Mounting an early cannon

[fernando]

I would rather think of your piece, not as a cannon, but as one from the haquebut typology. You position it on the (fortication) wall with the hook in the out side, to below prevent you from receiving the kick when you shoot it. It should have the touch hole on the side, not the on the top, to enable to shooter to better aim at the target.
The stock missing on this one, of course.

[Ed]

The touch hole is on the top. The thing on the bottom is really rather to far back. I think it is what is depicted in the Maximilian document.

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Ed

The touch hole is on the top. The thing on the bottom is really rather to far back. I think it is what is depicted in the Maximilian document.

Duly noted.

[rysays]

With those dimensions your gun would class as a light Serpent or "Slangen" as described in Maximilian's book. The illustrations you shared are of "Mittelslangen", which are ~2m long with 6-7cm bores, so nearly twice the size of your gun but in the same family. Here's one of several poems Maximilian wrote about these guns in his book of armaments:

"Veld und mittelslangen wir sein,
Han manchen kriegsknecht bracht in pein
An stürmen und grossen schlachten,
So den kaiser wolten verachten."

I'm no hand at 16th c. (or really any) German, but here's a rough translation:

"We Field & Medium serpents,
have brought many a soldier into torment
in onslaughts and great battles,
so they will despise the Kaiser"

[Gregory128]

I do own an early 18th century cannon carriage which washed on a beach from a shipwreck but the example I have is a bit late and for a Falconet as opposed to Lantaka I'm afraid.



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