Hand Cannon
Specifications
- Type
- Early Firearm
- Origin
- China / Europe
- Era
- 13th–15th century
- Notable Users
- Chinese infantry, early European gunners, Hussite warriors
- Epoch
- Middle Ages
History
The hand cannon is the earliest true firearm — a simple metal tube loaded with gunpowder and a projectile, ignited through a touch hole. Chinese bronze hand cannons from the 13th century are the oldest surviving examples. In Europe, hand cannons appeared in the 14th century and saw extensive use in the Hussite Wars (1419–1434), where Jan Žižka's forces used them from behind wagenburg (wagon fort) defenses to devastating effect. Early hand cannons were inaccurate and slow to reload, but their psychological impact — the thunder, the smoke, the invisible killing force — was immense.
Significance
The hand cannon is the missing link between the fire lance and the modern gun. It established the fundamental mechanism — explosion, barrel, projectile — that defines every firearm in existence. Everything that followed was refinement.
More from the Middle Ages
18 weapons
54 Weapons. Five Epochs. One Poster.
The Hand Cannon is one of 19 weapons from the Middle Ages featured on the poster.
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