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Towards the end of the Middle Ages, the high, resilient castle walls found a worthy opponent: the arrival of artillery. This new gunpowder weapon system changed European warfare, especially siege warfare, forever. Its tremendous influence is best illustrated by its most resilient opponent, the fortress wall. In the 14th century, a good wall could withstand an attack with siege weapons for several months. By the mid-15th century, however, when artillery had become sufficiently advanced to be used somewhat effectively, those same walls fell within a matter of days. The medieval castle had found its kryptonite. Of course, it was not long before fortress engineers began to build more elaborate and resilient defenses, and by the early 16th century a fortress could again withstand a siege with heavy artillery for several months. In this video, we look at the emergence and spread of artillery. Bibliography Ayton, A., / Price, J. L., (eds.), The Medieval Military Revolution. State, Society and Military Change in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, 199J. Black, A Military Revolution? Military Change and European Society 1550–1800, 1991. Devries, K., Medieval Military Technology, 1994. Ortenburg, G., Weapon and Weapon Use in the Age of Landsknechte (Army of the Modern Age, Part 1, Vol. 1) Koblenz 1984. Rogers, CJ, Military Revolutions of the Hundred Years War, in: Rogers et al. The Military Revolution Debate. Reading on the Military Transformation of Early Modern Europe, 1995, p. 13-35. Schmidtchen, V., Warfare in the Late Middle Ages, 1990. Do you need a sweater? Then take a look at our new merch store: https://teespring.com/de/stores/sandr... Thank you for your support! Patreon (Thanks): / sandrhomanhis. . Paypal (Thanks): paypal.me/SandRhomanhistory #education #artillery #history