Greek fire

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Greek fire in the only known contemporary depiction (12th century)
Use of a hand siphon, which shoots Greek fire

The Greek fire ( Middle Greek Ὑγρὸν Πῦρ Ygròn Pýr , modern Greek Υγρό Πυρ Igró Pir 'liquid fire') was a military incendiary weapon used in the Byzantine Empire since the 7th century .

Origin of the term

The name Greek fire (or Latin ignis graecus ) is not authentic; by the Byzantines (who saw and called themselves Romans) it was called πῦρ θαλάσσιον pyr thalássion ('sea fire') or πῦρ ῥωμαϊκόν pyr rhomaïkón ('Roman fire').

functionality

With σίφων (síphōn) is that of Ktesibios in the 3rd century BC. Chr. Invented double-acting pressure pump (fire engine) meant, which delivered a constant jet of liquid. With this syringe, the flammable liquid was injected against the target. The range was only a few meters, which was enough for the naval battles of that time.

Different syringe systems existed:

  • The so-called siphon was used in naval warfare from the Byzantine warships, the dromons . It is known that it was made of bronze, soldered with tin and fired from below. In addition, a nozzle is visible on images. It was most likely a pressure vessel connected to the nozzle via a valve. The overpressure in the container may have been maintained with a pump. Only two people operated a weapon, the other crew members did not have the necessary training. Depending on the size, the dromons were equipped with up to three siphons.
  • A picture of a so-called strepton shows that it is a handheld device. It should preferably be used against wooden structures such as siege towers. The name implies that it is a device with some kind of pumping or rotating mechanism.
  • From cheirosiphon (Handsiphon) little more is known than what the name implies. It was intended to be used directly against enemy soldiers.

In addition, there was still the more conventional method of shooting clay jugs filled with incendiary material with various slingshot or catapult systems. These systems likely had a pilot light.

development

The sources attribute the invention of the weapon to the Greek architect Kallinikos , who fled from Heliopolis (now Lebanon ) before the Arabs to Constantinople . Probably in the year 677, or shortly before, during a war with the Arabs, he succeeded in developing the system of Greek fire for the dromone . This was of vital importance in repelling the Arab siege of Constantinople (674–678) .

Even in late antiquity , incendiary weapons that were constantly being developed further were used both on the Eastern Roman / Byzantine side and among the opponents of Rome. Corresponding forerunners seem to have been used shortly after 500 under Emperor Anastasios I in the fight against the rebellious army master Vitalianus . Kallinikos resorted to these developments. Its main innovation, which ultimately made the Greek fire, was the siphon, in modern terminology a kind of flame thrower . Even after Kallinikos the development continued. This is how hand siphon and strepton came about at the end of the 9th or beginning of the 10th century.

Incendiary agent

The composition of the fire agent was continuously improved. Presumably it was also adapted to the different weapon systems. Various variants have been handed down, but they were all based on petroleum or asphalt . These substances appeared on the surface of the earth in the Byzantine Empire near the Black Sea . Other components that were not always present were tree resin , sulfur and quick lime , and from the 10th century probably also saltpetre . However, the details of the production are not known. The often assumed self-ignition of the mixture in water has not been proven and would have made the weapon unsafe to use. But there was a variant called Pyr automaton , which is said to have been flammable with water because it contained quicklime.

In the Middle Ages, for example, recipes were handed down in Liber Ignium .

application

The first recorded use took place during the siege of Constantinople against the Arabs, which lasted from 674 to 678 , probably 677. The new weapon apparently played a decisive role in the fact that Byzantium was able to repel the attackers - if so, it had an important influence on the Course of world history, as Constantinople acted as a locking bar in this way to prevent Islam from penetrating Europe for centuries. Fire quickly became one of the most feared weapons in the medieval world with great psychological effects.

According to contemporary reports, the use of Greek fire on the attacked ships must have caused an indescribable inferno. It was accompanied by a thunderous noise, and given the inextinguishable fires that could be directed at will from the syringe ship, no military discipline was possible on board.

Another effect was that burning ships that retreated could endanger the rest of their fleet. Enemy ships therefore avoided approaching the Byzantine fleet so as not to get within range of the fire. Otherwise the sight of a syringe was often enough to send the enemy to flight. However, the application could also set fire to its own ships.

Greek fire was largely responsible for the centuries-long naval rule of the Byzantine fleet in the eastern Mediterranean; it secured the independence of the empire even when it was unable to set up any powerful land forces due to its decreasing population and area.

The last recorded use of Byzantine fire is in 1187 during the uprising of Alexios Branas . After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 , knowledge about it was definitely lost. The lack of a mention, despite the many armed conflicts, makes the infamous sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204 a plausible trigger for this loss.

According to the German-language rhyming chronicle of the city of Cologne by Gottfried Hagen , Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden is said to have used "kreiʃche vuir" during his unsuccessful siege of Cologne in 1252 on ships from the Rhine. The knowledge about it came to the Rhineland after the crusade from Damiette . The practical application is said to have been introduced through the evaluation of ancient war literature by the former Cologne cathedral scholaster Oliver Saxo .

In addition to the above description of the application in naval warfare, there is another picture that shows the defense of Prince Igor's ships against Constantinople in the 10th century through the use of "liquid fire".

confidentiality

The details of the weapons were a state secret. This also explains why more precise information mostly comes from non-Byzantine sources. Although the Arabs and Bulgarians used conventional incendiary weapons themselves, they did not manage to use Greek fire themselves, despite captured weapon systems. In any case, copied versions of the liquid fire should never have come close to the original in their effect, because the overall system was very complex. The Greek fire is therefore considered to be proof that knowledge can be kept secret for many centuries, despite numerous confidants.

The Byzantine emperor Konstantin Porphyrogennetus once named Kallinikos as the inventor of the "liquid fire" (Chapter 47) in a document intended for his son on the administration of the empire. He previously mentioned the legend of the revelation of liquid fire by an angel of God to the first Christian emperor Constantine the Great (Chapter 13). In addition, once a general bribed by the enemy while attempting to betray the “liquid fire”, he was destroyed by God with heavenly fire, which is why no one has dared to think of such a betrayal since then.

The recipe for making liquid fire went under with the Byzantine Empire.

literature

Web links

Commons : Greek Fire  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Moritz Meyer: Handbook of the history of firearm technology. Berlin 1835.
  2. ↑ Heron , Pneumatika , chap. 180; Pliny , Letters , No. 35; Origen , Commentary by John , Book XX, chap. 6; Ulpian , Digesten, 32nd book, chap. 7 § 12.
  3. ↑ Gottfried Hagen: rhyming chronicle of the city of Cologne. Edited by Kurt Gärtner, Andrea Rapp, Désirée Welter. Düsseldorf 2008, V. 770-790.
  4. ^ Hugo Stehkämper: Lower Rhine ship wars and "war" ships in the Middle Ages. In: Everhard Kleinertz (Ed.): Cologne - and beyond. Selected treatises by Hugo Stehkämper (= messages from the Cologne City Archives 93/94). Cologne 2004, pp. 316-325.
  5. ↑ Ulrike Höroldt: Studies on the political history of the Cologne cathedral chapter between the archbishop, city of Cologne and territorial powers 1198-1322. Investigations and personal lists (= Studies on Cologne Church History, Volume 27). Siegburg 1994, p. 647 f.
  6. ↑ Alex Roland: Secrecy, Technology and War: Greek Fire and the Defense of Byzantium In: Technology and Culture , Volume 33 (4), 1992, pp. 655-679.