← Explore on the interactive map
17th-Century Matchlock Arquebus
A matchlock smoothbore firearm widely issued to infantry across Eurasia in the 17th century, igniting the priming pan via a slow-burning matchcord to…
Timeline
- 1641–1650London · LondonInfantry on both sides of the English Civil War were widely equipped with matchlocks, mixed with pikes into pike-and-shot formations; slow rate of fire, but cheaper to manufacture and train with than more advanced ignition mechanisms.
- 1644–1650Beijing · BeijingDuring the Ming-Qing transition, Ming forces, peasant armies, and Qing forces all made extensive use of bird guns/matchlock-type weapons, similar in ignition principle to contemporary European matchlocks.
Sources
- Matchlock https://www.britannica.com/technology/matchlock
- The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History — Tonio Andrade (2016)