A Brief History
On April 28, 1503, the armies of Spain and France fought in Southern Italy at a place called Cerignola (near Bari), a battle decided by the small arms fire of muskets and arquebuses, one of the first European battles where small arms fire from firearms decided the battle. Although hand held firearms using black powder had been around for nearly 200 years, such weapons had usually not been decisive in battles fought mainly with edged weapons and later with a combination of edged weapons and cannons.
Digging Deeper
Gunpowder is an invention normally credited to the Chinese in the 9th or 10th Century, at first a novelty used for entertainment and fireworks. Whether gunpowder technology reached Europe from China or gunpowder was later also invented in Europe, we know Europeans were familiar with gunpowder (also called black powder) by the 13th Century. Gunpowder may have reached Europe via the Mongol invasions of the 1200’s or via the Silk Road.
