa from the rear, time was on the side of Hideyori. Ieyasu used the steadily improving bombardment to pressure for peace negotiation. Hideyori accepted a peace formula whereby the Tokugawa army would withdraw and Osaka castle would remain in Hideyori's hand under the provision of no further "rebellion" against the Tokugawa Shōgun.
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He achieved this inter alia by erecting the outwork of Little France (Burg Klein-Frankreich) in 1484 on the northern slope of the hill opposite, the Nestelberg. The site consisted primarily of a powerful battery tower on the platform of which, long-barreled culverins could be set up. This made it possible for an accurate crossfire to be brought to bear on any force attempting to besiege Berwartstein. Hans showed no interest, however, in the castle of Grafendahn, six kilometres to the north-west.
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The use of gabions with cannon was an important part in the attack and defence of fortifications. Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden emphasised the use of light cannon and mobility in his army, and created new formations and tactics that revolutionised artillery. He discontinued using all 12 pounder—or heavier—cannon as field artillery, preferring, instead, to use cannon that could be handled by only a few men. One obsolete type of gun, the "leatheren" was replaced by 4 pounder and 9 pounder demi-culverins.
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Simão de Andrade, brother to ambassador Fernão Pires de Andrade, had also stirred Chinese speculation that the Portuguese were kidnapping Chinese children to cook and eat them; Simão had purchased children as slaves who were later found by Portuguese authorities in Diu, India.Mote et al., The Cambridge History of China, 337–338. In 1521, Ming dynasty naval forces fought and repulsed Portuguese ships at Tuen Mun, where some of the first breech-loading culverins were introduced to China,Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 369.
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Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden emphasized the use of light cannon and mobility in his army, and created new formations and tactics that revolutionized artillery. He discontinued using all 12 pounder—or heavier—cannon as field artillery, preferring, instead, to use cannon that could be manned by only a few men. One gun, called the "leatheren," could be serviced by only two persons, but was abandoned, replaced by 4 pounder and 9 pounder demi-culverins. These could be operated by three men, and pulled by only two horses.
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These all arrived before on 26 April 1587 to reinforce the seigneur de Vieilleville's troops, which had invested the town nine days earlier. The arrival was not marked with drums or fanfares in an attempt to keep it secret from the besieged forces. Vieilleville set up pontoon bridges and anchored buoys in the fords. He had also dug in twelve emperor-calibre (33 pound 4 ounce - 34 pound) cannon, six grand culverins (15 pound 2 ounce - 15 pound 4 ounce) and other field pieces.
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The French initially attempted to charge the English position, but were driven back by English longbowmen. The Bureaus then advanced two cannons (likely two breechloading culverins), and barraged the English position. The barrage was effective, particularly since the cannons had a greater range than English longbows, but the French failed to provide protection for the cannons, and the English were able to charge and capture them. Cavalry reinforcements arrived later in the day to seal a decisive victory for the French, which paved the way for the capture of the remaining English strongholds in Normandy.
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These were breached and French soldiers launched an assault, but they lost around one hundred men and were repulsed. During the four following days the town and the French exchanged musket fire. On 21 June Strozzi visited the artillery positions with a view to moving the six grand culverins to a new dugout closer to the wall, but he was hit in the throat at 500 paces by a musket shot, dying thirty minutes later. His death was carefully kept secret, however, to avoid damaging the men's morale.
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The keep (centre) and the Captain's House (left) seen from the courtyard In the early 1600s, England was at peace with France and Spain and the coastal forts, included Portland, received little attention.; A 1623 survey reported that the castle was equipped with three culverins, nine demi-culverins and a saker, but that the fortifications had suffered badly from sea erosion and required extensive repairs. Fourteen years later, the castle had 15 guns and a garrison of a captain and 12 men. When the English Civil War broke out in 1642, Portland was initially controlled by Parliamentary forces. The castle was captured in 1643 by a group of Royalists who gained access by pretending to be Parliamentary soldiers.; As the war turned against the King in the south-west, Parliamentary forces besieged the castle for four months in 1644, and once again the following year. The castle finally surrendered to Vice-Admiral William Batten in April 1646. It is uncertain why the castle, which was not easily defensible on the landward side, proved so difficult to take; the historian Peter Harrington has suggested that its low-lying position may have made it difficult for Parliament to bombard it from the sea.
