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Artillery in the Middle Ages primarily consisted of the introduction of the cannon, large tubular firearms designed to fire a heavy projectile over a long distance. Guns, bombs, rockets and cannons were first invented in China during the Han Chinese Song Dynasty and then later spread to Europe and the Middle East during the period. Although gunpowder was known in Europe during the High Middle Ages due to the usage of guns and explosives by the Mongols and the Chinese firearms experts employed by the Mongols as mercenaries during the Mongol conquests of Europe, it was not until the Late Middle Ages that European versions of cannons were widely developed. The first cannons introduced into Europe were probably used in Iberia, during the Christian wars against Muslims in the 13th century; their use was also first documented in the Middle East around this time. English cannons first appeared in 1327, and later saw more general use during the Hundred Years' War, when primitive cannons were engaged at the Battle of Crécy in 1346. By the end of the 14th century, the use of cannons was also recorded in Russia, Byzantium and the Ottoman Empire. The earliest medieval cannon, the ''pot-de-fer'', had bulbous, vase-like shape, and was used more for psychological effect than for causing physical damage. The later culverin was transitional between the handgun and the full cannon, and was used as an anti-personnel weapon. During the 15th century, cannon advanced significantly, so that bombards were effective siege engines. Towards the end of the period, cannon gradually replaced siege engines—among other forms of aging weaponry—on the battlefield. The Middle English word ''Canon'' was derived from the Old Italian word ''cannone'', meaning ''large tube'', which came from Latin ''canna'', meaning ''cane'' or ''reed''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Definition and etymology of "cannon" )〕 The Latinised word ''canon'' has been used for a gun since 1326 in Italy, and since 1418 in English. The word ''Bombardum'', or "bombard", was earliest term used for "cannon", but from 1430 it came to refer only to the largest weapons. ==Early use in China and East Asia== The first documented battlefield use of gunpowder artillery took place on January 28, 1132, when Song General Han Shizhong used huochong to capture a city in Fujian. The world's earliest known cannon, dated 1282, was found in Mongol-held Manchuria.〔C.P.Atwood-Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire, p.354〕 The first known illustration of a cannon is dated to 1326. In his 1341 poem, ''The Iron Cannon Affair'', one of the first accounts of the use of gunpowder artillery in China, Xian Zhang wrote that a cannonball fired from an eruptor could "pierce the heart or belly when it strikes a man or horse, and can even transfix several persons at once." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gunpowder artillery in the Middle Ages」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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