How Medieval Artillery Revolutionized Siege Warfare

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At the end of the Middle Ages, a new weapon system changed the face of 15th century European siege warfare: artillery made its appearance. It had an impressive impact best shown by one peculiar fact. Imagine a walled fortress in the 14th century. It could easily deter attackers for several months. But in the early 15th up to the early 16th century, after artillery had fully developed, the same walls fell within days. As a result, engineers had to construct much more elaborate defensive structures. By the early to mid 16th century a fortress could again withstand a siege with heavy artillery for several months. This is how modern historiography explains the rise of artillery.
Patreon: / sandrhomanhistory
Bibliography:
Ayton, A., / Price, J. L., (Hrsg.), The Medieval Military Revolution. State, Society and Military Change in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, 199J. Black, A Military Revolution? Military Change and European Society 1550-1800, 1991.
Devries, K., Medieval Military Technology, 1994.
Ortenburg, G., Waffe und Waffengebrauch im Zeitalter der Landsknechte (Heerwesen der Neuzeit, Abt. 1, Bd. 1) Koblenz 1984.
Rogers, C. J., Military Revolutions of the Hundred Years War, in: Rogers et al. The Military Revolution Debate. Reading on the Military Transformation of Early Modern Europe, 1995, p. 13-35.
Schmidtchen, V., Kriegswesen im Spätmittelalter, 1990.

[@barbiquearea]

Also early musket and cannon balls were made of stone rather than metal. This was due to how expensive metal was at the time. However improvements in metallurgy mainly from Italian smiths allowed shot made from iron a lot cheaper and more widely accessible.

[@samiamrg7]

The best guns were also made of bronze or brass. Iron guns were cheaper but less durable and less reliable until later improvements in gun construction and iron smelting mitigated these faults.

[@darkorodic638]

Can we get evolution of logistics video? Everyone knows that professionals think about logistics.

[@benm5913]

I vote for this as well.

[@chubbymoth5810]

It would be interesting to take the invasion of Henry the 5th for that as his records are so well kept. No doubt some papers are written on the topic to use as source.

[@Bird_Dog00]

+1

[@righteousviking]

[Gustavus Adolphus has entered the chat]

[@lordinicus]

+1

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

Artillery, my first love.

[@thegreattimur6051]

Stalins tooq

[@caseyjones6677]

And it will be my last. Artillery of the future, artillery from the past...

[@marquisvonprosa7983]

Not the old guard Mr. Napoleon?

[@iancrom3320]

KING OF BATTLE

[@dmitritelvanni4068]

@@thegreattimur6051 nah you're thinking the katyusha multi rocket launcher. Artillery is more napoleans thing.

[@trolltalwar]

something that many people over look when talking about cannons shooting breaches into walls is that the rubble doesnt just disappear. if you shoot a castle wall down, your path is still completely blocked by debris. the plus side of this, however, is that defenders cant effectively use that collapsed wall to defend. though at the siege of harfleur the french were particularly stubborn and were still defending from collapsed walls and broken towers

[@2SSSR2]

And thus, the rise of Artillery brought the Fall of Rome in the East... ;_;

[@ofsabir]

True indeed. I wish he had mentioned the Siege of Constantinople as it was the first time mortars were used in sieges.

[@sdsd2e2321]

@J And chinese were still using gunpowder as medicine when europeans arrived with modern firearms and artillery... hahahhahhaa

[@sdsd2e2321]

@J I know you spoke about the Imjin war in a deleted comment, but the portugese showed up 50 years ealier and gave weapons to east-asia.

[@martytu20]

Some said that the epic failure known as the fourth Crusade set the terminal decline of the Eastern Romans.

[@BygoneChina]

@J You're right. During the 19th century. many Qing Generals still mistrusted the modern firearms introduced by the British and French, partly because they were superstitious of them. They preferred instead to use the simpler (and in their eyes more reliable) weapons that had been produced centuries earlier.

[@bandit6272]

King of Battle, baby Tinnitus is my inner ear's love song to my time in the artillery.

[@samarkand1585]

Fun

[@mahdykamali4138]

These videos are of professional importance. Well done, my friend; You taught me more than school in the ways of history.

