Kartouwe

Kartouwe exhibit in Königstein Fortress (Germany)
Half-kartouwe exhibit in Magdeburg (Germany)
The fortifications of Oostende (Fig. 1) and the parts of a kartouwe (Figs. 2 and 3) in a 1616 print
Kartouwe and accessories in a 1616 print

A kartouwe is a siege gun used in European warfare during the 16th and 17th centuries.[1] The name is a corruption of Latin quartana[2] (quarter cannon).[3] Kartouwe is of Dutch origin,[3] in the Holy Roman Empire the gun was called Kartaune in German or cartouwe in contemporary Latin,[4] in the Swedish Empire Kartow,[4] spelling variants include kartouw, kartouve,[5] cartow,[3] cartaun,[3] courtaun[3] and others.

Characteristics

Kartouwen were developed from bombards.[1] A kartouwe has a caliber of 8 inches (200 mm), weighs about 8,000 pounds (3,600 kg), and is designed to fire cannon balls weighing up to 52 pounds (24 kg).[6] As a minimum, twenty horses or oxen were needed to move a kartouwe.[6]

In addition to "whole" ("hele") kartouwen, there were also double,[7] half ("halve")[8] and quarter kartouwen.[4] The barrel of a whole kartouwen has a length of 18 to 19 times the caliber, weighs 300 kilograms (660 lb) to 350 kilograms (770 lb) and was transported on a special wagon by 20 to 24 horses, another four to eight horses were needed to transport the mount (lafette).[9] The barrel length of a half-kartouwen is 32 to 34 times the caliber, which ranges between 105 millimetres (4.1 in) and 115 millimetres (4.5 in).[9] Its barrel weighs 110 kilograms (240 lb) to 150 kilograms (330 lb), the whole gun 170 kilograms (370 lb) to 240 kilograms (530 lb).[9] Half-kartouwen fired cannon balls weighing between 8 pounds (3.6 kg) and 10 pounds (4.5 kg), and for the transport of its barrel, 10 to 16 horses were needed.[9]

Use and perception

Kartouwen were used for example in the Livonian War by the Russian[5] and Swedish forces.[7] During the Battle of Narva (1581), the besieging Swedish forces destroyed the walls of Narva, 5.5 metres (18 ft) strong, within two days using twenty-four double and half-kartouwen.[7]

Kartouwen were also the characteristic of the Thirty Years' War.[10] As such, they were featured in contemporary poems,[10] e.g. in Am liebsten bey der Liebsten by Sibylla Schwarz ("grausame Kartaune", "gruesome kartouwe").[11] In his 1844 poem Die Tendenz, Heinrich Heine used kartouwen to symbolize loudness.[12]

Sources

References

  1. 1 2 Meyers (1907), p. 682; Brockhaus (1911), p. 943
  2. ↑ Meyers (1907), p. 682; Brockhaus (1911), p. 943; Adelung (1796), p. 1506
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Llewellyn (1936), p. 24
  4. 1 2 3 Adelung (1796), p. 1506
  5. 1 2 Peterson (2007), p.95
  6. 1 2 Kasekamp (1990); Peterson (2007), p. 95
  7. 1 2 3 Kasekamp (1990)
  8. ↑ Kasekamp (1990); Adelung (1796), p. 1506
  9. 1 2 3 4 Medick & Winnige, entry "Stück"
  10. 1 2 Hartung (1995), p. 329
  11. ↑ Sibylla Schwarz, Am liebsten bey der Liebsten: "So schreckt mich die Posaune / das Spiel der Schwerdter nicht / die grausame Kartaune / kompt nie mir ins Gesicht."
  12. ↑ Sørensen & Arndal (2002), p. 23

Bibliography

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