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This soldier shows the changes in the ' English ' army during the reign of
Henry VIII. Although the King was a great archer himself he also
understood the need for his forces to develop
alongside
those of other European powers. For that reason he employed specialist
foreign troops to enhance the traditional English arms.
The
man shown in probably Italian and wears the 'puffed and slashed' style of
clothing of the period, with a mail shirt beneath his jerkin. The cross of
Saint George indicates his service with the English forces.
His
main weapon is an Arquebus, a large caliber muzzle loading gun. Fired with
a matchlock mechanism, that is, a length of lit match cord was fixed in
the jaws of a lock and when the trigger sear was pulled the lock was moved
into contact with the gunpowder in the touch hole, so firing the charge
and discharging the lead ball. It had a slow rate of fire, three shots a
minute at the most, but unlike the longbow it did not require great
personal strength and training to fire it and its penetrative power
against the improved armour of the period made it an effective
weapon.
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