[@hoegild1]

Excellent video, but you forgot to mention the main use af gunpowder in sieges against high walled fortresses... the mine. Medieval walls was very vulnerable to the mine, as they were build high, and out of masonry. So in the described period, everybody teared down their high walls, and reinforced them with earth embarkments on the inside. A simple solution, that worked very well.

[@andrewshrock9049]

I'm running a d&d campaign in this era of warfare thank you

[@marcelosilveira2276]

I’m playing a late 15th, early 16th century inspired D&D game, and am looking forward to create a “cannon” by forging magic itens. Telkinesis is cast by a “lvl 1” mage (not that it is avaiable to them at that level) would allow one to hurl a 25pound rock/cannonball up to 39meters… though longer ranges would be needed to make it’s range effective, it is still a 25 pounder as a 1st level caster. I think it will be absolutely broken, but oh well… anyway, I’m looking forward for the field artillery video

[@xornxenophon3652]

"Artillery adds dignity to what otherwise would be a vulgar brawl." (Frederik II, King of Prussia)

[@QuantumHistorian]

We've all played Civilization IV ;)

[@koatam]

"You can get more with a kind word and a gun, than you can get with just a kind word" -Al Capone

[@florix7889]

The mangled corpses of soldiers would like to differ

[@saguntum-iberian-greekkons7014]

Artillery used on infantry is pure barbarism, it cuts you a member in a second, i prefer a vulgar brawl than seeing enemies agonizing after getting an arm or a leg cut

[@QuantumHistorian]

@@florix7889 "It is entirely seemly for a young man killed in battle to lie mangled by the bronze spear. In his death all things appear fair." - Homer, The Illiad 2500 years has changed the tools, but not the results

[@troo_6656]

I knew it. Also it is really nice to see this channel grow more and more.

[@YogoYoshi2936]

0:02 Nice Styrian Gun in the background. I am obsessed with artillery.

[@thegreattimur6051]

With every Video your Quality are going higher. Greetings from Germany i Love your Videos.

[@Smi7h1sH3r3]

man, one of the few times I'm happy to see someone get a sponsor!! Good stuff, great work, keep it all goin!!!!!!

[@Auriorium]

I would love to see a 30 and 80 year War recap in your style. Like you did with the Burgundian Wars.

[@raccoon5046]

Oh boi do i have news for you...

[@Auriorium]

@@raccoon5046 What? Dont tell me he is making it?

[@griffin5226]

Are you aware of any references in regards to the effectiveness of early mortars, ie. mortars that did not fire exploding projectiles? We have many period drawing of mortars firing single shot as well as a hail of stones. I wonder how effective this was both tactically and in shear lethality.

[@dolsopolar]

.

[@421less1]

Hard to imagine the clumps of loose stone being overly effective if it was ever done. Metal armors predated alot of siege equipment. The concussive force might be enough to injure some soldiers but probably wouldn't result in alot of fatalities. Maybe going over the wall and hitting non combatants in a city it could be effective but probably not enough to justify using a siege engine that could throw bigger things. There have been lots of interesting sketches and designs found throughout history of some pretty elaborate and brutal siege weapons but its more rare to find records of their use. Like the whole boiling oil barrels thing in movies. Seems like it would work but there is next to no examples of them actually being used. I hope i answered that in a way that didnt come off as snobby. Just what ive found in my researching it, and if someone claims to know more listen to them.

[@DreadX10]

They didn't become mainstream and therefore little is known. This tells us that they weren't great and had serious drawbacks. No army recorded as far as I know how many guns exploded and killed their crews. Put a somewhat too heavy a shot in a mortar and you have yourself a pipe-bomb. How many shots did a weapon like this have as its lifespan? If the defender had invested the same amount of material in smaller guns, they could shoot at the mortar about 8 times for every mortar-shot. A weapon that shoots in the first ballistic trajectory (cannon, howitzer etc) always out-ranges a weapon shooting in the second ballistic trajectory (mortar). Same goes for accuracy. So the cheaper weapon outperforms the more expensive weapon and you don't have to be a rocket-surgeon to see where that is going to end up. A bit of a ramble but I hope you get the jest of it. Come to think of it. I do remember a mortar being used with solid shot against the ruler of a castle. The walls of the castle and the keep were too thick/sturdy to attack it effectively the normal way and a mortar was commissioned specifically to attack the keep from above and try to have the stones crash through the wooden roof and floors of the keep. Sadly I don't remember more details about this ( small things like who was fighting who and where and what the result was ).

