Conclusion

Summary

MULTIPLE FACTORS WERE RESPONSIBLE for the adoption and development of firearms by the English crown and urban communities. The initial spread of guns was aided by the ease of their manufacture, with traditional techniques employed by metal workers utilised for the construction of these new weapons. In addition, the evidence provided by both royal and town records show that gunpowder weapons were often acquired as a response to external threats. This can be clearly seen in the case of the Calais garrison, where increases in the number of guns possessed by the garrison often took place during periods of tensions, such as in 1385–6, 1436 and 1450–1. Similarly, many towns acquired guns when they were threatened with attack, particularly in the 1450s and 1480s. As Chapter 7 on Southampton demonstrates, though, some settlements were more willing to invest in the new technology than others. Developments in artillery fortifications generally followed a similar pattern, with the decision to build bulwarks only being undertaken by the aldermen of some English towns in the second half of the fifteenth century, despite the construction of a bulwark near Southampton during the reign of Henry V. Likewise, investment in the defences of the Pale of Calais tended to be significantly increased when the territory was threatened with attack. This meant that there was often a delay between technological developments and the adoption of new gun types or fortifications.

By contrast, royal influence played a more active role in encouraging the acquisition and development of firearms. This stemmed in part from the direct interest of most English kings in gunpowder weapons, with even the unwarlike Henry VI being witness to the testing fire of guns. The larger types of firearms, particularly the bombards, were prestigious and expensive weapons, often named after the king or other important individuals, and they were sometimes mentioned by name in chronicles. This meant that the deployment of royal guns became a symbol and expression of a sovereign's wealth, power and prestige, whether to impress rival rulers, as with Edward IV's expedition to France in 1475, or domestic rebels, such as with the Cornish rising of 1497.