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The first big guns exploded “a lot,” said Dr Rogers. The explosions killed artillerymen and, in one case, a Scottish king. He cited a siege in 1409 of a fortress in Vellexon, France, as an example of failures. The siege, led by the Burgundians against a rebel lord during a period of civil war, employed eight bombards to hit the castle walls with large cannonballs – and two of the artillery pieces exploded. The siege dragged on for months without success.
In its analyzes of gunpowder, the team found that the amount of heat released in an explosion declined steadily from the 1330s to the 1400s – suggesting, according to the report, “the need for safer recipes that do not Medieval artillerymen endanger or do not damage the guns. . “At the same time, the newer guns got bigger and much more efficient.
Dr. Rogers called it a turning point in Western history.
“It was very important because it changed the balance between attack and defense,” he said. Castles and fortresses had long been invulnerable. By the 1400s, however, the big guns had improved so much that successful sieges began to shorten from years and months to weeks and days.
“You couldn’t hide in your castle anymore,” said Dr Rogers. “If you wanted to defend your country, you needed an army rather than just a fortress. The geopolitical result was vast, he added. “It completely changed the nature of war. “
Dr Riegner, the study’s chief chemist, said the five experts are planning new rounds of surveys to better document the subtle effects of the different recipes. But the ebb of the pandemic and the reopening of schools had created a problem, she added. The team members, including herself and her daughter, are running out of time.
“We’re all interested and excited, but now, with the return to class, we have other tasks,” she said. “Maybe in the spring we can solve it.”
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