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GalahadPot-de-fer (vaso) Cannons were Vase/pot shaped early/primitive forms of black powder artillery in the early 14th century that instead of shooting cannonballs they would shoot large arrow/crossbow bolt like projectiles which would have been made out of strong wood like ash or oak and stabilized with fins/fletching's of brass/copper. The arrow heads most likely would have been made out of wrought iron/bronze/copper either casted or forged to shape. archeologists and historians believe that the ends of the projectiles could have been wrapped in leather to make them fit tightly into the cannons muzzle and ensure a tight seal. the reason for the cannons pot/vase like shape came most likely as a way to assure that they wont explode after all gunpowder weapons were new to Europe so people would want to make sure that when firing one wont explode, another reason could have been that the large and heavy shape helped to manage recoil. The bizarre design and material requirements for the cannons construction (after all a massive pot shaped cannon would require a lot of metal) and the fact that the cannons would have been really heavy has made many archeologist and historians skeptical about their efficiency and use also interestingly most depictions of the cannons lack any sort of platform for the cannons to be fired from, they usually just sit loose on a table while again many historians suspect that they would have had some sort of plat for or a frame to sit, this is why I included one.
This model was made following the depiction from the manuscript (which is also the oldest depiction of an European cannon) "De nobilitatibus, sapientiis et prudentiis regum" by Walter de Milemete, year 1326. More info at https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2015/12/26/pot-de-fer-fire-pots/
2021-09-02 09:35:35 +0000