The earliest known example of a European cannon was found off the coast of Sweden, near Marstrand, in 2001. The discovery and the age of the artifact have been recently revealed. Handheld guns, known as hand cannon, have been discovered from about the same era.
Gunpowder started being mentioned in European documents about 1300. The Chinese had been experimenting with precursors of gunpowder and had some primitive firearms a bit before 1300, as documented in the book “Gunpowder” by Jack Kelly.
Military technology has high incentives and travels fast. While mentions of European uses of gunpowder and guns have been found in documents from the early 1300s, remains of actual cannons have been missing. The fourteenth century extends from 1300 to 1399. From tandfonline.com:
There are a number of fourteenth-century references that record the use of cannon on ships but they rarely, if ever, provide any concrete details.Footnote32 One particular reference illustrates well the difficulties in interpreting these early guns Work carried out between 1337 and 1338 on an English vessel, the All Hallow’s Cog, included ‘a certain iron instrument for firing quarrels [. . .] and lead pellets, with powder, for the defence of the ship’.Footnote33 We know nothing about the form or size of this ‘instrument’ except that it was made of iron and fired quarrels, that is, large arrows. That early artillery pieces fired arrows is well attested by both documentary evidence and illustrations, such as the cannon depicted in the manuscript De Nobilitatibus, Sapientiis, et Prudentiis RegumFootnote34 and the associated volume Pseudo-Aristotle, Secretum SecretorumFootnote35 of around 1326-27, commonly referred to as the Milemete manuscripts.
Metal was expensive in medieval Europe. Guns that became obsolete or broken were recycled quickly into other usable tools. It was common for broken guns to be melted down and recast into newer guns.
In the summer of 2001, a local diver, using scuba equipment, found a small copper alloy cannon off the coast of Marstrand, on the west coast of Sweden. When he realized the historic nature of the artifact, he contacted the authorities. The authorities promptly confiscated the cannon, as authorized by Swedish law. The United States has a similar but even more restrictive statute. In England, they are more reasonable. If someone finds historic treasure, they ordinarily can pocket 50% of the value.
When the Swedish authorities examined the cannon, they found it contained what was left of a charge of gunpowder in a cloth bag, ready to fire. The cloth allowed the charge and the cannon to be dated with carbon dating.
Within a 94.5% confidence level, the charge was dated between 1285 and 1399, which makes the cannon the earliest European cannon yet discovered. From thehistoryblog.com:
This bit of cloth made it possible to radiocarbon date the gun, a rare opportunity with early artillery that is sparsely documented and cannot be accurately dated by type. With calibrated results in the range of 1285-1399, it is one of the oldest pieces of European artillery ever to be absolutely dated. Cannons of the Marstrand type were previously thought to date the 15th-16th centuries, as were powder cartouches. This one discovery has redefined the timeline for European ship artillery.
The cannon is relatively small but too large to be used by a single person. It measures 47.5 centimeters long, or 18.7 inches. The cannon’s widest point is about 7.3 inches in diameter. The powder chamber is much smaller. The cannon is shaped somewhat like a narrow funnel. The walls of the cannon are relatively thin compared to the latter designs. The walls of the cannon are about .4 to .6 inches thick at the muzzle and about 1 inch thick at the mouth of the powder chamber. The powder chamber is about 10.6 inches long, the barrel is about 8.1 inches long. A rough estimate of the weight of the heavily corroded cannon, based on the measurements given, is about 60 lbs.
The cannon would have been mounted on a wooden platform of some type, probably lashed into place. The touch hole of this cannon was measured at about .6 inches! It may have been enlarged by corrosion. You would not want any part of your body close to the touchhole when the cannon was fired!
The copper alloy used, with little tin and about 14% lead, has a tendency to crack over time. As noted in the analysis of the cannon, it is likely the cannon would have failed under intense use.
Bronze, with about 14% tin instead of lead, can be a strong alloy. Bronze made with sufficient tin can approach the strength of mild, low-carbon steel. Later cannon makers used much superior bronze than the copper alloy used with this early cannon.
Today, the effectiveness of the cannon could be duplicated using common mild steel pipe. Muzzle-loading cannons are generally not considered legal firearms. However, at least one person has been prosecuted as possessing a “destructive device” for making a muzzle-loading cannon out of modern materials.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
