page_title: Arquebus
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Arquebus / History
caption_attribution_description: Español: Arcabuces japoneses de la Era Edo Français&#160;: teppō (arquebuses de fabrication japonaise) de l'ère Edo (début du 17è siècle). Au dessus du milieu se trouve une 'corne à poudre' portant l'emblème du clan Tokugawa. English: teppō (Japanese-built arquebuse) of the Edo era (early 17th century). Above center is a Japanese 'powder horn' with the emblem of Tokugawa clan.
context_page_description: The arquebus, derived from the German word Hakenbüchse, was a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. Although the term arquebus was applied to many different forms of firearms from the 15th to 17th centuries, it originally referred to "a hand-gun with a hook-like projection or lug on its under surface, useful for steadying it against battlements or other objects when firing". These "hook guns" were in their earliest forms defensive weapons mounted on German city walls in the early 15th century. The addition of a shoulder stock, priming pan, and matchlock mechanism in the late 15th century turned the arquebus into a handheld firearm and also the first firearm equipped with a trigger. The exact dating of the matchlock's appearance is disputed. It could have appeared in the Ottoman Empire as early as 1465 and in Europe a little before 1475. The heavy arquebus, which was then called a musket, was developed to better penetrate plate armor and appeared in Europe around 1521. Heavy arquebuses mounted on wagons were called arquebus à croc. These carried a lead ball of about 3.5 ounces.
caption: Tanegashima arquebus of the Edo period
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