Medieval & Renaissance

Gunpowder changes the face of war

Following on from the ‘What is Artillery?’ gallery, this gallery begins a chronological survey of artillery developments from early gunpowder artillery to fine bronze guns such as one that belonged to King Henry II of France.

Heavy artillery of the 15th century is well illustrated by the imposing English wrought iron bombard of about 1450. Tudor guns are well represented including several from the reign of Henry VIII who greatly increased the English artillery arsenal.

Maritime archaeology has greatly increased knowledge of naval history; many early guns have been recovered from wreck sites and some of the first pieces brought up from the Mary Rose by the Deane brothers in 1836 were placed at our museum in the Tower of London.

In partnership with the Mary Rose Trust, during the 1990s the Royal Armouries conducted firing trials of replica Tudor artillery. In the gallery you can see a video showing the building of the two guns and of the firing trials. These demonstrated that Tudor artillery was remarkably powerful.

Pre-gunpowder artillery is shown in the form of models.

Notable objects located in this gallery

Arcana gun, bronze

A bronze gun decorated with Tudor roses and an inscription to Henry VIII

Dates from 1529 | Object number: XIX.165
Boxted Bombard wrought iron gun

A medieval gun built from wrought iron strips and held together with hoops.

Dates from 1450 | Object number: XIX.314
Bronze falcon of Henri II

Bronze falcon of Henri II. Italian, dated 1551

Dates from 1551 | Object number: XIX.168
Bronze gun

Bronze gun. Probably Flemish, dated 1535

Dates from 1535 | Object number: XIX.166