[Dashiell Harrison]

Hi All,

I'm doing a bit of research for a table-top RPG and I got curious about early military rockets in Europe. According to Wikipedia they saw some use in the 14th century and appear in Bellifortis. However, I haven't been able to find any detailed descriptions (period or modern) of how they were made or employed. Could anyone point me to any sources on early European rocket mechanics and tactics?

Thanks!

[Henry O.]

John Cruso's 1639 book included brief instructions on how to make various sorts of military fire works, including paper rockets. The book doesn't really go over how they would have been used in combat and I highly doubt they were commonly used if at all. The illustration doesn't seem to give the rocket an fins or any sort of stabilization so it probably wasn't very accurate, and it seems that the idea was that the rocket would carry gunpowder "serpents" or "starres" and would perhaps spread outward to start multiple fires or frighten the enemy.

[Lafayette C Curtis]

Look up William Bourne's "The Arte of Shooting in Great Ordnaunce."