The Artillery of the Dukes of Burgundy 1363-1477
R. D. Smith, K. DeVries
Entwicklung und Einsatz der Artillerie in den Heeren der Herzöge
von Burgund anhand der verschiedenen Quellen. Erhaltene Geschütze
werden katalogisiert und im Bild vergestellt.
A major new exploration of the history and development of gunpowder
weapons in the 15th century based on the artillery of the Dukes of
Burgundy.
The four Valois Dukes of Burgundy created, in little more than a
century, a fabulously wealthy and independent state. Their
centralised control and chancellery have bequeathed to us a vast
treasure trove of documents, including accounts and inventories of
the Masters of the artillery under the later Dukes. Although many
of these were extracted and transcribed in the late nineteenth
century, modern historians have largely ignored their unprecedented
insights into fifteenth-century guns and their use.
When Charles the Bold, the last Valois Duke, took on the combined
Swiss confederate forces in 1476 he lost not just the battles and
his personal fortune, but much of his artillerytrain as well. Of
the dozens of cannons captured, at least 25 pieces survive in Swiss
museums.
The documents that survive from the Valois state give us, almost
for the first time in medieval Europe, the ability to see the
course of history in a period when Europe was undergoing some of
the most profound changes before the 20th century.
The Artillery of the Dukes of Burgundy is the first attempt to
combine all these sources, bringing newand fresh insights into the
development and use of artillery in the fifteenth century. Moreover
this is the first modern study of medieval cannon, one of the most
important discoveries of the post-classical world.
Format 17,5 x 25 cm, Hardcover, 378 Seiten, 150 s/w-Abbildungen,
englischer Text, Best.-Nr. Bb027
