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From Church Bells to Cannons

The Chinese were the first to use an explosive powder. Eventually, the Chinese did develop a crude cannon, probably about the same time as knowledge of the Chinese explosive arrived in Europe, sometime between 1300 and 1310. In Europe the application of this technology was immediate – cannons probably were first used in battle during a siege of Metz in 1324. What is certain is that by 1325 cannons were in use all over western Europe. And in European hands, the cannon revolutionized warfare. The nobility no longer could retire to their castles, safe from any enemy not willing to undertake a long siege, while on the battlefield even expensive suits of armor gave no protection against artillery fire. Cannons could spread so rapidly because the capacity to cast them already existed all over Europe in the church bell industry.


SOURCE: The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success By Rodney Stark © 2005; Random House Trade Paperbacks, New York, NY; p. 45.

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