[@samiamrg7]

Tbe wikipedia page on mortars has some information and references regarding early mortars.

[@alpmuslu3954]

Your Chanel is so underrated, love the info and images used, keep it up✌️

[@misterdonlon]

Ah a historians dedication to quality I see, well done sir! Excellent editing and research!

[@brokenbridge6316]

This was a nicely informative video. Always nice to see the evolution of a weapon of war.

[@thenoblepoptart]

Damn, so there was a short window of time when fortifications were useless and could be brought to rubble by a battery of early modern cannon shot? That’s pretty terrifying, the stone walls that once kept you safe are now trapping you in your doomed castle!

[@ArtilleryAffictionado1648]

awesome video. I keep thinking that eu4 should have better fortifications earlier. there is probably 80 years of gameplay between the invention of the cannon and the bastion technology, which makes forts useless and leads to much steamroll. That gamey shit aside, cool info :)

[@leanderfoster3465]

Man, you have some of the highest quality videos discussing important topics

[@LookHereMars]

Great documentary my friend thoroughly enjoyed this. Keep up the good work. 👍

[@Chironex_Fleckeri]

The artwork and animations are an all-time favorite. Big fan of it m8

[@Chironex_Fleckeri]

4:39 EXTREME levels of coziness. I want a library like that. Dude... this channel really gets me in the mood to read. Someone behind this channel must play EU4, right? Side question.

[@stefansazdovski4418]

High quality content as always. Keep up the good work and bless us with a series about the Italian wars or the Thirty years war. Cheers :D

[@secret5816]

Agreed, that would be really interesting!

[@GrandMoffTarkinsTeaDispenser]

Last time I was this early my city was still walled.

[@averagewikipediaenthusiast3088]

Last time I was this early the Death Star isn't exploding

[@eastindiaV]

I always see pictures of these huge stones next to the mortars, but I don't think that's what they used in a siege, if you look at the castle walls, some of them have iron and stone balls embedded, but others are completely blasted open, so they probably had cast iron balls filled with explosives back then. Firing the mortar would ignite the Fuze, which usually was flush with the ball I think, and would just be a red hot ember... I think on impact on the right area, the Fuze just gets jammed into the powder inside and detonated on impact... crude so it may not always explode instantly. The grenades had fuses you'd light from a flame, which would burn at a predetermined rate. Cannons were rifled since the 1400s, and used high velocity (armor piercing) balls Mortars are older and they just lob the biggest explosive possible far enough to be effective, they're usually not rifled, and have a massive bore size. Cannons are aimed at the gaurds... mortars are just to pulverize and destroy whatever... I think mortars were probably more popular for offense.

[@noahkidd3359]

Excellent videos! This channel is underrated.

[@bantuanasurimbor4373]

Oh God! I have been missing out! This channel is a Gem! I love everything from the illustrations to the narration, keep up the phenomenal work

[@Sofus.]

"Pumhart von Steyr" does that mean? "The beating heart of Steyer" 🤔

[@Evangeline.F]

No. The hart in Pumhart is not heart, but hard, while Pum is just the sound of the gunshot. The name basically tries to imply that the gun is loud and hits hard.

[@packhorsetriumph5319]

Idiot

[@Sofus.]

@@Evangeline.F Sooo "The Bang-Hard of Steyer" 😂

[@NoPantsBaby]

Hart = Loud. Herz = Heart.

[@baddoopey]

@@packhorsetriumph5319, as said, there are no stupid questions but lots of stupid answers.

[@robsealsey5052]

This is really funny, this is the second time I've seen you mention Prof. Rogers in two days, the other being your longbow video. He was my thesis advisor at school, great guy, incredibly smart.

