Artillery

Technically the use of heavy missiles, during the bulk of the Middle Ages the role of artillery was confined to use in the siege. During the 14th century, however, the English under the generalship of Edward III experimented with combined arms using artillery in the form of archers, infantry and cavalry with devastating effect. Cannons were known as early as 1300, their presence is noted in many sieges, such as at Harfleur and Edward’s siege of Calais in 1346, but until the early 16th century they had little effect on the battlefield proper. During the 18th century the devastating effect of artillery gave it the nickname it still carries to the current day, ‘Queen of the Battlefield.’