#matchlocks

[firearmkind]

On the Origins of Gun Species

Gunpowder and invented in China, around 1200 years ago. They mixed sulfur and saltpeter, and immediately got to work exploding things with it.

The earliest gunpowder-based weapons were fire lances and fire cannons; fire cannons were held by hand, but otherwise worked similarly to later european cannons: Using explosions to shoot a metal ball really far.

Those same europeans also made hand cannons, which are smaller, more portable cousins of fire cannons.

That eventually evolved into the arquebus, similar in shape to modern rifles but supported by a hook.

All of these required the gunman to light the powder by hand, and didn't have a trigger to pull. By attaching a bit of flammable twine to a movable piece on the gun, we got matchlock guns.

Instead of igniting the gunpowder by hand, the gunman pulled the trigger, which moved a bit of string so that it set fire to the powder.

Matchlocks still weren't the most practical, so people experimented with the design. After trying out wheellocks, snaplocks, and snaphances, they arrived at the flintlock.

These have a similar idea, but use a bit of flint on a "hammer" instead of twine. Pulling the trigger makes the flint strike metal, causing a spark and igniting the powder. These are the guns used by pirates!

Flintlocks evolved into percussion cap guns, which had a primer on the gun instead of a flint on the hammer. And those evolved into modern cartridge guns!

Here, the primer is placed on the cartridges placed in the gun. Early cartridge guns were still single-shot, and needed to be reloaded after firing once. I'll go over further advanced in another post!

[minutemanworld-blog]

There's a common perception that the concept of the minute man was a Revolutionary War invention, or at the earliest an invention of the French & Indian War. This simply isn't true--the concept of the minute man began almost as soon as English settlers arrived in New England and found themselves surrounded by thousands of potential enemies. 

In fact the basis of the New England alarm and muster systems began as early as 1643 and 1644 when the Massachusetts council reorganized the militia in preparation for eventual hostilities with the Narragansetts. On August 12, 1644 the council passed new regulation which required company commanders "to appoint out and to make choice of thirty soldiers of their companies in ye hundred, who shall be ready at half an hour's warning upon any service they shall be put upon by their chief military officers"

This is almost exactly the same ratio that the Massachusetts Provincial Congress would recommend 130 years later.

In addition the regulations required men "to be ready with their arms ready fixed, and that they have powder, bullets, match, and bandoliers always ready, according to former order; as also that every soldier provide himself a knapsack to be in a readiness upon any service they shall be called to."

The image is of a replica matchlock musket and bandolier from the first half of the 17th century. Each tube held enough powder for one shot and made for much quicker loading.

Source: The Minute Men: The First Fight: Myths and Realities of the American Revolution by John R. Galvin.

[askthehistorians]

Firearms in their modern sense start with the matchlock, which came on the scene in the 15th century, so I'll start there even though the Chinese were using hand cannons as early as the 12th century.

In the early 15th century, we get the matchlock, the first 'gun' in the modern sense of the word. It's quite dangerous to use, actually, but it gets the job done. (I've linked to its Wikipedia article so you can see just how risky it looks for yourself.) Its use starts in Eastern Europe and Eurasia and spreads across the continent, and before long everyone is using it despite the obvious risk of burning your own face off with it.

Elizabeth I reigned as monarch from 1558 until 1603. She took over for her half-sister Mary I, who reigned from 1553-1558 (she technically co-reigned with Philip II of Spain, her husband, but she was in charge as the direct heir). Before them, there's a bit of a dispute, as Edward VI, Henry VIII's son, named his first cousin once removed, Lady Jane Grey, as his heir presumptive. She reigned for nine days before the Privy Council changed its mind and went with Mary I, and sixteen-year-old Jane was executed.

That's sort of mangled, so let me put it in a bit of a timeline:

Lady Jane Grey: 10-19 July, 1553

Mary I: 1553-1558

Elizabeth I: 1558-1603

The last female monarch who actually "ruled" England before these three (or two if you don't count Jane, as many don't) was actually caught in a civil war between 1135 and 1153 over her right to rule England with her cousin. Her name was Empress Matilda, and she was William the Conqueror's granddaughter. She was never officially crowned ruler because her cousin usurped the throne whilst she was in Normandy. Although she was a de facto ruler at some point during that period, she is generally not counted as a monarch because she was never officially crowned. In the end, Matilda and her cousin Stephen settled things by naming Matilda's son Henry II the heir to the throne, thus starting the Plantagenet line. (For more on that whole thing, you might want to read up on The Anarchy.)

...that was a really, really long answer to this question, but basically they did have firearms as we know them today by the time Elizabeth I was in power and the last female monarch to rule before they existed would have been Matilda had she been crowned.

I'll shut up now.

~ C. Alfredson