page_title: Medieval technology
section_title: Gunpowder weapons
hierarchical_section_title: Medieval technology / Military technologies / Gunpowder weapons
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Die Mons Meg, ein mittelalterliches Riesengeschütz aus der ersten Hälfte des 15. Jahrhunderts aus Edinburgh (Schottland) English: Mons Meg, a medieval supergun of the first half of the 15th century from Edinburgh, Scotland
context_page_description: Medieval technology is the technology used in medieval Europe under Christian rule. After the Renaissance of the 12th century, medieval Europe saw a radical change in the rate of new inventions, innovations in the ways of managing traditional means of production, and economic growth. The period saw major technological advances, including the adoption of gunpowder, the invention of vertical windmills, spectacles, mechanical clocks, and greatly improved water mills, building techniques, and agriculture in general.
  The development of water mills from their ancient origins was impressive, and extended from agriculture to sawmills both for timber and stone. By the time of the Domesday Book, most large villages had turnable mills, around 6,500 in England alone. Water-power was also widely used in mining for raising ore from shafts, crushing ore, and even powering bellows.
  European technical advancements from the 12th to 14th centuries were either built on long-established techniques in medieval Europe, originating from Roman and Byzantine antecedents, or adapted from cross-cultural exchanges through trading networks with the Islamic world, China, and India.
context_section_description: Cannon (1324)
  Cannons are first recorded in Europe at the siege of Metz in 1324. In 1350 Petrarch wrote "these instruments which discharge balls of metal with most tremendous noise and flashes of fire...were a few years ago very rare and were viewed with greatest astonishment and admiration, but now they are become as common and familiar as  kinds of arms."
  Volley gun
  See Ribauldequin.
  Corned gunpowder (late 14th century)
  First practiced in Western Europe, corning the black powder allowed for more powerful and faster ignition of cannons. It also facilitated the storage and transportation of black powder. Corning constituted a crucial step in the evolution of gunpowder warfare.
  very large-calibre cannon (late 14th century)
  Extant examples include the wrought-iron Pumhart von Steyr, Dulle Griet and Mons Meg as well as the cast-bronze Faule Mette and Faule Grete (all from the 15th century).
caption: Scottish bombard Mons Meg
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