les premières bouches à feu : vase de milemete

les premières représentations en europe de canons


trouvé ici
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_artillery_in_the_Middle_Ages
Earliest picture of a European cannon, De nobilitatibus sapientii et prudentiis regum, Walter de Milemete, 1326


An early pot de fer or vase gun from a manuscript done in 1326 by Walter de Milemete. Note the gun arrow set in the muzzle ready for firing


trouvé ici
http://www.clham.org/050562.htm
Très ressemblante au "vase" de Walter de Milemete, cette bouche à feu coulée à LOSHULT, au sud de la SUEDE.
Cette pièce dont l'âge exact reste indéterminé (probablement au XIVe siècle) est la plus ancienne découverte à ce jour et est conservée au Statens Historika Museum de STOCKHOLM


une autre photo du "Loshult gun"
—The Loshult gun. It is dated to circa 1340-1350. Note the similarity with the earliest known depicted cannon above

trouvé ici
http://albrechts.se/handgonnes-and-cannons-of-the-middle-ages/

trouvé ici
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/barryslemmings/213118898/
reconstitution d'après Milemete
Medieval cannon at Firepower, Museum of the Royal Artillery

A life-size reconstruction of the first illustrated cannon in Western Europe, from the Walter De Milemete manuscript of c1326 held by Christ Church, Oxford. The original manuscript shows a brass vase, unsecured on a table, being set off by a knight in chainmail and with an arrow in this position [see above].
Modern thinking is that the vase [guns were known as vase de feu at this time] was narrow bore and used like a harpoon gun to fire a spear whose long shank has been inserted down the narrow bore.
The other interpretation is that the bore was wider and perhaps the complete arrow had been loaded into the barrel and what the artist was attempting to show was the arrow at the moment of leaving the muzzle.
Although dated to circa 1326, the Milemete manuscript shows the knight wearing anachronistic armour of nearer 1280 or 1290 date, suggesting the illustration may be a copy and - therefore - guns were in use at an earlier date.
An attempt to build a real Milemete gun working on the 'harpoon' theory and fire it for a television documentary met with mixed results. The arrow went several hundred yards but broke up.
Another theory, of course, is that the manuscript artist had never seen such a weapon but drew a speculative piece based on the name 'vase de feu'. This would explain why, in the manuscript, no attempt has been made to secure the barrel against recoil forces.