A couple mortars for comments

[Matchlock]

Originally Posted by Rick

Michael, is it that the Igniting Irons were kept red hot during actions ?
That being the case; no wonder ones with their original tips are rare.

Hi Rick,

As I stated formerly in another thread, igniting irons had to be kept resting in a bowl with glowing coal on a fire all the time during action - and that right next to the cannon and the powder barrels!!!

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ight=linstocks

Attached please find the most exact period representation known to me, from Jean Mansel's illuminated Late-Gothic manuscript La fleur des histoires, France, 1453-63, Geneva Library, Ms fr. 64, fol 196r.

I posted these scans earlier; they also depict the earliest form of an igniting iron, sharply angled and still without the reinforced bulbous head and only featuring a long, thin prick; this type was first represented in Konrad Kyeser's 1405 manuscript Bellifortis (two attachments below), and the only known surviving sample is preserved in my collection, in excavated condition but retaining a portion of its original haft (the one on top in the last attachment).

Best,
Michael