page_title: Gunpowder
section_title: Mainland Europe
hierarchical_section_title: Gunpowder / History of gunpowder / Mainland Europe
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: ==Summary== anonymous: The invention of gunpowder &#160;&#160;&#160;Artist anonymous&#160;Designer Stradanus &#160;(1523&#8211;1605)&#160;&#160;Alternative names Jan van der Straet, Giovanni della Strada, Johannes della Strada, Giovanni Stradano, Johannes Stradano, Giovanni Stradanus, Johannes Stradanus, Jan van Straeten, Jan van StratenDescriptionFlemish painter and draughtsmanDate of birth/death 1523&#160; 2 November 1605&#160;Location of birth/death Bruges FlorenceWork location Antwerp (1545), Florence (circa 1550-1605), Rome (circa 1550-1553), Montemurlo (1590)Authority control : Q143595 VIAF:&#8201;29699451 ISNI:&#8201;0000 0000 8108 906X ULAN:&#8201;500011304 LCCN:&#8201;n84804240 NLA:&#8201;35875335 WorldCat creator QS:P170,Q143595 &#160;Title De uitvinding van het buskruitPublisher Jan Galle&#160;Object type engraving&#160;Description Gravure (http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300041340 ), anoniem, Museum Plantin-MoretusMedium gravureCollection Museum Plantin-Moretus &#160;&#160;Native nameMuseum Plantin-MoretusLocationAntwerpCoordinates51°&#160;13′&#160;05.86″&#160;N, 4°&#160;23′&#160;53.39″&#160;E &#160;Established1877&#160;Web pagehttp://www.museumplantinmoretus.be/Authority control : Q595802 VIAF:&#8201;130668175 ISNI:&#8201;0000 0001 2285 9666 LCCN:&#8201;n50051109 UNESCO:&#8201;1185 GND:&#8201;1007736-4 WorldCat institution QS:P195,Q595802Accession number PK OPB 0186 004References described at URL: http://dams.antwerpen.be/asset/UakGgrGlcya9EWPekO91uuR1&#160;Source/Photographer Museum Plantin-Moretus &#160;&#160;Native nameMuseum Plantin-MoretusLocationAntwerpCoordinates51°&#160;13′&#160;05.86″&#160;N, 4°&#160;23′&#160;53.39″&#160;E &#160;Established1877&#160;Web pagehttp://www.museumplantinmoretus.be/Authority control : Q595802 VIAF:&#8201;130668175 ISNI:&#8201;0000 0001 2285 9666 LCCN:&#8201;n50051109 UNESCO:&#8201;1185 GND:&#8201;1007736-4 WorldCat institution QS:P195,Q595802Permission(Reusing this file) &#160; This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. The person who associated a work with this deed has dedicated the work to the public domain by waiving all of their rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Gravure (http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300041340 ), anoniem, Museum Plantin-Moretus
context_page_description: Gunpowder, also known as the retronym black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. The sulfur and charcoal act as fuels while the saltpeter is an oxidizer. Because of its incendiary properties and the amount of heat and gas volume that it generates, gunpowder has been widely used as a propellant in firearms, artillery, rocketry, and pyrotechnics, including use as a blasting agent for explosives in quarrying, mining, and road building.
  Gunpowder was invented in 9th-century China as one of the Four Great Inventions, and spread throughout most parts of Eurasia by the end of the 13th century. Originally developed by the Taoists for medicinal purposes, gunpowder was first used for warfare around 904 AD.
  Gunpowder is classified as a low explosive because of its relatively slow decomposition rate and consequently low brisance. Low explosives deflagrate at subsonic speeds, whereas high explosives detonate producing a supersonic shockwave.
context_section_description: The earliest Western accounts of gunpowder appear in texts written by English philosopher Roger Bacon in the 13th century.
  Several sources mention Chinese firearms and gunpowder weapons being deployed by the Mongols against European forces at the Battle of Mohi in 1241. Professor Kenneth Warren Chase credits the Mongols for introducing into Europe gunpowder and its associated weaponry. However, there is no clear route of transmission, and while the Mongols are often pointed to as the likeliest vector, Timothy May points out that "there is no concrete evidence that the Mongols used gunpowder weapons on a regular basis outside of China." However, Timothy May also points out "However... the Mongols used the gunpowder weapon in their wars against the Jin, the Song and in their invasions of Japan."
  In Europe, one of the first mentions of gunpowder use appears in a passage found in Roger Bacon's Opus Maius of 1267 and Opus Tertium in what has been interpreted as being firecrackers. The most telling passage reads: "We have an example of these things (that act on the senses) in [the sound and fire of] that children's toy which is made in many [diverse] parts of the world; i.e., a device no bigger than one's thumb. From the violence of that salt called saltpeter [together with sulfur and willow charcoal, combined into a powder] so horrible a sound is made by the bursting of a thing so small, no more than a bit of parchment [containing it], that we find [the ear assaulted by a noise] exceeding the roar of strong thunder, and a flash brighter than the most brilliant lightning." In the early 20th century, British artillery officer Henry William Lovett Hime proposed that another work tentatively attributed to Bacon, Epistola de Secretis Operibus Artis et Naturae, et de Nullitate Magiae contained an encrypted formula for gunpowder. This claim has been disputed by historians of science including Lynn Thorndike, John Maxson Stillman and George Sarton and by Bacon's editor Robert Steele, both in terms of authenticity of the work, and with respect to the decryption method. In any case, the formula claimed to have been decrypted (7:5:5 saltpeter:charcoal:sulfur) is not useful for firearms use or even firecrackers, burning slowly and producing mostly smoke. However, if Bacon's recipe is taken as measurements by volume rather than weight, a far more potent and serviceable explosive powder is created suitable for firing hand-cannons, albeit less consistent due to the inherent inaccuracies of measurements by volume. One example of this composition resulted in 100 parts saltpeter, 27 parts charcoal, and 45 parts sulfur, by weight.
  The Liber Ignium, or Book of Fires, attributed to Marcus Graecus, is a collection of incendiary recipes, including some gunpowder recipes. Partington dates the gunpowder recipes to approximately 1300. One recipe for "flying fire" (ignis volatilis) involves saltpeter, sulfur, and colophonium, which, when inserted into a reed or hollow wood, "flies away suddenly and burns up everything." Another recipe, for artificial "thunder", specifies a mixture of one pound native sulfur, two pounds linden or willow charcoal, and six pounds of saltpeter. Another specifies a 1:3:9 ratio.
  Some of the gunpowder recipes of De Mirabilibus Mundi of Albertus Magnus are identical to the recipes of the Liber Ignium, and according to Partington, "may have been taken from that work, rather than conversely." Partington suggests that some of the book may have been compiled by Albert's students, "but since it is found in thirteenth century manuscripts, it may well be by Albert." Albertus Magnus died in 1280.
  A major advance in manufacturing began in Europe in the late 14th century when the safety and thoroughness of incorporation was improved by wet grinding; liquid, such as distilled spirits was added during the grinding-together of the ingredients and the moist paste dried afterwards. The principle of wet mixing to prevent the separation of dry ingredients, invented for gunpowder, is used today in the pharmaceutical industry.
  It was also discov
caption: The invention of gunpowder, anonymous maker, Museum Plantin-Moretus (PK.OPB.0168.004)
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