[@theoddone887]

8:24, by the way the second molecular formula is written slightly wrong. Just remember that Calcium is written as Ca, not CA. So calcium oxide is CaO, not CAO. Small but important thing to keep in mind. Thanks for the video

[@Sheilawisz]

In the Battle of Crecy, 1346 the artillery of King Edward III of England killed great numbers of French Knights and horses, and it was the mid 14th Century. In the 15th Century, the great Turkish bombard was a nightmarish weapon, powerful enough to be used in WW1. Medieval artillery was serious!

[@عليياسر-ذ5ب]

Not the first artillery invented by the Ottomans

[@stanbatakarata6081]

​@user-cg2tw8pw7j 😂 what otoman otoman in 15 century haves artilery 😉

[@TheVicariousone1]

You guys are making excellent material! TY TY TY!!!

[@zackhartley4718]

Really enjoy this art style! 👍🏻

[@Skanderbeg911]

Please a video of the Siege of Vienna of 1529, the siege of Castelnouvo and the Siege of Malta

[@mouadbouzaid7174]

you clearly hate the Ottomans , you mentioned all the sieges that two of them they lost and one they struggled with ( HONESTLY )

[@gondalgandul6848]

@@mouadbouzaid7174 well my friend, everybody has the same right to like or to hate in this modern day.

[@mouadbouzaid7174]

True :D

[@johnwmalesevic]

A new video! This is truly a treat

[@daviddrabick9018]

Thank you for an fascinating and engrossing video. Another factor that made corned powder superior to the old-fashioned mix, is that on a long journey, its ingredients didn't need to be remixed before action. An increase in one aspect of artillery development necessitated an improvement in the others- materials, quality, manufacture, quantity, propellant, ammunition, production, transport. Competition was the impetus for improvement. Strange how England seemed to have a lead in this field, but fell behind, at least for a time...

[@chubbymoth5810]

Excellent video! The relation between technology advances and efficiency very well laid out, backed up by sources.

[@veso5863]

Friend, this channel is so good i wish i was a military historian

[@philRminiatures]

Another fascinating video...and subject, thanks! 👍👍

[@michaelbayliss4018]

I love this channel~ so much information such distinct graphics.

[@TheWampam]

An interesting focus of an "other video" would be the actualy evolution of the bastioned fortification. To many documentarieshave this quite simple view of: There are castles - cannons are invented- "bam" 18th century "Star Fort".

[@SandRhomanHistory]

it's definitely on our list.

[@republikadugave420]

Animations on the channel are just amazing...great work!!!

[@DreadX10]

This style reminds me so much of Monty Python's Terry Gilliams' animations and that's a very good thing.

[@republikadugave420]

@@DreadX10 yes its kinda the same style but much better

[@sarahsidney1988]

Great content. Keep up the good work!

[@kebman]

Groete donnerbusse? Sounds like great thunder-blast.

[@terrorcop101]

"It had an impressive impact." Pardon the pun.

[@Realkeepa-et9vo]

3:42 You (a Trebuchet) vs the guy she told you not to worry about

[@gabrielcurraj3994]

Can you make a viedo about fortifications like how to build the perfect bastion (star shaped fortress) or trenches and Bunkers because I love early modern period fortifications and military engineering! Fun fact I am just 15 years old and I know a lot !

[@YoshtTheAwesome]

I thoroughly enjoyed the video, thank you.

[@LoLFilmStudios]

Visuals are amazing.

[@johngough5109]

Did anyone use something similar to canister during the thirty years war? I've heard of langrage but how common was it and how effective?

[@paul1780]

This is the 4th video I've watched from you guys, you've earned another Subscriber. May the 🍺 flow into your living quarters.

[@joejoelesh1197]

What would a modern M777 (115mm) do to a properly constructed castle wall?

[@Chr.U.Cas1622]

👍👌👏 Simply fantastic! Very well done! Thanks a lot for making teaching explaining recording editing uploading and sharing. Best regards luck and health.

[@paul1780]

The music that plays at the end has an Assassin's Creed vibe, love it.

[@mouadbouzaid7174]

you kinda forgot about the Sahi Top cannon that destroyed the walls of Constantinople in 1453

[@precursors]

The video was only about Western Europe, somehow..

