Artillery of France in the Middle Ages

[1] The 14th century saw considerable development of the new weapons in France and in Western Europe in general, especially with the outbreak of the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453).

[1] During the 1375 siege of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, French troops successfully breached the walls of the fortress with guns weighing over 1 ton, and firing 50 kg stone balls.

[1] Such bombards were often made by welding bars of wrought iron together and holding them inside circular bracelets, a process known as "à tonoille", similar to that involving the manufacture of wine barrels (tonneaux).

[1] The first Western image of a battle with cannon goes back to the Siege of Orléans in 1429, in which both the English and the French side are depicted with firearms.

[3] French artillery was used with great efficiency at the 1453 Battle of Castillon, in which grouped and entrenched cannons decimated the English army, killing the commander John Talbot.

[3] Artillery also started to affect military architecture, leading to the development of lower, thicker walls in order to better resist the effect of cannonballs.

Depiction of artillery in a 1490s illustration of the Siege of Orléans of 1429
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc 's impression of late medieval artillery in action (1856)
15th-century culveriners.
Powder chamber of a Veuglaire , caliber 130mm, length 1.07m, wrought iron, early 15th century, La Fère