Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of"

were produced early in the history of organized warfare, and "engines invented by cunning men to shoot arrows and great stones" are mentioned in the Old Testament. These were continually improved, and, under the various names of _catapulta, balista, onager, trebuchet_, &c., were employed throughout the ancient and medieval periods of warfare. The machines finally produced were very powerful, and, even when a propelling agent so strong as gunpowder was discovered and applied, the supersession of the older weapons was not effected suddenly nor without considerable opposition. The date of the first employment of cannon cannot be established with any certainty, but there is good evidence to show that the Germans used guns at the siege of Cividale in Italy (1331). The terms of a commission given (1414) by Henry V. to his _magister operationum, ingeniarum, et gunnarum ac aliarum ordinationum_, one Nicholas Merbury, show that the organization of artillery establishments was grafted upon that which was already in existence for the service of the old-fashioned machines. Previously to this it is recorded that of some 340 men forming the ordnance establishment of Edward III. in 1344 only 12 were artillerymen and gunners. Two years later, at Crecy, it is said, the English brought guns into the open field for the first time. At the siege of Harfleur (1415) the ordnance establishment included 25 "master gunners" and 50 "servitour gunners." The "gunner" appears to have been the captain of the gun, with general charge of the guns and stores, and the special duty of laying and firing the piece in action.