BY THE ANCIENT HINDUS. 



215 



Having discussed so far the question as to the invention of 

 gunpowder, we now turn to its application in war by means of 

 projectile weapons. The first country in Europe where such 

 projectile weapons were used was Spain. They are mention- 

 ed by Arabian writers as far back as 1312, and were used in 

 1323 at the siege of Baza. The French seem to have employed 

 them since 1338 at first for dismantling castles and fortifica- 

 tions only, and not in the battle field as Edward III of England 

 is said to have done in 1346 at Crecy. The French writers 

 seem to have been indignant at the employment of such destruc- 

 tive arms against human beings, for one of them says : " On ne 

 faisoit point encore usage en France en 1347 de cette arme 

 terrible contre les hommes ; les Francois s'en etoient bien servis 

 en 1338, pour Pattaque de quelques chateaux, mais ils rougis- 

 soient de l'employer contre leurs semblables. Les Anglois, 

 moins humains, sans doute, nous devancerent et s'en servirent 

 a la celebre bataille de Creci, qui eut lieu entre les troupes 

 du roi d'Angloterre, Edouard III, qui fut si mechant, si 

 perfide, qui donna tant de fil a retordre a Philippe de 

 Valois, et aux troupes de ce dernier ; et ce fut en majeure 

 partie a la frayeur et a la confusion qu'occasionnerent les 

 canons, dont les Anglois se servoient pour la premiere fois, 

 qu'ils avoient postes sur une colline proche le village de 

 Creci, que les Francois durent leur deroute." 86 These projec- 

 tile weapons were formed like tubes and were therefore called 

 cannons from canna, a reed. In Grerman they were known 

 as Bohr, which word has the same meaning. The small 

 firearms were originally without a stock, and as they were 

 very heavy, they used to be placed on a fork when they 

 were discharged. The arquebuse with a wheel was first used 

 by Emperor Charles Y and Pope Leo X in the year 1521 

 at the siege of Parma against Francis I, King of France. 



86 See Projectile Weapons of War, p. 117. — In the Library of Christ 

 Church, Oxford, is preserved in a beautifully illuminated Manuscript, which 

 dates from 1336, and which has been in the possession of Edward III, the 

 picture of an armour-clad warrior, who fires a bottle-shaped cannon. 



