The weapons of the fourteenth century differed but little in form from those of the thirteenth, and it was not before the fifteenth century that organised infantry became an indispensable contingent of the “establishment” of every army in the field; by which time halbards, pikes, partizans, and their kindred weapons were all in use. These weapons, with the glaive, voulge, holywater-sprinklers, and morning-star, continued more or less in vogue until the beginning of the eighteenth century. It is frequently affirmed that gunpowder was known to the Chinese before the Christian era began, and the embrasures in the Great Wall, erected 200 B.C., are often cited as proof that artillery of some sort or other was used in China at a very early date. However this may be, it is certain that there must be an extraordinary wealth of facts and suggestions lying buried deep under the soil of that “old world empire” and Japan. In this age, so hungry for new developments, it will probably not be many years before some enthusiastic antiquary begins to look more closely into the possibilities of this virgin soil by digging investigation. The honour of the invention of gunpowder is claimed, however, by several of the European nations. It is often stated to have been a fortuitous discovery in 1320 by Bartholdus Schwartz, a monk of Friburg; but there is a recipe for its production as far back as the ninth century of our era, the component parts then being six parts of sulphur to two each of saltpetre and charcoal,[35] but this acted by fusing and not by detonation, and was probably a form of Greek fire. The properties of gunpowder were thus more or less known long before its application as a motive force for projectiles. This did not take place, however, before the fourteenth century. It is often stated that gunpowder was not made in England before the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Henry VIII. bought gunpowder largely in Spain, but as he also purchased saltpetre and sulphur it seems certain that gunpowder was made in England during his reign. There are records at this time of payments for gunpowder to people with English names; and Carlo Capello, the Venetian, writes in 1532 that Henry made powder in the Tower then. Its adoption for application to projectile warfare gradually revolutionised both the armament and tactics of the middle ages and of the “renaissance,” especially in the direction of gradually discrediting the use of the bow in all its forms. The introduction of the epoch-making bombard and hand-gun changed the face of history.