Fire arrow

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Two fire arrows (crossbow bolts) from the 15th century
Above three arrows with incendiary pouches attached to the shaft on fol. 42r in Konrad Kyeser's Bellifortis manuscript Ms. Thott. 290.2 ° from 1459
On the right an arrow with a funnel-shaped metal tip on fol. 52v in Konrad Kyeser's Bellifortis manuscript Ms. Thott. 290.2 ° from 1459

A fire arrow or fire arrow ( latin malleolus ) is a special arrow , whose purpose is to fire to cause.

The weapon has been known since ancient times . The Greeks used the incendiary arrow early on; however, its use by the Romans in naval and fortress wars is only attested to the late imperial period (cf. Diod. 20, 88, 2. 97). Nonius Marcellus (556 m.), However, already knew fire arrows in earlier times. According to Ammianus Marcellinus (23, 4, 14 f.), Incendiary arrows could not be extinguished with water, but only by suffocating with earth, once the primer was activated. Fire arrows were z. B. soaked with petroleum , other types of oil or pitch ; Iron filings with lime , sulfur and saltpetre combined with easily combustible material were also effective. Incendiary arrows often had a tip worked out as a small basket, which was loaded with burning material and shot at wooden fortresses etc. Another way of “transporting” fire was to drill holes in the arrows into which burning rags were threaded, provided that these rags were not simply wrapped around the arrows. Incendiary arrows for catapults have been found in Dura Europos , among other places . Medieval arrows can be seen in the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg .

Components

In fire arrows, substances similar to black powder or traces of oily or ethereal ingredients were not used, as assumed . Burning arrows mostly consisted of a mixture of iron filings , saltpeter and sulfur . Iron powder was mixed with saltpetre. The fire arrow with the mixture was then wrapped in a cloth soaked in wax and dipped in liquid sulfur.

If the fire arrow is lit, the sulfur generates temperatures of around 90 to 100 degrees. The wax melts and combines with the fire mixture. Saltpetre acts like a fire accelerator. The components mix to form a viscous, doughy incendiary mass. The arrow does not bounce off its target, but really sticks.

A Saracen treatise on archery for beginners (around 1410) mentions a type of arrow that had a metal funnel at its tip. A glowing metal ball or an inflamed incendiary device was placed in this funnel and the arrow was fired. The arrow shaft was stopped by a line attached to the bow and the glowing, burning projectile flew on by itself.

In 1510 the French wooden castle Lazzè was shot at with arrows and razed to the ground. Approx. 150 people died.

literature

  • Alfred Geibig: Fire arrows and fire bolts . In: The power of fire - serious fireworks of the 15th – 17th centuries Century in the mirror of its neuter tradition . Art collections of the Veste Coburg, Coburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-87472-089-2 , p. 11-30 .
  • Ada Bruhn-Hoffmeyer : Antique Artillery . Gad, Copenhagen 1958, p. 114 ff . (Danish).
  • Regina Franke : A Roman incendiary arrow from the southern vicus of Sorviodurum-Straubing . In: Annual report of the historical association for Straubing and the surrounding area . No. 100 , 1998, ISSN  0179-5805 , pp. 245-257 .
  • Richard Kinseher : Chapter on incendiary arrows / projectiles, rocket arrows . In: The bow in culture, music and medicine, as a tool and weapon . Books on Demand, 2005, ISBN 3-8311-4109-6 .

Web links