Faule Grete
| Faule Grete | |
|---|---|
| Type | Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Margrave Frederick I of Brandenburg |
| Production history | |
| Produced | 1409 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 4.6 t |
| Length | 250 cm |
| Barrel length | 150 cm |
| Shell weight | 170 kg |
| Caliber | 50 cm (ball diameter) |
The Faule Grete (German for Lazy Grete, alluding to the lack of mobility and slow rate of fire of such super-sized cannon) was a medieval large-calibre cannon of the Teutonic Order. The bronze bombard was cast in 1409 in the cannon foundry of the Marienburg by the gunfounder Heynrich Dumechen.[2] According to the account books of the order, the construction costs amounted to 278.5 Mark, a sum equivalent to ca. 1160 oxen.[3]
Borrowed by Margrave
Besides the Faule Grete, a number of 15th-century European large-calibre weapons are known to have been employed primarily in siege warfare, including the wrought-iron Pumhart von Steyr, Dulle Griet and Mons Meg as well as the cast-bronze Grose Bochse (also made by the Teutonic Knights) and Faule Mette.
Footnotes
- ^ Schmidtchen 1977, p. 220
- ^ Schmidtchen 1977, p. 218
- ^ Schmidtchen 1977, p. 219
- ^ Schmidtchen 1977, pp. 220f.
See also
References
- Schmidtchen, Volker (1977), "Riesengeschütze des 15. Jahrhunderts. Technische Höchstleistungen ihrer Zeit", Technikgeschichte, 44 (3): 213–237 (217–221)