somed for
cash. The making of guns and gunpowder, the loading of bombs, and
even the serving of cannon were jealously guarded trade secrets.
Gunnery was a closed corporation, and the gunner himself a guildsman.
The public looked upon him as something of a sorcerer in league with
the devil, and a captured artilleryman was apt to be tortured and
mutilated. At one time the Pope saw fit to excommunicate all gunners.
Also since these specialists kept to themselves and did not drink or
plunder, their behavior was ample proof to the good soldier of the old
days that artillerists were hardly human.

SIXTEENTH CENTURY CANNON

After 1470 the art of casting greatly improved in Europe. Lighter
cannon began to replace the bombards. Throughout the 1500's
improvement was mainly toward lightening the enormous weights of guns
and projectiles, as well as finding better ways to move the artillery.
Thus, by 1556 Emperor Ferdinand was able to march against the Turks
with 57 heavy and 127 light pieces of ordnance.

At the beginning of the 1400's cast-iron balls had made an appearance.
The greater efficiency of the iron ball, together with an improvement
in gunpowder, further encouraged the building of smaller and stronger
guns. Before 1500 the siege gun had been the predominant piece. Now
forged-iron cannon for field, garrison, and naval service--and later,
cast-iron pieces--were steadily developed along with cast-bronze guns,
some of which were beautifully ornamented with Renaissance
workmanship. The casting of trunnions on the gun made elevation and
transportation easier, and the cumbrous beds of the early days gave
way to crude artillery carriages with trails and wheels. The French
invented the limber and about 1550 took a sizable forward step by
standardizing the calibers of their artillery.

Meanwhile, the first cannon had come to the New World with Columbus.
As the _Pinta's_ lookout sighted land on the early morn of October 12,
1492, the firing of a lombard carried the news over the moonlit waters
to the flagship _Santa Maria_. Within the next century, not only the
galleons, but numerous fortifications on the Spanish Main were armed
with guns, thundering at the freebooters who disputed Spain's
ownership of American treasure. Sometimes the adventurers seized
cannon as prizes, as did Drake in 1586 when he made off with 14 bronze
guns from St. Augustine's little wooden fort of San Juan de Pinos.
Drake's loot no doubt included the o