Gunpowder In The Renaissance

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Jack Johnson 11/2/07 Gunpowder in the Renaissance Gunpowder has had good and bad affects on the world throughout the course of history. Gunpowder had the most significant impact on warfare in the Renaissance because of the introduction of small arms, artillery, and new tactics. Small arms in the Renaissance might have had the largest effect of all. The first small arm developed was the harquebus. It was a matchlock weapon and the soldier who wielded the weapon was called a harquebusier. In order to fire this weapon the harquebusier had to rest the far end of the barrel on a forked pole. This was necessary because the harquebus alone was too hard to steady. The harquebus was developed in the fifteenth century. There were many different types on small arms during the Renaissance time period. The first type developed was the matchlock firing system. This system used a wick or slow burning match to light the gunpowder in the weapon (Guns through the Centuries). Next, was the wheel-lock mechanism or “Monk’s Gun” ( Guns through the Centuries), which replaced the matchlock system. It used a spinning wheel that created sparks which then lit the gunpowder. Lastly, flintlock weapons were developed. These struck a piece of flint against steel to create a spark to ignite the gunpowder (Guns through the Centuries). Flintlock weapons were also the basis for modern day weapons. The small arms main impact on warfare during the Renaissance was that they had ousted the knights. Knights would charge a group of harquebusiers and would be devastated before they could even attack (Gunpowder). This was the most significant impact of warfare in the Renaissance through the development and use of small arms. Artillery was also a key component to the gunpowder technologies. Artillery was a larger weapon used to assault buildings and large groups of soldiers. Mortars,

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