London: Bloomsbury, 1999, p. 34. 3. It is possible that knowledge of Chinese firearms and gunpowder arrived in Europe via Russia. There is archaeological evidence to prove that the Chinese had cannons by the thirteenth century. See Arnold Pacey, Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand Year History. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1990. 4. Roger Bacon, Epistolae de Secretis Operibus Artis et Naturae et de Nullitate Magiae, circa 1257. 5. Gies and Gies, Cathedral, p. 247. 6. The term “firearm” will be used in the text to signify handheld MILITARIES IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY weapons of all types up to the appearance of the rifled weapon, when “rifle” will be used.

This was the Dreyse cartridge, in which the primer was fixed at the base of the bullet, ahead of the propellant charge. The “needle” of the rifle was in fact the firing pin, which had to penetrate the propellant charge completely before it could fire the cartridge. At almost the opposite end of this concept was that of John Hanson and William Golden, who applied for a patent for a cartridge in 1841 with no 29 30 RIFLES propellant charge. Their cartridge relied upon the fulminate primer to fire the cartridge and act as the propellant in itself.

Infantry at that time were notoriously uneducated and badly trained, and this lock was far too complicated. In addition, there were dangers of accidental ignition if the weapon was dropped, and the weapon was actually prohibited for the Austrian Army. There was a great need for a simpler, more robust firing mechanism. The problem with simplification as far as the suppliers of military equipment is concerned is that they earn less, but the problem was overcome about the middle of the sixteenth century with the snaphance mechanism.