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On 1 July, a badly wounded van Campen and his 62 Dutch and 15 black survivors requested terms for their surrender, which were granted. Cadereyta occupied the fortress the next day, deciding to keep it for Spain and strengthen its defenses by adding four 24-pounders, four 18-pound demi-culverins, and five 12-to ten-pounders to its armament, plus a permanent garrison of 250 Spanish soldiers and 50 auxiliaries under Captain Cebrián de Lizarazu.Marley p.121 The Spanish fleet then sailed to San Juan de Puerto Rico, arriving with its prisoners and three Dutch prize ships on 13 July.
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They do not gird it on, as that would be too much trouble, but carry it on the shoulders, in the fashion of the camarlengos who carry the rapiers on their shoulders in public ceremonies in front of their princes. Besides that weapon the Mindanao uses lance, kris, and shield, as do the other nations. Both these and those have begun to use firearms too much, having acquired that from intercourse with our enemies. They manage all sorts of artillery excellently, and in their fleets all their craft carry their own pieces, with ladle, culverins, esmerils, and other small weapons.
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During the First English Civil War between the supporters of King Charles I and Parliament, Mersea Fort saw no action; after the victory of Parliament in 1646, the fort's garrison was demobilised. Conflict flared again in 1648 with the outbreak of the Second English Civil War, and Colchester was taken by the Royalists. The town was immediately besieged by General Thomas Fairfax, who quickly seized Mersea Fort, which controlled the supply route by river into Colchester, before the Royalists could do so. The fort had contained five pieces of artillery: two culverins, two sakers and one drake.
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This system made the two-stroke Jumos run as cleanly as four- stroke engines using valves, but with considerably less complexity. The Jumo 204 (originally designated Jumo 4) was test flown in early 1929 installed in a Junkers G 24. The Jumo Fo3 and 204 were licensed to Napier & Son, who built a small number as the Napier Culverin just prior to the war. Late in the war, they mounted three Culverins in a triangle layout to produce the Napier Deltic, which was for some time one of the most powerful and compact diesel engines in the world.
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Behind them were twenty cannon drakes, nine feet long, and weighing in all 45.7 tons (45700 kg). In the third port from the stern were two more demi-cannon drakes weighing, together, 4.3 tons (4300 kg). The last two ports on either side were occupied by the stern chase – four demi-cannon drakes weighing a total of 11.4 tons (11400 kg). The middle gun deck had heavy fortified culverins – that is, guns short for their bore – fore and aft. There were two pieces, weighing 4.8 tons (4800 kg), in the fore chase; four pieces, weighing 10.2 tons (10200 kg), in the stern chase.
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On the morning of Thursday, 8 September 1429, Joan of Arc, the Duke of Alençon, Marshals Gilles de Rais and Jean de Brosse Boussac began their march from the Village of La Chapelle to storm the Porte Saint-Honoré. Joan of Arc installed culverins on the butte de Saint-Roch to support the attack. Joan of Arc at siege of Paris The Parisians, believing that the Armagnacs wanted to destroy the city from top to bottom, made a vigorous defence. Joan of Arc was given the task of leading the assault to capture the city by Charles VII.
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The galleys had large cannons of sixty pounders in their bows and formed a tight defensive formation in the shallows around the carrack. As the English entered the bay, without hesitation they fired with everything they had at the anchored and secured galleys but made sure they were out of effective range of the Spanish cannon. Monson's Garland was able to bombard the Spanish galleys with her sixteen culverins forcing them to break formation. Much damage was caused but soon the galleys began to row side to side in the harbour in an attempt to avoid fire from Garland, which was now anchored.
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The Wallace tower was protected with an iron yett and draw bar, there were bedchambers within and a bell at the head of the tower; the 'Wynde Hall' contained another bed.J. Irving, Dumbarton Castle, (Dumbarton 1917), pp. 99-100 In August 1536 George Stirling of Glorat took delivery from John Drummond the king's Master Wright of four great guns and six falcons on carriages with wheels, thirty three bronze hagbut hand-guns and four iron culverins, with ammunition and powder and ramrods for the big guns. John Drummond took away an old brass gun that was long.
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A survey between 1547 and 1548 reported that the castle was equipped with one brass demi-cannon, two brass demi-culverins, four breech-loading portpieces and four slings; it also held eight hagbushes–a type of early arquebus–along with twenty-three bows, twenty- nine bills and twelve pikes. The threat of a French invasion passed, and peace was declared in 1558. Attention shifted away from Portland, and a 1574 survey reported that the castle was in a poor condition, with similar concerns being repeated in 1583. Tensions with Spain grew and military attention focused on the threat to the south-west of England.
