Mariano Taccola’s eques scoppiectarius: an armoured knight who uses a hand-cannonon horseback. This drawing was probably inspired by the vivacious construction of firearms in Siena, making this city one of the main centers for the best master craftsman of hand-cannons and casters. Taccola integrated his sketch with ample tag-lines which clarify mechanisms and inner workings of hand-firearms of the mid fifteenth century, and also the relationship between architects and military engineers. However, presently it is unknown whether this expedient was ever employed. The earliest evidence of firearms being used on horseback is of the 1510, but their use can be traced back to the years of Taccola idea.

The rediscovery of a unique «books of armaments» belonged to King Ferrante allows a thorough examination of the production of guns and the management of arsenals in Renaissance Naples. Through the one hundred and thirty-five drawings contained in the codex, the paper analyzes the features of the royal ordnance, focusing on the multiple innovations introduced by foreign gunmakers and promoted by local statesmen. The results of the research will underline the celebratory and the propagandistic use of both the artillery and the «book», according to a visual ideology of military power shared with all of the fifteenth-century Italian governments.

Sifting through state documentation and contemporary treatises, the article will examine the development of light artillery in Renaissance Italy, focusing on the acquisition of transalpine military technology and its adaptation to local manufacturing traditions. The essay will evaluate the impact of new weapons, wheeled carts, and metal shot on the improvement of fifteenth-century defensive tactics, hence remarking the correlation between actual warfare and technical innovation through the analysis of several major battles, including the clashes at Anghiari, Riccardina, and Campomorto. Also considering the encounter at Fornovo, and briefly comparing the French ordnance to Italian guns, the research will demonstrate the existence of specific patterns of technological transfer, determined by political and military, cultural and economic factors.

Developing from the historiography regarding medieval fortifications, this paper aims to examine lesser-known spaces of Renaissance warfare, as arsenals, foundries, and forges. The context of this analysis is the Florentine Republic of the fifteenth century, whose statesmen have been often blamed for their lack of interest in warfare. Nevertheless, a study of the primary sources produced by the military institutions of the Republic reveals the crucial importance of the role played by the public demand in the construction of new manufacturing facilities, in the introduction of technical innovations, in the trade of materiel, in the circulation of craftsmen, and in the formation of their practical skills

Mariano Taccola’s eques scoppiectarius: an armoured knight who uses a hand-cannonon horseback. This drawing was probably inspired by the vivacious construction of firearms in Siena, making this city one of the main centers for the best master craftsman of hand-cannons and casters. Taccola integrated his sketch with ample tag-lines which clarify mechanisms and inner workings of hand-firearms of the mid fifteenth century, and also the relationship between architects and military engineers. However, presently it is unknown whether this expedient was ever employed. The earliest evidence of firearms being used on horseback is of the 1510, but their use can be traced back to the years of Taccola idea.

Riassunto: Si può in generale osservare che la storiografia militare italiana sull’età medievale abbia riservato pochissima attenzione alla storia delle armi: ed è in particolare possibile affermare che pochissimi – e per lo più invecchiati – sono gli studi disponibili sulla diffusione e l’uso, soprattutto per il Trecento, delle armi da fuoco in Italia. Eppure, analizzando in tal senso la documentazione disponibile per il dominio Visconteo, che fu senz’altro capace di mettere in campo eserciti imponenti, esse appaiono come una presenza prima crescente e poi costante tra le armi disponibili. Scopo del presente lavoro è quindi di colmare tale lacuna, proponendo una prima analisi sul problema, e mostrando la necessità di più ampi e organici lavori, per definire con maggior precisione gli ambiti, le tecniche, e i contesti in cui le armi da fuoco furono impiegate nell’Italia del XIV secolo. Parole chiave: Storia Medievale, Storia Militare, Visconti, Armi, Armi da fuoco. Resumen: La historiografía militar italiana sobre la Edad Media ha dedicado, en general, muy poca atención a la Historia del armamento y, en particular, a la difusión y el uso de las armas de fuego, especialmente durante el siglo XIV. Sin embargo, al analizar la documentación disponible para el dominio de los Visconti (ciudad y ducado de Milán), quienes fueron capaces de movilizar ejércitos imponentes, se observa que las armas de fuego fueron adquiriendo una importancia creciente entre los recursos armamentísticos empleados. Con este trabajo se pretende contribuir a completar la citada laguna historiográfica, proponiendo un primer análisis acerca de los ámbitos, las técnicas y los contextos en los que se emplearon armas de fuego en la Italia del siglo XIV y, en particular, en los territorios controlados por la Casa de los Visconti. Palabras clave: Historia Medieval, Historia Militar, Visconti, Armamento, Armas de fuego. Abstract: It may be generally observed that the military historiography about medieval Italy has been paying very little attention to the history of weapons; and it is in particular possible to say that the studies available on the diffusion and use of fire arms are very few –and mostly old– in Italy, especially related to the 14th century. Yet, analyzing the documentation available for the Visconti domain, which was certainly capable of fielding massive armies, they appear as an increasing presence and then constant, among the various available weapons. The purpose of this work is, therefore, to fill this gap by proposing an initial analysis of the problem, and showing the need for wider and organic work, to define more precisely the scope, techniques, and contexts in which firearms were used in Italy during the fourteenth century. Although it is true that there are reports of the use of this type of weapons in the Italic Peninsula from the earliest dates –specifically from 1326 in Florence and from 1327 in the Castle of Gassino– the exhaustive scrutiny of unpublished sources coming from the visconteo domain made by the authors, has allowed them to define the conditions in which the reception and diffusion of these important technical innovations took place in this territory. Among the results derived from their research, it is possible to verify the use of artillery machines in both offensive and defensive operations. Nevertheless, the use of artillery was concentrated mainly in the defense of cities and fortified places only from 1350 on, while the spread of portable firearms began later. Indeed, the first examples of this instruments actual use of these instruments are dated in the middle of the 1360s. However, the reception and effective use of these weapons are two phenomena synchronous to the expansion of the artillery detonated with gunpowder and, in fact, as in the first case, its expansion took place, in its initial phase, around the control and the defense of fortifications. On the other hand, and beyond the technical level, it should also be noted that the manufacture and the commercialization of firearms was strongly directed from power, as it was the lord who had the authority to grant licenses of production of this type of armament. Keywords: Medieval History, Military History, Visconti, Weapons, Firearms.

This article aims to examine the technical innovations and the cultural exchanges carried out by the Italian gunmakers during the whole fifteenth century. The examination of the context will reveal a special interest of rulers in the institution of permanent military offices, in the experimentation of new weapons, and in the management of arms manufacture. The balance sheets and the correspondence of public authorities, as well as the account books and the products of artisans, will form the archival basis for the analysis. Figures and information will allow the reconstruction of the travels, the contracts, the competences, and the networks of numerous craftsmen. The results of the research will highlight both the role of the masters in the dissemination of original technologies and the policies pursued by Italian states for attracting and supporting their skilled labor.

Despite the important studies on the armies of Italian cities and the numerous works on medieval weapons, weapons have rarely been analyzed in terms of military utility. The article aims to assess the material reality of the 13th century armaments in use by the Tuscan militias, through the analysis of written and iconographic sources.