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Hi m Eley and Michael,
I saw these replicas in action at the "Zeitreise" in Autumn 2011 in Coburg. And I learned, that the men in these times think over the problem with the shooting parts of the fire bags. They had a kind of wheelbarrow which could be put over the Fire bags with the result, that the fire might got out because of no more oxygen and the men is as well protected, if the wood is thick enough. Dirk |
Exactly, Dirk,
Thanks for the input. Best, Michael |
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Going back to the title of this thread, here comes another sample of an extremely rare 14th-16th c. incendiary crossbow bolt retaining its original burning mass. It resembles one of the two incendiary quarrels that I posted from my friend's collection in the beginning.
From the Klingbeil collection, sold in 2011, where it was in one lot together with a late 17th c. hunting crossbow. Length 45 cm. Best, Michael |
Some Interesting 18th C. Cast-Iron Grenades Retaining Their Fuses!
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Sold Hermann Historica, Munich, yesterday.
Some with stamped markings but only those retaining their fuses (and probably all their fillings!) sold, and only at the estimate. That was a unique opportunity. m |
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Back on topic-- Here is a Korean fire arrow: http://www.koreanarchery.org/images/hwajun.jpg |
Hi Bluelake and Fearn,
It's fascinating to note how similar the basic structures of these Ethnographic and European items are! Any idea as to the date of that Korean hwacha? Best, Michael |
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Thanks!
m |
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A huge incendiary gun arrow, from the Mary Rose (sunk in 1545).
m |
For incendiary and other gun arrows 1330-1570, please see
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15788 |
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A very rare incendiary crossbow bolt of Central to Northern European type (please cf. the first image in post # 1), probably 15th to early 16th c., and retaining its incendiary mass inlcluding a short remainder of hemp matchcord, was sold from the Klingbeil Collection:
Pierre Bergé, Feb. 12, 2011, in one lot (137) together with a late-17th c. crossbow. Best, Michael |
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Better images of the incendiary bolts in post # 1, formerly in the author's collection, and now in that of a friend of mine:
the first of Central to Northern European type, ca. 14th-15th c., the incendiary mass featuring a raw linen covering and a remainder of hemp matchcord; the second of characteristic Swiss type, ca. 14th-16th c., the incendary mass supported by a few thin wooden sticks and a raw linen binding, featuring a sulphur coating (now showing a grayish discoloration); the third lacks its incendiary mass, thus the typical twisting of the long and thin iron neck can be seen below the head; whenever you come across an arrowhead with these features it means that originally it was an incendiary arrow, despite the fact that the head of the sample illustrated here is unusually large. m |
Please also see my related threads
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...bow+collection and http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...light=crossbow m |
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Hi 'Nando, my dear friend,
On looking back, I am sure you did very well not being him! He, just like myself, spent much more than we earned on forming highly selective collections of items like those back in the 1980's thru the early 2000's. The outcome may result in losing our collections ... with prices going down dramatically. No joke. :mad: Best, Michl |
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Another arrowhead twisted for an incendiary mass, similar to the lower in post # 52, was sold on ebay in 2007.
m |
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Salaams Jim ~ The term Quoit is interesting as it appears to be an English derivation possibly after 1066 from the French. Quoit (n.) late 14c., "curling stone," perhaps from O.Fr. coite "flat stone" (with which the game was originally played), lit. "cushion," variant of coilte (see quilt). Quoits were among the games prohibited by Edward III and Richard II to encourage archery. In reference to a heavy flat iron ring (and the tossing game played with it) it is recorded from mid-15c. I also noted on one of my frequent trips to the UK that it is commonly played as a Pub game in the Welsh borders and in the North East of England both in and outdoors depending on the weather. The flat iron ring appears to derive from a horse shoe. A metal spike is driven into the ground wherupon contestants try to throw quoit onto the ring from a certain distance. Quite difficult with hiccups ! Regards, Ibrahiim al Balooshi. |
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Hi Ibrahiim,
Thank you so much for your teatise on quoits! I found a good illustration of a 15th c. incendiary arrow in Philip Mönch's Kriegsbuch, 1496, Universitätsbiblitothek Heidelberg, Cod.Pal.germ. 126, fol. 28r. Best, Michael |
I've long wondered about crossbow bolts with the twist below the head and the socket. I hadn't previously been able to find any information on them at all, except that they were possibly javelin points or made for frame-mounted crossbows. If I am to understand correctly, they are incendiary bolts then? What is the time period for them? Thanks!
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Bump! Any further clarification on this?
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Hi Eric,
It was only today that I noticed your query concerning the twisted haft of incendiary quarrel irons. I beg your pardon for not replying any earlier but as you may have gathered meanwile I was in hospital for the whole year of 2013 and can now only slowly make my way through all my posts. As I have tried to show in this thread, all the iron heads with a very long and thin 'neck' and twisted haft seem to have been been shaped this specific way to safely hold the incendiary mass. We generally attribute them to the Late Middle Ages, ca. 14th to 16th century. Nevertheless, many iron heads for incendiary crossbow bolts are known to show no twisting at all. Best, Michael |
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In addition to posts #31 and 32 above, I have added two images of the array of some of the many hundreds of unusually heavy Thirty Years War clay grenades dug up in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, in 1983.
I also added an image of glass hand grenades, French, ca. 1740, found in Freiburg, and provided a link to the Wikipedia survey: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_grenade Best, Michael |
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As their principle is basically the same as with incendiary arrows, I'd like to introduce two extremely rare 16th-17th c. tar lances (German: Pechlanzen) in the Emden Armory.