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Descriptions of early chroniclers say that it was surrounded by bamboo thickets, defended by a wall and several lantakas, and that an arm of the Pasig river flowed through the middle of the city, dividing it into two settlements. As described in the anonymous 1572 account documented in Volume 3 of Blair and Robertson's compiled translations: > This said village had about a thousand inhabitants, and was surrounded by > very tall and very dense bamboo thickets, and fortified with a wall and a > few small culverins. The same river as that of Manilla circles around the > village and a branch of it passes through the middle dividing it in two > sections.
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In 1350, Petrarch wrote that the presence of cannons on the battlefield was 'as common and familiar as other kinds of arms'. Early artillery played a limited role in the Hundred Years' War, and it became indispensable in the Italian Wars of 1494-1559\. Charles VIII, during his invasion of Italy, brought with him the first truly mobile siege train: culverins and bombards mounted on wheeled carriages, which could be deployed against an enemy stronghold immediately after arrival. The advances in gunpowder technology experienced by Western Europe around the 1500s sparks scholarly debate on whether this was a major military revolution or just an element in wider military evolutions.
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Leveson in Warspite however had problems with the wind and was soon being blown out of the road stead despite efforts to keep Warspite in one position. Once out of effective range Leveson then rowed in a launch under fire and went on board Garland to join Monson and the rest of the fleet. When Bazán's galleys did break formation Dreadnought with her shallow draught sailed into the confusion and took them on all at close range with her eleven demi-culverins and ten sakers. Bazán had suffered significant losses with all three of his galleys damaged and was himself soon so badly wounded that there was much disorganization.
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Plan of the fort in 1725; the Tudor blockhouse is still in place, bottom centre. By the start of the 18th century, Tilbury Fort was one of the most powerful in Britain. The number of artillery guns varied; in 1715 there were 17 demi-cannon and 26 culverins mounted on the west gun platform, and 31 demi-cannons and one culverin on the east; the following year there were reported to be 161 guns in total at the fort, although 92 of these were in poor repair and inoperable. Late 18th-century cannon on the bastion walls In addition to its role in protecting the Thames, the fort had various military uses during the 18th century.
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The town of Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight may have been attacked by the French in 1543; if so, this raid probably encouraged the construction of a castle there as part of the second wave of Device Forts. The fort functioned alongside the existing defences in the Solent and protected the main crossing from the west side of the island to the mainland. Yarmouth Castle was a square artillery fort built around a central courtyard with an angular, "arrow-head" bastion protecting the landward side. It was initially equipped with three cannons and culverins, and twelve smaller guns, firing from a line of embrasures along the seaward side of the castle.
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Ten Dutch companies occupied positions from the church, "Moses Table", North ravelin, and "Flamenburgh", while four large guns protected the harbour and the old town. The two most important works, flanking the breach, the "Porcespic" and the "Helmund" held ten Dutch and English companies along with nine guns loaded with grape shot. In the "West Bulwark" two demi-culverins were placed to sweep the old haven. Along the curtain of the old town, and on the breach which had been made under the "Sandhill", stones and bricks from the ruins of the old church, hoops bound with squibs, fireworks, ropes of pitch and hand-grenades were ready to be poured on the attackers.
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The house north of the market, which had walls pierced with loopholes onto the Esquipulas Street was occupied by the Republican center. The first defense line was formed by buildings and trenches, with the exception of the Romano tradehouse on the Aurora street, which was equipped by light weapons. The second line were trenches, comprising four blocks immediately to the river, and besides that, the last line followed the flow of the Grijalva and Jícaro rivulets, connecting all together by ditches and exterior walls defended by loopholes. The Republican Army fully sealed the siege on the town starting from January 18 and installed five of the smaller culverins and two 24 pounder cannon around San Juan Bautista.
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The South Blockhouse was repaired and strengthened with a water bastion, and formed the south-west corner of the Citadel; the castle was integrated into the north corner and protected by a new bastion. The intervening curtain wall was partially demolished to make way for the new works, while the last remains of the moat were filled in with clay. By 1699, the castle itself no longer held any guns, although the South Bastion was equipped with three demi-culverins and four sakers, all which were inoperable due to poor maintenance and the effect of the sea. The new fortifications were protected by a combination of soldiers from the regular Army, from Independent Companies under the control of the governor, and the "Castle Guard" of local soldiers.
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There were four tiers of guns in the finished castle, from the ground level up to the roof of the keep, and a total of 142 firing points for cannon and handguns; their design closely resembling those at nearby Walmer and Deal castles. Sandgate was completed by the autumn of 1540; Henry may have come to the castle when he was visiting Folkestone in May 1542.; ; Elizabeth I visited the fortification in 1573, and also used it to imprison the courtier Thomas Keyes for a period, after he married Lady Mary Grey against the Queen's wishes. In 1593, the castle was reported to be equipped with seven artillery pieces - one culverin, two demi-culverins, three sakers and one minion - along with muskets, bows and arrows.
