Smashers

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Scharfmetze " Greif " on the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress , cast in 1524, the largest cannon in Europe in its time. 200 quintals , she fired 188 pound bullets with 94 pounds of black powder .

After 1512, the cutter was the heaviest type of artillery in the siege artillery . The guns weighed about three tons and could be pulled by 16 horses each. As a special feature, they were the first to have trunnions and lay in wall mounts .

Name and development

The name refers to half the bullet weight of the main rifle bullet , which was determined by the Emperor Maximilian I as the mean value of 50 kg iron and is distorted by the Italian name “mezza bombarda”, meaning half the main rifle. The main rifle fired over 100 pounds of iron - those below this caliber are among the butcher's. The main rifle shot both stone and iron balls, the latter forged and later cast. 1500 The clumsiness and slowness of the main box prompted Emperor Maximilian I to introduce the focus massacre . Maximilian I. attacked the city of Kufstein with the harvester "Löwen" (caliber 23 cm) in 1504 . The term “Metzikana” (from “mezza canna”) was also in use until the middle of the 16th century. In the Ottoman Empire, the name Balyemez  /بال يماﺯby. They were used as the main artillery unit of Fatih Sultan Mehmet during the siege of Constantinople (see also Topçu ).

Known guns

The big guns were given their own name, mostly in an inscription affixed by the foundry with the year of manufacture.

  • The griffin cast in 1524 by Master Simon from Frankfurt am Main, at that time the largest cannon in Europe, today exhibited at Ehrenbreitstein Fortress.
  • The rooster, with the saying: DAS WALDT GOD / ICH HEIS DER HAN / NAR DER ME VORN DRAN / SIMON GOS MICH / 1522 (last mentioned in 1546 in the fortress of Rüsselsheim )
  • The nightingale, with the inscription: MEISTER STEFFAN ZU FRANKFORT / 1519 / A NIGHTINGAL I AM GENANT / LIPLICH AND MY SINGING IS ALREADY / WHEN I SING THIS IS TIME LANGCK (last mentioned in 1546 in the fortress of Rüsselsheim, later probably shipped to Spain)
  • The brother
  • The sister
  • Fürstenberger
  • Leu, is mentioned in a report of the siege of Burg Nanstein and Burg Ebernburg in 1523
  • Boes Elß, is mentioned in a report of the siege of Nanstein and Ebernburg Castle in 1523
  • Boxberger, mentioned on the Ebernburg
  • The singer, mentioned on the Ebernburg
  • The Saukopf, mentioned on the Ebernburg
  • Palatine kartaune
  • Turntraxel, mentioned during the siege of the Hohenkrähen
  • Duke Sigismund, mentioned at the siege of the High Crow
  • Ketterlin, mentioned during the siege of the Hohenkrähen
  • The Muz is mentioned as 80 pounders in a list from 1545 in the fortress Ziegenhain

See also

literature

  • Wendelin Boeheim : The stuff books of Emperor Maximilian I 1892, in the yearbook of the art historical collection 13 (pages 94 to 201)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Boeheim Wendelin: The stuff books of Emperor Maximilian I. P. 118.