Re: Samurai battle tactics & Europe, Jack Murphy

In European warfare, firearms had come to play a vital role as early as Joan
of Arc's siege of Orleans in April 1429 in the Hundred Years War, when
English bombards battered the city's defenses. When the French invaded Italy in
1484, their artillery doomed all Italian castles they attempted to besiege. In
the Americas, the presence of Spanish firearms, arquebuses and cannon, helped
doom the vastly more numerous Aztec armies in Mexico and Inca in Peru
(1519-35). Back in Europe, by the battle of Marignano in 1515 the presence of light
muskets, the arquebuses, had already helped change the tide of battle in favor
of Francois I of France. On the contrary, the first, primitive, firearms
were only imported from China to Japan in circa 1511. Regards, Jack Murphy, The
Japan Foundation.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Good starting points (in English!) for a worldwide perspective of the
developement in firearms and tactics of this period are:

Parker, G - The Military Revolution (revised edition) [essential reading!]
Cipolla, C - Guns and sails in the Early Period of European Expansion
1400-1700
[excellent bibliography/footnotes and useful info on China too!]

Numerous articles in journals...too many to list here.......
Michael
BAJS; Asiatic Society of Japan

----- Original Message -----
From: <murphymurphyjohn@...>
To: <samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2003 6:13 PM
Subject: Re: [samuraihistory] Samurai battle tactics & Europe, Jack Murphy


> In European warfare, firearms had come to play a vital role as early as
Joan
> of Arc's siege of Orleans in April 1429 in the Hundred Years War, when
> English bombards battered the city's defenses. When the French invaded
Italy in
> 1484, their artillery doomed all Italian castles they attempted to
besiege. In
> the Americas, the presence of Spanish firearms, arquebuses and cannon,
helped
> doom the vastly more numerous Aztec armies in Mexico and Inca in Peru
> (1519-35). Back in Europe, by the battle of Marignano in 1515 the
presence of light
> muskets, the arquebuses, had already helped change the tide of battle in
favor
> of Francois I of France. On the contrary, the first, primitive, firearms
> were only imported from China to Japan in circa 1511. Regards, Jack
Murphy, The
> Japan Foundation.
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
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