Siege Mortar

Timeline

1. 1590–1594European arsenals · FranceIn the early 1590s, European artillery manuals systematically distinguished cannons from mortars; the latter used short, thick barrels, large chambers, and firing angles of 45–60 degrees to lob stone shot, specifically for destroying bastion tops and buildings within the walls.
2. 1594–1598Siege battlefields of the Netherlands · NetherlandsIn the later Eighty Years' War, Spanish and Dutch besieging armies deployed multiple mortars at the ends of parallel trenches, continuously bombarding bastion tops and the rear slopes of breastworks, combining with flat-firing cannons for three-dimensional fire suppression.
3. 1598–1600Europe · Western EuropeBy 1600, siege mortars, ammunition wagons, and engineer trench systems together constituted the early modern standard siege train; similar high-angle firepower was also widely adopted in the French Wars of Religion and campaigns in Ireland.