[@jankoodziej877]

They usually are. I find it jarring time after time that even though the channel sometimes mentions other parts of the world, it defaults to Western Europe.

[@mouadbouzaid7174]

it's like there is no other part of the world that were as civilized as western europe which totally a racist sentence to say

[@cv4809]

@@mouadbouzaid7174 you're a simpleton to assume that Every historian has his own field of expertise, and his is western europe No historian can possibly be expert on the whole world

[@mouadbouzaid7174]

@@cv4809 i didn't say that every historian can be expert on the whole world , you totally missed my point

[@napolien1310]

When you want to protect yourself build a castle. Then the enemy will use catapults and trebuchet to destroy it. Then you will build a better castle with thicker walls. Then artillery came and started destroying these castles. Then cities became more fortified with crazy designs like star shape...etc. God I love this it's like attack and counter attack.

[@giacomomorandini6770]

Yes really interesting

[@barnettmcgowan8978]

Another great video!

[@Ciech_mate]

I am your fan boy, thank you for doing this in English. I don't know if it's difficult for you to do that or not but if it is, thank you for that extra effort. English is my second language too.

[@basfinnis]

Great information. Thanks

[@galloe8933]

This was for me is years and years in the past but I found that if you jammed cotton balls into a Nurf gun the toy could be reengenred to shoot out dog food like scatter shot. That's about what they did to shoot bombardment artilarty... I was a smart kid, I have no clue what happened to me.

[@DreadX10]

You found youtube and it all went down-hill from there? Hmm, is there a market for dogfood slinging miniature trebuchets?

[@galloe8933]

This was was back in 97, and I was 10. The plan was to shoot cotton balls at my family, but I found that two cotton balls with dog food jammed in between could send pet food flying at my older sister. The conclusion to my good idea was my dad putting it in the burn barrel.

[@nonnaurbisness3013]

Lol "I was a smart kid" put dog food in a dart gun. So fucking smart

[@galloe8933]

@@nonnaurbisness3013 No, no, you left out how I weaponized the dog food. I was like 8, and the kind of thinking involved in using cotton balls to build up pressure to shoot dog food was the smart part. Pretty sure I would not have used the word "Pressure" to describe what the cotton balls did. Why the "F" word? FUCK! There, I did it too, we are on even ground now. EDIT, I was 9 until December that year.

[@anonymousanglo1169]

Guns are one the most important inventions of all time.

[@packhorsetriumph5319]

Id argue its cheese whiz

[@anonymousanglo1169]

@@packhorsetriumph5319 jee whiz

[@stargazer4683]

Amazing !

[@rustyspurs771]

5:50 Charles The Bold of Burgundy

[@ironwolf2244]

Fascinating to see how such juggernauts were birthed.

[@kamelmeddah9074]

Can't believe I'm this early lol...great video as always 👏👏

[@Thraim.]

Defender: You'll never breach my mighty walls. Attacker: Haha, cannons go brrrrr Defender: But what if I build my walls... at an angle! Attacker: Wait, that's illegal!

[@GuilhermeSouza-ux4jq]

Centuries later: Attacker: what if I throw a fucking nuclear bomb inside your walls

[@Gr3nadgr3gory]

@@GuilhermeSouza-ux4jq how about I give a spy a few sticks of dynamite, or a kilo or two of C 4?

[@garystone3476]

Interesting and well done.

[@timallen3085]

great video! long time subscriber. One thing tho, only the first letter in an element is a capital, for example Fe not FE. keep up the great work tho! always look forward to new videos

[@shawnbeckett1370]

Awesome as always

[@davec.8406]

Another fascinating video.

[@sarcasmo57]

Those cannons are fight!

[@DedMan516]

Great video as always

[@dukesilver702]

Cannons go pew pew

[@villiamkarl-gustavlundberg5422]

'Nooooooooo! You can't just batter down town walls in a couple fort nights that took decades to erect!' 'He he. Cannon goes pew pew'

[@thgentleman9210]

Perhaps one of the earliest sieges with the use of cannons was Harfleur.king Henry's campaign of Normandy.

