battles
This 1346 victory of English-led bowmen against French knights set the pattern for several battles in the Hundred Years' War (and should have been studied more closely by the French!).
What is the battle of Crecy?
This Habsburg naval commander led Christian forces against the Ottoman fleet and won a great victory in 1571, largely by exploiting gunpowder weaponry.
Who is Don John of Austria?
Prior to the 1600s, this was the "lock," or firing mechanism, found on the vast majority of handguns used in combat.
What is the matchlock?
This Florentine thinker drew on his experience of the Italian wars to compose The Prince as a guide to rulership and diplomacy.
Who is Niccolo Machiavelli?
These musket-wielding infantrymen were recruited by the Ottoman Empire from non-Muslim communities and, although enslaved, were treated as elite troops.
Who are the janissaries?
This French port, situated at the narrowest point of the English Channel, held immense strategic significance during the Hundred Years' War.
What is Calais?
This French king exploited artillery power to travel swiftly through Italy in 1494-1495 and briefly conquer Naples.
Who is Charles VIII?
Not as clumsy as the older hand cannon, this early firearm nonetheless remained less effective than its more famous cousin, the musket.
What is the arquebus?
This polearm was used most widely in European armies to provide protection to missile troops, whether armed with crossbows or handguns.
What is the pike?
Italian mercenary leaders were known by this term, based on the Italian word for "contract."
Who are condottieri?
Joan of Arc played her most important military role in the Hundred Years' War by rescuing this city from an English siege.
What is Orleans?
This French commander regained much territory during the Hundred Years' War by turning the method of chevauchée warfare against the English, who had used it earlier.
Who is Bertrand du Guesclin?
This somewhat explosive term was used to describe the extremely large artillery pieces that were used widely before the appearance of more efficient cannon?
What are bombards?
In the original conception of the "military revolution" thesis, this nationality is credited with the tactical innovations that sparked the process overall.
Who are the Dutch?
Concerning ballistics, this term refers to the gap between between the barrel of a gunpowder weapon and the projectile placed in the barrel.
What is windage?
This Mediterranean battle of 1571 demonstrated the increasing importance of gunpowder to naval combat, even for galleys.
What is Lepanto?
This French monarch elevated himself from dauphin, or crown prince, to king during the last years of the Hundred Years' War, and his Ordonnances paved the way toward creating a permanent, professional army in France.
Who is Charles VII?
This non-English term refers to the first (and widely-imitated) type of fortification capable of standing up to gunpowder artillery attacks. (Exact phrasing required.)
What is the trace italienne?
According to recent thinking, Europe's gunpowder innovations came more quickly than elsewhere because so many of its wars centered on this kind of combat, where even primitive gunpowder weapons proved immediately helpful.
What is siege combat?
This term describes the rectangular infantry units created by Spain to mix handguns, rather than crossbows, with pikes.
What is the tercio?
This battle of 1525, resulting in the capture of Francis I of France, ended the truly Italian phase of the Italian Wars.
What is the battle of Pavia?
During the early 1500s, this Spanish general took the lead in creating infantry units that mixed musketeers, rather than crossbowmen, with pikemen.
Who is Gonzalo de Cordoba?
These three ingredients form the core chemical components of gunpowder. (All three required to receive full credit.)
What are carbon, sulfur, and saltpeter?
Ottoman advances into Europe were twice stopped, in 1529 and 1683, in the vicinity of this European city?
What is Vienna?
In the mid-1400s, this treaty caused political and military power in the Italian peninsula to be concentrated mainly in the hands of five major city-states.
What is the Peace of Lodi?