Bombard (weapon)

The bombard is a type of cannon or mortar which was used throughout the Late Middle Ages and the early modern period.

Bombards were mainly large calibre, muzzle-loading artillery pieces used during sieges to shoot round stone projectiles at the walls of enemy fortifications, enabling troops to break in.

In 1985, the Canadian historian Robin D. S. Yates was visiting Buddhist cave temples when he saw a sculpture on the wall depicting a demon firing a hand-held bombard.

[4] Early bombards also include two Chinese c. 1377 cast-iron mortars weighing over 150 kg (330 lb), each with four trunnions on their barrels.

The French in this period preferred to avoid attacking English longbowmen in open battle and relied on siege tactics.

Mons Meg was capable of firing 180 kg (400 lb) shots and was one of the largest bombards of its time.

A muzzle-loader of hoop-and-stave construction, it is believed to be the oldest piece found in England and may be late 14th or very early 15th century.

[9] Henry VIII reportedly had a set of 12, named after the Twelve Apostles, which were deployed at the sieges of Thérouanne and Tournai during his 1513 campaign in France.

Eventually bombards were superseded by weapons using smaller calibre iron projectiles fired from longer barrels with more powerful gunpowder.