Gunpowder

Gunpowder is a simple mixture of :

Sulphur and charcoal must be in equal proportions. Potassium nitrate a.k.a. saltpeter should be 40-75%.
No one knows exactly when gunpowder was invented.  Early pyrotechnic and incendiary mixtures used by the military were generally petroleum passed.  Naptha for example can be found naturally in tar sands and seeps. The most well known of these mixtures was "Greek Fire" a closely guarded Byzantine secret weapon invented in the Seventh Century. This is thought to have been made from naptha and quicklime. Some such mixtures may have included saltpeter but evidence is sketchy for this. 

In ancient times saltpeter was used in magic, theater and alchemy. When tossed into a flame it made pale purple flames and billowing smoke which was a popular effect. 
The medieval pharmocopeia noted that it was useful for: kidney trouble when it was mixed with powdered white pine and ostrich egg shell.  Reports of wizards being destroyed by demons via bursts of thunder lightening and brimstone may relate o early accidents with gunpowder.

Firecrackers are mentioned in Chinese manuscripts dating from the 6th century. It is not clear that these contained gunpowder as other substances would also work.
Firm evidence exists for mixtures of saltpeter, sulphur, and charcoal being used in the 11th century.  The Chinese "Wu Ching Tsung Yao" written by Tseng Kung-Liang in 1044 provides encyclopedia references to a variety of mixtures which included petrochemicals, as well as garlic and honey. A slow match for flame throwing mechanisms using the siphon principal and for fireworks and rockets are mentioned.

Gunpowder works by having charcoal burn rapidly in free oxygen. Additional oxygen comes from oxidation saltpeter and a large expansion of gasses occurs.
Additional ingredients found in Chinese gunpowder did not help the explosion. In early Chinese protogunpowder mixtures the proportion of saltpeter is low.
The result would be more of a woosh explosion than a bang. The purity of ingredients would also contribute to the strength of the explosion and this is not known.
These mixtures could however propel rockets and when confined could work adequately as explosives.  Eventually, about 100 years after the Tseng reference these
mixtures were packed into bamboo tubes and were used in the defense of forts.  They were lit and thrown down at attackers. The "fire lance" was also used. This was an explosive mixture packed into a bamboo tube which functioned much like a roman candle. 

Europeans learned of these mixtures in the 13th Century. It is thought that the Mongols brought the information while invading Central Europe from 1240-1242.
Merchants or even the Moors via Spain are also cited as sources.  The independent invention of gunpowder in Europe can also not be discounted. 

The first formula for gunpowder was produced by the monk Roger Bacon (1214?- 1292?). Bacon was an alchemist. Bacon seems to have known about the effects of the mixture as early as 1247. He mentions a formula of: 41.2% saltpeter, 29.4% charcoal, and 29.4% Sulphur . This mixture will flash well and make a loud noise. It would not work well as a a propellant as its saltpeter content is too low which would deprive the reaction of needed oxygen. The potential for pyrotechnical display was present. 

Soon thereafter significant experimentation occurred. St. Albertus Magnus (1206?-1280?) had produced a formula which included: 66.6% potassium nitrate, 16.7% of sulphur and charcoal by 1275.  He was a German scholastic philosopher-theologian/alchemist.  This gunpowder would in fact go off with a bang even though it is not the best mixture. which is- 74.64% pure saltpeter, 11.85% pure sulphur, with 13.51% charcoal.  The best charcoal should be young willow wood, limewood, maple or alder. It should be burnt so that it becomes  60% pure carbon, 38% carbohydrates, with 2% ash. 
An author named Marcus Graecus described the first incendiary rockets which used Albertus' formula around 1300.
 

In Europe the gun would evolve more swiftly than the rocket. The early history is unknown. One source notes that guns were used at the siege of Forli, Italy in 1284.
This is a very vague reference from an old chronicle. An Arabic manuscript of about 50 years later discusses several varieties of firearm. The powder mentioned is: 74% saltpeter, 14,8% charcoal with 11.2% sulphur. The date is however, vague- sometime after 1304.  The author may not been personally knowledgeable.  The chronicles of Ghent, Belgium
notes that Berthold Schwartz, a friar of Breisgau, Germany had invented "bussen" or "guns" in 1313. Linguistically the entries appear to be later insertions. True and accurate references to guns start to appear in the 1320s. Definite use of guns occurred at Metz in 1324.  A document from Florence of 1326 makes clear use of the term "cannon".  This term derives from the Latin "canna" or "reed" and suggests a tubular construction.

Edward III of England  (king from 1327-1377) used cannon in an invasion of Scotland in 1327. This is described in the Milemete Manuscript (Christ Church College, Oxford).
The illuminated manuscript is a copy of a speech describing the success of he King at war.  IN a margin there is a vase like object lying on a table. An armored man holds a match against the bulb shaped base. An arrow shaped object comes out of the muzzle end.

