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When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", University of Southampton, name of the University School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination http://eprints.soton.ac.uk i UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Department of History The Development of Gunpowder Weapons in Late Medieval England by Dan Spencer Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy February 2016 ii UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF HUMANITIES History Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy THE DEVELOPMENT OF GUNPOWDER WEAPONS IN LATE MEDIEVAL ENGLAND by Dan Spencer The present thesis is a study of the development of gunpowder weapons in Late Medieval England. This was a new technology that had reached Western Europe by the early fourteenth century, which had first supplemented and later supplanted traditional forms of artillery. The development of early firearms has long been recognised as significant by historians and has been identified as a key part of the military revolution hypothesis. As a result of this, gunpowder weapons are often discussed in general works on English military history but there is at the moment no satisfactory study on its long-term development in England. The aim of the present study is to rectify this gap in the literature by carrying out a thorough examination and comparison of the extensive surviving financial records for the English Crown and towns for the period covering the reigns of Edward III to Henry VII. This information will be analysed to determine how the use of guns on military campaigns, in towns, royal fortifications and on ships changed over time, as well as to assess what factors influenced the development of gunpowder weapons and to see if these changes constituted a military revolution. As a result of this research, it is now possible to establish a comprehensive narrative of how English gunpowder weapons developed throughout this critical period in the history of the technology. iii Contents Author’s Declaration vi Acknowledgements vii Definitions viii Abbreviations ix Introduction 1 Part One Chapter 1 – Royal Guns on Land 21 Chapter 2 – Expeditions Case Study 53 Chapter 3 – English Royal Ships 70 Chapter 4 – Calais Garrison 87 Chapter 5 – Royal Castles and Guns 113 Part Two Chapter 6 – Towns 123 Chapter 7 – Southampton Case Study 145 Part Three Chapter 8 – Analysis of Guns 157 Conclusion 170 Appendix A – Tables 176 Appendix B – Line Charts 190 Appendix C – Column Charts 193 Appendix D – Stacked Charts 196 Appendix E – Area Charts 200 Appendix F – Pie Charts 201 Appendix G – Extracts from Original Accounts 210 Appendix H – Gun Categories 220 Glossary 247 Bibliography 250 List of Maps and Figures Map 1 – The Marches or Pale of Calais x Map 2 - English Towns with evidence of having used guns from 1360-1500 xi Map 3 – Southampton xii Appendix A - Tables Table 1 – Survival rate of town records 176 Table 2 – Weights of guns 176 Table 3 – Price of guns 178 Table 4 – Gunpowder and saltpetre allocated for sieges or expeditions 180 Table 5 – Inventory of ordnance in the Tower of London in 1495 180 Table 6 – Royal gunners in receipt of annual wages 1494-1500 181 Table 7 – Extract of ordnance shipped to Berwick and Newcastle in 1497 182 Table 8 – Extract of ordnance returned to the Tower of London in 1497 183 Table 9 – Ordnance left in Berwick with William Pawne in 1497 184 Table 10 – The Lancastrian Navy – the number of guns on specific ships by year 184 Table 11 – Number of guns on ships by year 185 Table 12 – Equipment delivered to ships for the 1497 expedition to Scotland 185 Table 13 – Surviving views of Calais 186 iv Table 14 – Proportions of gunstones and tampons to guns in Calais Town in 1476 186 Table 15 – Proportions of gunstones and tampons to guns in Calais Town in 1481 186 Table 16 – Main gunners at Calais 186 Table 17 – Main gunners at Guînes Castle 187 Table 18 – Other named gunners at Calais 187 Table 19 – Total recorded number of gunners at Calais 188 Table 20 – Number of guns by other towns, guns and handguns 188 Table 21 – Extant steward books of Southampton 188 Table 22 – Surviving steward books of Southampton by decades 189 Appendix B – Line Charts Line Chart 1 – Prices of gunpowder 190 Line Chart 2 – Total number of guns at Calais 1375-1485 191 Line Chart 3 – Total quantity of gunpowder at Calais 1375-1485 191 Line Chart 4 – Total quantities of gunstones and