The basilisk was a very heavy

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during ...

employed during the Late Middle Ages. The barrel of a basilisk could weigh up to 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) and could have a

calibre In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore match ...

of up to 5 inches (13 cm). On average they were around 10 feet long, though some, like

Queen Elizabeth's Pocket Pistol Queen Elizabeth's Pocket Pistol is a cannon built in 1544 in Utrecht by Jan Tolhuys, before Elizabeth I came to the throne. The gun was presented to Henry VIII by Maximiliaan van Egmond, Count of Buren and Stadtholder of Friesland as a gift for hi ...

, were almost three times that length. The basilisk got its name from the mythological

basilisk In European bestiaries and legends, a basilisk ( or ) is a legendary reptile reputed to be a serpent king, who causes death to those who look into its eyes. According to the '' Naturalis Historia'' of Pliny the Elder, the basilisk of Cyre ...

: a fire-breathing venomous serpent that could cause large-scale destruction and kill its victims with its glance alone. It was thought that the very sight of its 160 lb shot would be enough to scare the enemy to death. In 1588 the Spanish Armada was equipped with many basilisks for their invasion of England with the intent of using them to besiege towns loyal to Elizabeth I. Many of these guns were lost when the ships were wrecked on their return to Spain. Due to its large size, the basilisk fell out of favour of European generals, who preferred lighter, more accurate artillery in the late 16th century. A late example is the

Maltese Gun Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Maltes ...

, built in Holland in 1607 and, like many of its contemporaries, fitted with a replacement carriage during the Napoleonic Wars.

References

{{Early firearms Cannon Medieval artillery Renaissance-era weapons

Further reading

References