The Italians called this object a "vaso" or pot or vase.  The French called it a "pot de fer" or iron pot.  The use of firearms quickly expanded. Early applications probably included attacks on and defense on forts.

Hand bombs were used early in siege warfare. These were tossed down on attackers. They could also be launched by mechanisms. War engines also played a roll. Tunneling would also provide a good use for gunpowder as it could be placed under walls.. 

A heavy gauge pot made of metal and filled with powder was called by the french a "Petard" or "little fart" and was used to blow the doors off of fortifications. Soldiers would take the petard over the gate and attach it with long nails  via its handles. This  worked but not efficiently. The petard was heavy and had to be hauled close to the object to be blasted. This exposed personnel to attack.

The phrase "Hoist by his own petard." came from the tendency of the weapon to explode before intended. Often the petard slipped when ignited thus misdirecting the explosion. 

Petards were utilized until 1903 when one was used in the assination of King Alexander Obrenovich to gain entrance to the palace. The man who set it off was killed.

Early cannon soon became popular. They were small and fired a stone, heavy arrow or iron ball.

At first heavy guns were those weighing 600 lbs.  They were most useful against fortified manor houses and towers and much less effective against massive works. They proved very useful against gates.
The construction of early cannons varied. They were not very safe. Some were made from wooden staves held together with metal straps. Others were made of leather or of wrought iron bars that were welded together re-enforced with hoops.  Some were of cast iron. The bursting of guns was common.  Although efficient mixtures of gunpowder were known by the mid 14th century such mixtures were much too powerful for the guns which were available.
This problem was resolved when cannon makers in Augusburg, Germany started to cast guns in bronze containing 10% tin.
Iron continued to be used because it was much less expensive.  A bombard cannon weighing around 300 pounds and able to launch 2-3 pound stone balls cost more than 1,800 when made of iron but much more if made of bronze. Hand cut stone balls  once used for catapults cost around 20 ducats each. Gunpowder cost 35-40 duckets a pound. Saltpeter was very expensive because it was scarce and cost 45 ducats a pound.  Sulphur was an import for most (outside of Italy)  and cost about 20 ducats a pound. Charcoal on the other hand was plentiful and cost only 2-3 duckats a pound.

Soldiers specializing in guns were also expensive. Each man received at least 10 ducats a day. 
Firing only a few shots could cost over a thousand ducats. But, the expenditure would be worth it as other means would be much more costly.
When technology and knowledge improved the cost went down. Metallurgists were also able to create better cannon and shot made of lead and iron. The rise
in demand caused by the Hundred Years War contributed to an acceleration in research and development.

Real progress in the technology of gunpowder and arms design would have to wait till William Congreve (1670 - 1729) developed rockets to use during wars.

The first 'hand gone' was created in the fifteenth century. It was a small cannon having  a touch-hole for ignition.
A technological breakthrough in gun design came with the development of the flash pan. This was a container of powder located outside of the tube but
adjacent to the touch hole. It was much easier to ignite gunpowder in the pan than to hold the match close enough to the touch hole.
Eventually guns were equipped with a vise on a trigger which would bring a burning match into contact with the pan. The matchlock was developed
in the mid 15th century and was used until the 18th.

The first use of flint to ignite the powder came with the invention of the wheel lock. The heel lock housed a wheel of flints which would automatically
turn striking the flints against steel with the sparks flying into the pan. The wheel lock was invented at around 1517.

An improvement upon flint technology came in 1570 with the development of the SNAPHAUNCE. A vice holding a piece of flint moved forward striking
a piece of metal which would fly up dumping sparks into the pan below. Covering the pan helped to speed the firing process and meant that guns
could be stored ready for firing and transported while ready. The flintlock proper did not emerge until after the plot in 1612.
 

Around 1590 George Evelyn received a license to install and equip a powder works at Long Ditton in Surrey and at Leigh Place near Godstone in Surrey.  Eventually the Evelyn brothers were approved to be the sole makers of gunpowder in  Southern England by the privy Council.  They were obligated only to provide a quantity of good and serviceable corned powder each year for the royal stores.  Eventually this sort of quasi public enterprise was put under government control.

Death by explosion had occured often. Accidents involving gunpowder are recorded as is the killng of 500 besiegers of Antwerp in 1585 when their siege engine exploded.  Explosions were frequent. One occured on April 27 1603 at a powdermill at Radcliffe near Nottingham only a few miles away from the king who was at Burghley. Thirteen people were blown to pieces.(Frazier,1996,p.122.)

As far as the history of gunpowder as a weapon of terrorists and murderers is concerned there is little documentation except that of the explosion which killed Lord Darnley, father of James I at Kirk o' Field in Edinburgh. In this instance an assassin was involved.
Alan Haynes in The Gunpowder Plot.,  p. 77 notes that the Gunpowder plot was only one of perhaps 19 attempts to remove the monarch between 1583 and 1606. It was perhaps only a matter of time before Gunpowder became weapon of choice.
 

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