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This volume traces the history of artillery and its place in society
from the ancient world to the present. The term “artillery” is derived
from the Latin ars, or artis, terms for “craft” that later evolved
through the Old French atillier, meaning “to deck, adorn with care
or arrange”; atil, meaning “decoration, armor or equipment”; and attillement,
or “apparatus.” In 1268, Etienne Boileau defined an a rtillier
as “a manufacturer of war engines, especially bows and offensive
weapons.” Throughout the Middle Ages “artillery” remained a
general term for all types of military equipment. According to
Gillaume Guiart in the early fourteenth century, “Artillery is the
waggon-train which by duke, count or king or by any earthly lord is
loaded with quarrels for war, crossbows, darts, lances and shields of
similar kind” (Contamine, 193).
By about 1500, the term “artillery” had reached its current meaning,
describing the actual cannons themselves, as well as their ammunition,
support equipment, and operating personnel. Deriving
from the Greek word kanun and Latin canna, or “tube,” the word
canones is found first in a document written in Italy in 1326. Antoine
de Lalaing describes cannons in “the arsenal of Maximilian von Habsburg
at Innsbruck” as pieces d’artillerie (ibid., 139). The word “cannon”
was first used in France in 1339 and in England in 1378. Geoffrey
Chaucer mentions cannons in his poems written between 1375
and 1400; “cannon” was more often used in France, with the term
“gun” seeing more usage in England. The first English use of the
word “gun” to describe a firearm was in 1339. Earlier forms were
gunne, gone, and gunna, with possible etymological sources from
Old Norse (Hall, 44). |