Subject: Schwarz Reiter 'black rider' mercenary cavalry
Culture: German
Setting: Holy Roman Empire, Germany / Western Europe mid-late 16thc
Object: pistol
* Royal Ontario Museum > Samuel European Galleries > Arms and Armor
"Pistolet à rouet allemand
Acier, avec fusée en bois increstée d'ivoire ou d'os. Saxe, 1592. ...
Ce genre de pistolet, que l'on fabriquait en général par paire, était utilisé par la cavalerie. Les deux pistolets étaient rangés dans les fontes avant de la selle. Le pommeau en boule permettait de sortir l'arme plus facilement de la fonte. Ce pistolet, d'un modèle particulier, a été fabriqué en Saxe et provient probablement de l'arsenal de Dresde.
"Le cavalerie armée de ce genre de pistolets apliqua une méthode de combat particulière: elle avançait en formation, puis les premiers rangs de l'escadron chevauchaient jusqu'à proximité des lignes ennemies et déchargeaient queue de l'escadron pour recharger leurs pistolets, tandis que les rangs suivants tiraient à leur tout. Cette technique s'appelait la <<caracole>>."* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Stone Gallery of Arms and Armor
"Double-Barreled, Double-Wheellock Pistol Steel, gilt copper, leather German (Augsburg), about 1580 Whereas most sixteenth-century firearms were single-shot, gunmakers experimented with various multishot combinations. This example allowed for two shots, each barrel being ignited by its own wheellock. The metal stock, which provided extra support for the heavy mechanism, is etched with hunting scenes, suggesting the pistol's use." ...
"Wheellock Pistol Steel, etched and gilt; gilt bronze; wood; horn German (Augsburg), about 1560-70 The sheathing of the stock in plaques of gilt copper with raised strapwork ornament is highly unusual but recalls clock cases, powder flasks, and other decorative metal objects made in Augsburg." ...
"Wheellock Pistol Etched steel; gilt bronze; wood, inlaid with engraved staghorn Peter Danner (recorded 1583-1602) German (Nuremburg), about 1580" ...
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Stone Gallery of Arms and Armor
"Hunting Knife Combined with Wheellock Pistol Steel, gold, staghorn, gilt bronze Ambrosius Gemlich (etcher, active about 1520-1550)
German (Munich), dated 1546 In the sixteenth century, wheellock pistols were often combined with swords, knives, axes, maces, spears, and even crossbows, which could be used in the event the pistol misfired. Usually clumsy and impractical, combined weapons were nevertheless highly prized as curiousities. On this example, the heavy, cleaverlike blade is etched with a calendar, the decorator's name, and the date." ...
* >VIDE 1618 Saxon Trabantengarde pistol