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Nevertheless, he went to Stirling and boldly defended himself, arguing that Andrew Henderson, the Earl of Gowrie's chamberlain, and alleged would-be assassin of the king, had been not punished but rewarded. He was a member of the assembly held in 1602, and also joined in the protest against the proposed restoration of episcopacy, which was presented at the first session of the parliament which met at Perth on 1 July 1606. In 1607 he was moderator of the synod held at Perth, to which James VI sent the captain of his guards, Lord Scone, to compel the acceptance of a permanent moderator. Scone threatened Row that if he opposed the scheme ten or twelve of his guards would discharge their culverins at him.
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It also allowed Vieilleville to re-assume overall command of the siege and he decided to attack the town from the left bank. The six grand-culverins were no longer any use in their old positions and so he ordered them moved into a thicket ideally placed to fire upon the defences on the main street and at porte de Luxembourg and had new trenches cut for them, as well as requesting that Metz send further cannon. Four cannon fired on a single tower for a whole hour, leaving it looking more like a dovecote, and when a breach was made in the wall the French troops threw themselves into the gap and captured the tower. Vieilleville led 100-120 pioneers to begin a sap, then moved two cannon into it.
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Longmate p 484 Jean VI d'Aumont, the French commander As part of Spanish preparations for an intended siege of Brest, a well-situated fort was to be built on the Peninsula completely commanding the Roadstead of Brest. Águila's chief engineer, Captain Cristóbal de Rojas, designed a modern fortification, christened El Leon - companies took turns in construction, foraging, and defence. Spanish admiral Pedro de Zubiaur arrived with twelve ships landing equipment, which accelerated the construction of the fort, and two shaped bastions with a glacis were formed in front of the drawbridge guarding where the peninsula joined the mainland. The fort had a significant number of guns, one bastion containing eighteen culverins and another smaller bastion had six; many of the these guns were brought by the fleet of Zubiaur.
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His successor, Captain Roger Clap, commanded the fort from 1665-1686. On 21 March 1673 the fort was destroyed by an accidental fire. It was rebuilt the next year in stone, with 38 guns and 16 culverins in the four-bastion main fort, along with six guns in a water battery. In 1689, following the Glorious Revolution in England, in which James II was replaced by William III, Governor Edmund Andros, a supporter of James II, was confined in the fort and sent to England to stand trial. Under Governor Sir William Phips, appointed by William III in 1692, the fort was renamed "Castle William" and re-built again. The new work had 54 cannon: 24 9-pounders, 12 24-pounders, and a total of 18 32- and 48-pounders.
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Two of his ships were captured in a surprise Chinese attack, while the survivors escaped back to Portugal on the third ship (see Second Battle of Tamao).Madureira, 150. These encounters and others with the Portuguese brought the first breech-loading culverins into China, mentioned even by the philosopher and scholar-official Wang Yangming in 1519 when he suppressed Zhu Chenhao's rebellion in Jiangxi.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 369, 372, 374. The prisoners of these sea battles were eventually executed in 1523 for crimes of "robbery in the high seas" and cannibalism, while Tomé Pires was kept prisoner so that he could write letters to the King of Portugal, the Viceroy of Portuguese India, and the Governor of Malacca conveying the new Ming emperor's message that the Portuguese should leave Malacca and restore it to the rightful rule of its deposed king.
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Engraving of the castle in 1756, showing the entrance gate-tower (left), the residential block (centre) and the gun platform (right) Repairs were made to the castle between 1610 and 1611 by the captain, Sir George Bampfield, at a cost of £211.; A survey in 1623 carried out by Sir Richard Morryson showed the castle to be equipped with ten iron guns – one culverin, five demi-culverins, two sakers, a minion and a falcon – and garrisoned by its captain, five gunners and three soldiers.; It was in a poor condition, and one corner of the gun platform had been undermined by the sea; Morryson's team estimated the likely costs of repairs to amount to £459. During the English Civil War between the supporters of Charles I and Parliament, Weymouth was predominantly Parliamentarian in loyalty and the surrounding forts were held by their garrisons.
