A Bavarian arsenal inventory dated 1485

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... depicting guns and various other stuff kept in the Landshut arsenal in 1485. It is called the Landshuter Zeughausinventar. Zeug is the old German word for all kinds of weapons, Zeughaus means arsenal. Landshut is a historic city and nowadays the capital of the county of Lower Bavaria. In the Middle Ages, it was a main residence of the Wittelsbach dynasty whose heirs are still alive.

Note the red paint on some pieces.

The late-Gothic handwriting comments on the haquebuts the barrels of which are obviously of cast brass: "Alt Hagknpuchsn", i.e. old haquebuts, meaning that these pieces were already considered to be obsolete by 1485.

The three incendiary cossbow bolts with their flights painted red are referred to as "Alt Fewrpfeyl", again denoting that they had been in the Landshut arsenal for a long time yet.

Quite remarkable is the comment on the group of 4 harquebuses with blackened stocks and brass barrels:
"Handtpuchsn so im kassten sein", harquebuses which are stored in a wooden chest.

The Landshut Zeughausinventar ranks among the earliest known illustrated arsenal inventories. It was executed 7 years before Columbus discovered the New World, and 20 years before the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I had the contents of his arsenals illustrated.

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