The Faule Mette (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
for ''Lazy Mette'', alluding to the gun's rare deployment, difficult mobility, and limited loading and fire rate) or Faule Metze was a
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
large-calibre cannon of the city of
Brunswick,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
Cast by the gunfounder Henning Bussenschutte on the central market square ''
Kohlmarkt'' in 1411, it was fitted with a conically tapered muzzle (calibre of 67–80 cm) which allowed the use of projectiles of varying size. Thus, it could fire stone balls weighing between with a gunpowder load ranging from .
On 1 November 1717, the Faule Mette reportedly shot a stone ball The cast-bronze cannon was melted down in 1787 and recast to several lighter field guns, having fired only twelve times in its history.
Besides the Faule Mette, a number of 15th-century European superguns are known to have been employed primarily in siege warfare, including the wrought-iron
Pumhart von Steyr
The Pumhart von Steyr is a medieval large-calibre cannon from Styria, Austria, and the largest known wrought-iron bombard by caliber. It weighs around 8 tons and has a length of more than 2.5 meters. It was produced in the early 15th century an ...
,
Dulle Griet and
Mons Meg
Mons Meg is a medieval bombard in the collection of the Royal Armouries, on loan to Historic Scotland and located at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. It has a barrel diameter of making it one of the largest cannons in the world by calibre.
...
as well as the cast-bronze
Faule Grete and
Grose Bochse.
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Footnotes
See also
*
List of the largest cannon by caliber
The list of cannon by caliber contains all types of cannon through the ages listed in decreasing caliber size. For the purpose of this list, the development of large-calibre artillery can be divided into three periods, based on the kind of projec ...
References
*
External links
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
Medieval artillery
Large-calibre artillery
History of Brunswick
Individual cannons