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Norman probably made his escape from France at the same time as Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange, but there is no direct information on the point. After his release, he, according to John Spottiswood, returned to Scotland, but on search being made for him he escaped by sea to Denmark. Thence he crossed over to England, where for some time he was in the enjoyment of a pension from Edward VI. The accession of Queen Mary in 1553 compelled him to leave England, and he went to France, where he entered into the service of Henry II. He was mortally wounded in an action before the stronghold of Renti, near Cambrai, on 14 August 1554. At the head of thirty Scots he heroically charged sixty horsemen armed with culverins, unhorsing five of them with his spear before it broke.
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Napier Deltic engine, cut away for display During the war (1944) Napier was asked by the Royal Navy to supply a diesel engine for use in its patrol boats, but the Culverin's 720 hp (537 kW) was not nearly enough for its needs. Napier then designed under the leadership of Ernest Edward Chatterton, Chief Engineer, the Deltic, essentially three Culverins arranged in a large triangle. Considered one of the most complex engine designs of its day, the Deltic was nevertheless very reliable, and was taken into service after the war as a locomotive powerplant (in British Rail's Class 55) in addition to the torpedo boats, minesweepers and other small naval vessels for which it was designed. Also during the Second World War a six- cylinder 300 cubic inch road-vehicle engine was commissioned by the government, but this design was sold to Leyland Motors by 1945.
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At the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Napier Nomad 1 In 1945 the Air Ministry asked for proposals for a new class engine with good fuel economy. Curtiss-Wright was designing an engine of this sort of power known as the turbo-compound engine, but Sir Harry Ricardo, one of Britain's great engine designers, suggested that the most economical combination would be a similar design using a diesel two-stroke in place of the Curtiss's petrol engine. Before World War II Napier had licensed the Junkers Jumo 204 diesel design to set up production in the UK as the Napier Culverin, but the onset of the war made the Sabre all-important and work on the Culverin was stopped. In response to the Air Ministry's 1945 requirements Napier dusted off this work, combining two enlarged Culverins into an H-block similar to the Sabre, resulting in a massive 75 litre design.
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In Sichuan and Guizhou a major rebellion by indigenous peoples had broken out the previous year, and the Ming dynasty was thrown into a major rebel crisis. Meanwhile in Liaoning, Wang Huazhen, Vice Censor-Chief of the Right and Touring Pacification Commissioner of Guangning, proposed hiring 400,000 Mongols to attack the Jurchens. The officials at the Ming court thought this was a dumb idea and refused the proposal. As of 1622 the Ming dynasty had spent 21,188,366 taels on the war in Liaodong over a three year period. With the allotted funds for weapons manufacturing, 25,134 cannons, 6,425 muskets, 8,252 small guns, and 4,090 culverins had been produced for a total of 43,901 firearms. In terms of cold weapons, 98,547 polearms and swords, 26,214 great "horse decapitator" swords, 42,800 bows, 1,000 great axes, 2,284,000 arrows, 180,000 fire arrows, 64,000 bow strings, and hundreds of transport carts were produced.
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In 1547, however, Hurst was equipped with 26 artillery pieces–four made of brass and the remainder iron–comprising a two sakers, a culverin, a demi-cannon, a curtall cannon, two demi-culverins, six portpieces, four slings, two quarter-slings, and seven bases, three of them inoperable.; A 1559 survey commented that Hurst Castle was essential for sending reinforcements from the mainland to the island, and noted that it was equipped with eleven brass and iron guns, with nine further broken guns, along with handguns, bows and arrows, pikes and bills. The survey observed that the castle was vulnerable to attack because it lacked flanking protection and had rounded walls, and that it was expensive to garrison because of its size, requiring a captain, his deputy, twelve gunners, nine soldiers and a porter. The historian John Kenyon notes, however, that its considerable armament made it one of the most powerful forts in the south, even if it was equipped with lighter guns than would have been ideal for its "ship-killing" role.
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Eighteen years after the granting of the charter of incorporation, Leeds joined with other towns in the neighbourhood in a Memorial to the King wherein he was besought to settle his differences with the rebellious Parliament. Of this no notice was taken, and in the earlier stages of the Civil War the town was garrisoned for the Royal cause under Sir William Savile. But it was a very small Leeds which he occupied for the King in January 1643, having under him 500 horse and 1,500 foot. He made elaborate preparations for the defence of the place, digging a six-foot trench from St. John's Church by Upper Headrow, Boar Lane, and Swinegate to the banks of the river; erecting breastworks at the north end of the bridge, and placing demi- culverins in a position to sweep Briggate. Against him on Monday, January 23, advanced the redoubtable Sir Thomas Fairfax, at the head of a Parliamentary force which appears to have numbered at least 3000 horse and foot.
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