The incendiary tar mass was set afire and the lance was hurled by some sort of a catapult onto the shingled roofs of a besieged town where the delicate iron arrowheads got stuck, and the blazing tar would splatter around. Additionally, the short barrels are barbed for better contact with the roof shingles. The saucer-like wooden plate at the bottom was meant to direct the splashing fire right onto the roof. The measurements are: overall length 2.25 m width of the tar saucer 21 cm weight 3.2 kg I took these photos in 1987. m |
Hi Michael,
Amazing that these things survived :eek: Did the barrels shoot some sort of bullets or incendiary mass/arrows? (sort of mortar arrow ?) |
Hi Marcus,
Sadly we have no records on the load of these short barrels. They are called Mordschläge (murder blasts) in German but could most probably contain literally any sort of load as their primary use was to abhor the defendors of the besieged town from trying to remove the lance from the roof of a house. Best, Michael |
Aaa, yes.. those overprotective basterds and their precious roofs, i wouldn't mind if they threw on of those things on my roof (if possible not yet ignited for best preservation of course). :D
The linstock (?) next to the arrows, was this used to ignite the mass or is this just a exhibition director (from the museum) his interpretation to put it next to the arrows? Thanks so much :) Best, Marcus |
The Bavarian/Ingolstadt Clay Grenades Revisited
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This is a follower to post #31-32 and #62, showing more on digging up those grenades from a historic site in May 1983.
Best, Michael |
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A few more, and a local neswpaper article of May 11, 1983.
m |
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Some 16th c. sources of period artwork on grenades, from top:
- Vannoccio Biringuccio (+1537), De la Pirotechnica, 1534-5, printed posthumously - Romeyn de Hooghe (+1708), Austrian grenadiers at the Turkish Siege of Vienna, 1683: the Austrian grenadiers are depicted throwing their grenades high above the heads of the defenders against the Turks, thus taking into account losses on their own side - as before and some clay and glass grenades from the vast supplies preserved at Schloss Forchtenstein, Austria. All scanned from: Franz Felberbauer, "Die Handgranaten der Grenadiere der Fürsten Esterházy aus Gusseisen und Ton im Zeughaus der Burg Forchtenstein" (the cast-iron and clay hand grenades for the grenadiers of the Princes Esterházy, at the Armory of Forchtenstein Castle), in: Waffen und Kostümkunde, 2012, vol. 2, pp. 181-220, and 2014, vol. 1, pp. 1-52. m |
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Before Felberbauer's comprehensive and topical study on the 17th c. Schloss Forchtenstein hand grenades, published in two vols. of the German Journal of Weaponry (Zeitschrift für historische Waffen- und Kostümkunde) in 2012 and 2014 (see post above), there have sadly only been two tentative aprroaches to the matter, both made by Heinz-Peter Mielke in the same Zeitschrift, in 1980 (vol. 2, pp. 153f.) and 1982 (vol. 1, pp.64-66).
For those to whom German is not just an accumulation of hieroglyphs :p :D ;), I attached scans. The first essay is on 17th-18th c. glass hand grenades in the Swiss Landesmuseum Zurich, while the second is on clay hand grenades in general (Mielke called them ceramic weapons). Best, Michael |
I found this link to a manuscript about munitions and explosive devices ( Ms. Codex 109 - Helm, Franz, approximately 1500-1567 - Feuer Buech )
Maybe it has been published before but i find it rather interesting. In the top left corner you can leaf trough the illustrattions with eas, or on the right upper corner you can browse trough every page (my post medieval German is not what it used to be so i skipped to the images ;) ) Also some other manuscripts i think on the same site. http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/med...urrentpage=392 |
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Hi Marcus,
This the so-called Buch von den probierten Künsten (on well-tried arts), printed in 1535. I attached some samples which are of interest in our thread although Helm's original intention was to demonstrate fireworks as a means of merrymaking. The bottom attachments depicts a notable device quite similar to some presented by Franz Helm; Veste Coburg collections; and two glass hand grenades for the so-called Greek Fire, 10th-12th c., and a few caltrops; National Historic Museum Athens. Best, Michael |
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And finally I found this in my archives:
a roll of 17th/18th century matchcord for kindling hand grenades! The grenadier just had to take out the wooden plug, pull a small length of match off that quill, light it and set fire to the fuse of the grenade. After throwing the grenade he would just push the match right back into its wooden case and replug it, and the glow would die for lack of oxygen. Now ain't that a perfect device? Photographs: Armin König, Germanic National Museum (GNM) Nuremberg. Best, Michael |
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Clay and glass hand grenades in the Museo d'Arte, Modena. Italia.
m |
Spectacular pics, Michael!!! The Italian ones do very closely resemble the one I inquired about on the other thread! Do you have a prospective date on the last pieces posted? 17th-18th c.? or earlier? Thanks again!
Mark |
Hi Mark,
The caption reads that the first two grenades are dated to ca. 1700, the third 18th c., the fourth and sixth 18th/19th c., and #6 is 18th c. Best, Michael |
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Here is an islamic hand grenade, ca. 7th to 9th c. AD, a Fatimidian (Egyptian) grenade of ca. 900-1200 AD and a few modern items, together with some older stuff.
m |
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I also found these iron hand grenades in an auction catalog of 2011, 10 cm diameter, probably 18th or 19th c.
m |
Some pictures of my Pechkranze, they are some very interesting objects :D
I am very interested to learn why the fabric is at some places faintly red?? http://i62.tinypic.com/b7avi9.jpg http://i59.tinypic.com/33diib6.jpg http://i61.tinypic.com/2eb8ocw.jpg http://i61.tinypic.com/vz8t21.jpg |
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