[Martin Kallander]

I know it was used for cannons, but aside from that, what was copper and alloys with copper used for between the 5th-16th centuries?

[Matthew Amt]

Well, from what I know, copper was usually used as an alloy with tin or zinc, to make bronze or brass--I believe latten is a brass alloy, not certain of the content. Cannons and guns were definitely not just copper! Many coins were copper.

Copper alloys were used for all manner of ornamentation and jewelry, buckles, bells, hardware on furniture and boxes and cabinets, weapon hilts, armor parts and rivets, eating ware, musical instruments, you name it. But you're also talking about a huge span of time and area, and the amounts and proportions are going to vary wildly. For instance, brass or bronze helmets were not at all rare in 5th century, but you wouldn't see many at all in the 16th--in spite of there being hundreds of times more helmets overall than a thousand years before. Though even that late, there *are* instances of brass or latten armor, here and there, and not just decorative parts.

I'm on more solid ground with the ancient eras. Greeks and Romans used huge amounts of bronze and brass, but pure copper artifacts are quite rare (except for coins). Even the millions of rivets the Romans used for armor and other items typically had 3 or 4 percent zinc. It's possible that more copper was used as is in the post-Roman era, I'm sure other folks will chime in with examples.

Matthew

[Dan Kary]

Wasn't it pretty common, until the very late middle ages, for impact weapons like maces to be made of copper alloy? Because you don't need edge retention on it and a slightly squished spike is still pointed enough to do significant damage?

[Leo Todeschini]

Pure copper was rarely used as it is to soft for very much and as has been said it was usually alloyed with zinc or tin and of course silver, lead and arsenic to a point are often found in the same seams so there will almost certainly be some unintentional alloying to some extent.

I happen to be messing about a bit with flanged maces at the moment and they were often brazed with copper and to some extent other items were too, but how pure this was I have no idea.

Tod

[Pedro Paulo Gaião]

For military uses ...

Latten (a mix of copper Cu and zinc Zn) was often used to cover pieces of armor in decorative ways, and a more accessible one when compared to gilded and silvered armor. English armor of the first half of the 15th century features that a lot.

It was also used to decorate weapons such as sword hilts etc. It seems the Ottomans often used latten-covered iron helmets, some reenactments in Turkey often feature Shock-troops janissaries wearing either bronze or latten iron helmets and shields.

Bronze was also used in early firearms such as arquebuses and hand canons, not just cannons or field artillery. The "White King" woodcut prints show Maximilian using bronze arquebuses in some scenes.

Also, the Ottomans sometimes melted Hungarian churches' bells because of the good content to make canons out or it.

As said earlier, some early maces were made of cast bronze, I have seem some pollaxes to have latten or bronze decorations as well.

This is golden decoration, but it could be latten if it was a knight or minor noblemen.
https://innsbruck-erinnert.at/der-weisskunig/

[Pieter B.]

Taps for barrels or running water in upscale residences were typically made out of copper alloy. In large kitchens, early breweries, dyers workshops and bathhouses you'd find copper alloy cauldrons or boilers and kettles. Copper alloy was used to manufacture bells and trumpets, possibly also surgical instruments. Then there were uses for scholars who made their astrolabes out of copper alloy or opted to use copper for a simple still. In the hall of a house you might find candlesticks, aquamanilia, basins, chandeliers, table fountains and salt cellars. Outdoors you might hold a copper alloy lantern and have copper alloy buckles and chapes on your belt and pouch. In a church you might find a brass baptismal font

The stuff can be cast, is easy to machine, doesn't corrode easily and takes to gilding really well. Before aluminium, tinplate and stainless steel came about it was a good material for a great many thing.










Meanwhile here we are today stuck with scented candles...