At the end of the Middle Ages, castles began to lose their military function,
but not their psychological impact as a symbol of authority. Gunpowder
and cannons supported armies of mercenary troops, and the
garrison forts built to house them adopted the crenellated walls of private
aristocratic castles. By the sixteenth century, professional soldiers lived in
barracks, a few officers and the governor had finer quarters, and kings and
nobles merely directed the operations from distant palaces where battlements
had become purely symbolic decoration. The Battle of Crecy between
France and England in 1346 is traditionally considered to be the
first use of cannons on the battlefield. At first the noise and smoke created
by the explosion terrified horses and men, and wreaked more havoc
than the projectiles. Early cannons could be more dangerous for the gunners
than for the enemy, but military engineers rapidly developed the
weapons’ power and accuracy. A castle’s high walls and towers made easy
targets for gunners whose power and accuracy reduced once formidable
medieval buildings to rubble. Mining became more successful because the
attackers could put explosives under the walls.
World History
