It is sad, but many inventions and discoveries that can advance humanity along the path of progress have found application primarily in the military sphere, that is, they served just to destroy people, and not to improve their lives. Among them is gunpowder. After his invention, it took almost six centuries before people realized that the energy released as a result of the explosion could serve peaceful purposes.
Chinese, Arabs or Greeks?
Among scientists, there is a constant debate over who the true inventor of gunpowder is. Opinions are divided. According to one of the most common versions, this honor belongs to the Chinese, who even before our era managed to create a highly developed civilization and possessed many unique knowledge.
Proponents of a different point of view believe that gunpowder first appeared in the arsenal of Arabs, who in ancient times had sophisticated technologies based on advanced inventions for that time. In addition, in historical monuments there are often references to the so-called Greek fire , which was used to destroy enemy ships. Thus, in discussions about who invented gunpowder, ancient Hellas is also mentioned.
The opinion of skeptics
However, a serious argument casting doubt on all three of the above hypotheses is the complexity of the chemical composition of the powder. Even in the most primitive version, it should include sulfur, coal and nitrate, combined in strictly defined proportions. If the first two components are still found in nature, then nitrate, suitable for the production of explosives, can only be obtained by laboratory means.
Franciscan Sorcerer Chemist
The first inventor of gunpowder, whose works are documented, is the German monk Bertold Schwartz, who lived in the XIV century and belonged to the Franciscan order. Extremely scarce information has been preserved about the life of this person. His real name is known - Konstantin Anklitsen, but the date of birth is very vague - the end of the XIII century.
Chemistry was his life passion, but since in those days they did not see a big difference between the scientist and the sorcerer, this occupation brought him great trouble, and once even led him to jail, where he was charged with witchcraft.
A servant of God who taught to kill
By the way, the story of the name worn by Schwartz Bertold is curious. If the second part of it was given at monastic tonsure, then the first, which is nicknamed and translated from German as the adjective “black,” he received exclusively for his dubious, from the point of view of others, classes.
It is known for certain that, while in prison, he had the opportunity to continue his studies, and it was there that he made his great invention, which allowed people to kill each other much faster and in large numbers. To what extent these monastic works are compatible with the principles of Christian mercy and humanity is a completely different topic.
The spark that gave rise to the discovery
About the circumstances in which Schwartz Bertold first received explosives, we know not from the records of the scientist, but from a legend that has come down from those ancient times. While in the Nuremberg prison (according to another version - in Cologne), he, as we have already said, was engaged in chemical experiments and once mixed the very sulfur, coal and saltpeter in a mortar.
It was late afternoon, and it became dark in the cell where he worked. To light a candle, the prisoner needed to cut fire - there were no matches then, and the spark accidentally landed right in the mortar, half covered with a stone. Suddenly there was a strong clap, and the stone flew off to the side. Fortunately, the experimenter himself was not injured.
Mortar Turned into a Cannon
When the first fright (quite natural in such a case) passed and the smoke cleared, Schwartz Bertold re-filled the mortar with the mixture, having maintained the previous proportions of the components. And again there was an explosion. So gunpowder appeared. This event took place in 1330, and the era of firearms, previously unknown not only in Europe but also in the world, began with it. By the way, the same indefatigable Schwartz Berthold was engaged in the development of his first samples.
Ejected after the bombings from prison and inspired by success, he immediately tried to find practical use of his infernal mixture. Creative thought told him that if you make a large mortar, fill it with a mixture and choose a worthy stone, you can cause great trouble to the enemy by first turning the entire structure in his direction.
The beginning of the era of firearms
The very first guns really resembled an overturned mortar on one side. They even began to be called mortars (from the Latin mortarium - “mortar”). Over time, their design lengthened and took the shape of old cannons familiar to us from childhood, and the stones were replaced by cast-iron cores.
Military equipment has always been at the forefront of progress. Soon, heavy and clumsy guns led their developers to think of creating light, elongated trunks with thin walls that a foot warrior could hold in their hands. So in the arsenals of the European armies appeared muskets and arquebuses, which became the prototype of modern systems of small arms.
Documentary evidence of who invented gunpowder
If the specific circumstances under which the discovery of gunpowder was made by Bertold Schwartz can be disputed, then his authorship is beyond doubt. To this fact there is a sufficient amount of documentary evidence. One of them is a record found in the archives of the city of Ghent and made in 1343. It says that under the city walls, in a collision with the enemy, the cannons that a certain monk Schwartz Bertold invented were used.
The name of the inventor monk is also mentioned in the decree of the French king John II the Good, published in May 1354. In it, the monarch commands, in connection with the invention of the German monk Bertold Schwartz, to prohibit the export of copper from the kingdom and use it exclusively for casting guns.
A life of mystery
There is also a whole series of medieval evidence that the inventor of gunpowder is precisely Bertold Schwartz. The biography of this man as a whole is rather vague, but the fact of his discovery is undeniable. The date of death of the one with whose light arms the battlefields began to be announced by the cannonade is as unknown as the circumstances in which he passed away.
We do not know whether this was a natural end, or, continuing the experiments, an inquisitive scientist at some point did not calculate the charge, and the right to make a mistake was given him, like the sapper, only once. Since the whole life of this person is shrouded in mystery, and his discovery is a national pride, many cities in Germany claim the right to be considered his homeland. This is Cologne, Dortmund, and Freiburg, in which a monument to Bertold Schwartz was erected on the city square.