Basilisk (gun)
The basilisk was a type of artillery newly created under Emperor Maximilian I from the group of wall breakers.
Basilisks are long-barreled guns with great penetrating power and accuracy for the time. The models were the long emergency rifles of Archduke Sigmund and the "snake rifles " from the group of field guns developed at the end of the 15th century . They were about 13 cm in caliber, around 5 m long and weighed twice as much as the Kartaunen , but fired iron balls weighing 8 to 12 kg, which were half the weight.
The basilisks went through a strong development in the 16th century. As early as 1520 the pipes were shortened and the inside diameter enlarged. The basilisks now fired iron balls weighing 38 kg, as can be seen from almost all inventory lists and gunsmith books. The barrel weight rose to 3.75 tons and the basilisks had gone from being the lightest to the heaviest siege guns after the sharpmasters .
Surname
The name basilisk comes from the mythical creature of the same name (see also basilisk ) of antiquity. Some of these guns were given animal names such as crocodile , lindworm , lizard , or were given onomatopoeic names such as "Purrhindurch" or "Schnurrhindurch" etc. according to the desired result of their shot.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Purrhindurch and Schnurr passage and Steinpock and CROKODIL in C.Wein, C. Gevold, 1818 Yearbook of literature