[@roelantverhoeven371]

first use of cannon in a battle was when the city of Ghent fielded cannons against the city of Bruges and their French allies in the battle of westrozebeke 1382. the brugeans were routed when the cannon started firing.

[@mike7652]

China, 1350. Learn things please.

[@secario2135]

no the first cannon where used in the battle of cresey

[@CivilWarWeekByWeek]

Damn the thumbnail has a big ass cannon

[@millerkriese3064]

I see S&R post, I watch and like, simple as that

[@ThePapo1980]

So I have CuriosityStream and there is no history of weapons documentary I have looked many times

[@SandRhomanHistory]

that might be due to the country you live in. Try it with a VPN enabled; I honestly do not know why they change their library across different countries.

[@ThePapo1980]

@@SandRhomanHistory good call thank you bro, and keep Up the amazing work. I love the art

[@christisking1576]

Intentionally putting mud into the barrel of a gun. We sure have come a long way.

[@dankthrone6668]

You see that castle? Yes sir I don’t want to Yes sir

[@precursors]

The video should be renamed to “The Rise of Artillery in Western European Warfare”

[@MarkhasSteelfort]

True, this dude completely ignores the most prominent gun smiths and users such as Hungary and Ottoman Empire.

[@christopheraliaga-kelly6254]

"Artillery has simplified the art of government" Lewis Mumford "Aye, sure has" James IV, after obliging rebellious Lords to submit by just bringing Mons Meg to before their castles. "Aye, ye're right their, fathir" James V, after forcing Clan chiefs to surrender to him, when he 'daunted the Isles' by bringing every cannon in Scotland on a fleet, on a 'Royal Progress' by sea in 1541. "Ahm 'no so sure about thet, laddies", James II, after being killed by his own cannon, "The Lion", during the siege of Roxburgh Castle in 1460.

[@daudsheikh5001]

I find myself watching this at 5 am while I have work in an hour

[@JP6580]

6:18 Spelling error on "Revolutions of the (Hundred) Years"!

[@natheriver8910]

Very interesting

[@cliffordjensen8064]

Good Video.

[@daroth7127]

now the name Barrel makes alot more sense

[@ownage11445]

I don’t know what I would’ve hated more being an infantry man or part of the gunnery crew on the siege guns. If a siege gun failed 15kg of powder turns the gun into a giant bomb.

[@nathanc6577]

At least the latter's a quick death

[@patriciusvonkempen9810]

Actualy The First Things we're Not canons but other Forms of gun Like Arrow guns

[@samarkand1585]

Why do you put capital letters seemingly randomly on your words?

[@kristofantal8801]

Emperor of Grammar...

[@patriciusvonkempen9810]

@@samarkand1585 because German autocorrect and Phoneposting

[@kristofantal8801]

Depends on what you means under first things... So when?

[@_gungrave_6802]

Anytime he said gunpowder it sounded like he said cornpowder and it confused the shit out of me for about 10 or so seconds.

[@jasonmartineau9315]

Many times he did, as "corned powder" was a refinement on basic gunpowder where the grain size (and hence burn rate) were controlled. The processed, "corned" gunpowder grains looked like, well... crop grains, hence the name.

[@edwarddesoignie1396]

I wonder if the development of artillery was connected with the rise of centralized government due primarily to the costs of manufacturing these weapons, supply of gunpowder, projectiles and trained manpower for these weapons.

[@mobzillamurphy9110]

Clifford J. Roggers is the father and son of SandRhomanHistory

[@averyshaw2142]

Wow, my timeline has been completely off. Agincourt, which revolutionized the longbow, was long after guns were introduced and used in western europe.

[@JanHans]

Ein bißchen viel Ereignisgeschichte...

[@thegreattimur6051]

Was würdest du denn anders machen?

[@clintmoor422]

bravo monsieur

[@NicolaiVE]

It's always surprising to see how humans can make progress by research and development. Even today we constantly invent new ways of manufacturing so that we can manufacture better, smaller goods.

[@restartedv69]

It'll take us one hundred years to invent new weapons

[@moodydude565]

There was smaller bombards made out of woven baskets and wrought iron