The falconet is a light cannon developed in Europe during the sixteenth century, smaller and considerably more mobile than the heavy siege guns of the period, named as part of a family of artillery pieces that European gunfounders classified using bird names such as the falcon and the saker according to size. Its light weight let it be mounted aboard smaller warships that could not carry heavy siege ordnance, carried on simple field carriages for maneuver alongside marching armies, or mounted on fortress walls where a smaller, quicker-firing gun was more useful than a single large piece, giving commanders flexible direct-fire support against personnel and light targets rather than the wall-breaching role of heavier siege cannon. Falconets remained common shipboard and field armament through the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries before larger standardized naval gun classes and dedicated field artillery calibers gradually replaced the older bird-named gun classification system.
Facts
Disputed
Introduced YearThis atlas's existing description dates the falconet to the sixteenth century, but the cited Wikipedia article's lead and its Castelo de Sao Jorge display text both date the type to the end of the 14th century; recorded as debated pending resolution, see the paired open question on this entity. Classification
Service Status Weapon Class
Weapon Class (category) Weapon Class FAQs
How big was a falconet and how far could it shoot?
A barrel of about 4 feet and a 2 inch bore firing a one pound shot up to roughly 5000 feet.
A falconet was a small gun. Its barrel was about 4 feet long, it had a bore of about 2 inches, and it weighed between 180 and 440 pounds. It used about half a pound of black powder to fire a one pound round shot to a maximum range of roughly 5,000 feet, and it could also fire grapeshot.
Connections
Associated With
Source Wikipedia: Falconet (cannon)
Source Wikipedia: Falconet (cannon)
Open Questions
Source Wikipedia: Falconet (cannon)
Used In
Source Wikipedia: Falconet (cannon)
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Falconet (cannon)
Wikipedialead section
Its barrel was approximately 4 feet (1.2 m) long, had a calibre of 2 inches (5 cm) and weighed 180 to 440 pounds (80 to 200 kg).
- Weapon class classified from the entity's own sourced description text.
- Introduced circa 1390 per the entity's own sourced description text; no pre-1900 weapon system remains in current active military service.
Lead
Many falconets were in use during the English Civil War as they were lighter and cheaper than the culverins, sakers and minions.
Associated With: Thirty Years' War, main text
In 1620s Germany a breechloading version was invented, seeing action in the Thirty Years War.
Associated With: English Civil War, main text
Many falconets were in use during the English Civil War as they were lighter and cheaper than the culverins, sakers and minions.
In Group: Early Modern Cannon and Mortars, Lead sentence
The falconet was a light cannon developed in the late 14th century that fired a smaller shot than the similar falcon.
View the Source Open Questions (1 open question)
Was the falconet developed in the late 14th century or the 16th century?
This atlas's existing falconet description dates the type to the sixteenth century. The cited Wikipedia Falconet (cannon) article, both in its lead and in the quoted Castelo de Sao Jorge museum display text, dates falcons and falconets to the end of the 14th century instead. The introduced-year fact was recorded as debated (1390, per the cited source) rather than silently overriding the standing description.
What would resolve this A specialist source on the history of early gunpowder artillery (for example Kelly DeVries and Robert Douglas Smith's work on medieval military technology, or a museum ordnance catalog) giving a specific dated example or clear consensus on when the falconet class was first cast, resolving whether the standing description or the Wikipedia dating is correct, or whether both a late-14th-century ancestor and a distinct 16th-century standardized type are being conflated under one name.
History of artillery and gunpowder weaponsWikipedia: Falconet (cannon)
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