tampons at Calais 1375-1485 192 Line Chart 5 – Total quantities of handguns at Calais from 1375-1485 192 Appendix C – Column Charts Column Chart 1 – Numbers of guns and handguns at Calais in 1481, 1485 and 1488 193 Column Chart 2 – Total payments by towns by years 194 Column Chart 3 – Total payments by towns in decades 195 Appendix D – Stacked Charts Stacked Chart 1 – Proportions of carted and uncarted guns in Calais Town in 1481 196 Stacked Chart 2 – Total payments by each town proportionally by decade 197 Stacked Chart 3 – Payments on gunpowder by each town by year 198 Stacked Chart 4 – Payments on purchases of guns by each town by year 199 Appendix E – Area Charts Area Chart 1 – Proportion of iron to bronze guns at Calais 1375-1485 200 Appendix F – Pie Charts Pie Chart 1 – Location of guns on the Sovereign in 1495 201 Pie Chart 2 – Distribution of guns in Calais Town in 1476 201 Pie Chart 3 – Distribution of guns in Calais Town in 1481 202 Pie Chart 4 – Types of guns in Calais Town in 1476 202 Pie Chart 5 – Types of guns in Calais Town in 1481 203 Pie Chart 6 – Distribution of guns in Guînes Castle in 1483 203 Pie Chart 7 – Distribution of guns in Guînes Castle in 1485 204 Pie Chart 8 – Types of guns in Guînes Castle in 1476 204 Pie Chart 9 – Types of guns in Guînes Castle in 1481 205 Pie Chart 10 – Types of guns in Guînes Castle in 1483 205 Pie Chart 11 – Types of guns in Guînes Castle in 1485 206 Pie Chart 12 – Distribution of guns in Hammes Castle in 1485 206 Pie Chart 13 – Types of guns in Hammes Castle in 1485 207 Pie Chart 14 – Distribution of guns in Hammes Castle in 1486 207 v Pie Chart 15 – Types of guns in Hammes Castle in 1486 208 Pie Chart 16 – Types of guns in Sandwich inventory of 1482-3 208 Pie Chart 17 – Types of guns in Southampton inventory of 1467-8 209 Pie Chart 18 – Distribution of guns in Sandwich inventory of 1482-3 209 Appendix G – Extracts from Original Accounts Extract 1 – Extracts from the accounts of John Hampton 1430-2: purchases 210 Extract 2 - Extracts from the accounts of John Hampton 1430-2: receipt of equipment 211 Extract 3 - Extracts from the accounts of John Hampton 1430-2: expended equipment 214 Extract 4 – Movements of guns for the Blackheath campaign 218 Appendix H – Gun Categories Gun Categories – Descriptions of gun types in alphabetical order 220 vi Academic Thesis: Declaration Of Authorship I, ……………………………………………………………………………………………. [please print name] declare that this thesis and the work presented in it are my own and has been generated by me as the result of my own original research. [title of thesis] ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… I confirm that: 1. This work was done wholly or mainly while in candidature for a research degree at this University; 2. Where any part of this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree or any other qualification at this University or any other institution, this has been clearly stated; 3. Where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly attributed; 4. Where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work; 5. I have acknowledged all main sources of help; 6. Where the thesis is based on work done by myself jointly with others, I have made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed myself; 7. Either none of this work has been published before submission, or parts of this work have been published as: [please list references below]: Signed: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Date: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. vii Acknowledgements I would like to thank the generous financial support provided by Agincourt600, the Sir Richard Stapley Educational Trust, the Royal Historical Society, the Richard III Society and Yorkist History Trust and the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Southampton, without which this thesis could not have been completed. I am also grateful to Dr Alexander Brondarbit, Dr Adam Chapman, Mr Nicholas Kingwell and Professor Emmanuel de Crouy-Chanel for contributing a number of archival references. Thanks should also go to Professor Peter Clarke and the other members of the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Culture at the University of Southampton for offering valuable training in Medieval Latin and palaeography. I am particularly grateful to the support provided by my two supervisors, Professor Anne Curry and Professor Mark Stoyle, for their invaluable advice, guidance and constructive criticisms of my work.