Definition of "coulovriniers"

[Chris]

Gents,

Doing some more "research" on Murten with a possible idea taking shape. Anyway.

In one source, I found a list of troop types in the Swiss force present at Grandson.

All of the types were recognizable save for "coulovriniers."

An Internet search proved unsuccessful, unless I was looking for financial advisors, a tavern, or something else.

My guess is that this might be a reference to handgunners, but I am not certain.

Any help or links to a page would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Chris

[Erpingham]

The most likely meaning is handgunners, from coulverine a main - a handgun.  Larger coulverines could be mounted on a stand (or crutch) as a form of light artillery. 

P.S. If you really want to get into the variety of artillery used in the Burgundian Wars, the go-to book is Douglas-Smith and DeVries : The Artillery of the Dukes of Burgundy 1363 - 1477.

[Chris]

Many thanks Anthony!

And I do have pages from the text you mention. Kicking myself for not copying more - especially the introduction.

Again, appreciate the assist and translation. From the French, I presume.

Cheers,
Chris

[Erpingham]

From the French, I presume.

Indeed.  The spelling is inconsistent in contemporary documents - Douglas-Smith and DeVries give ten variants.

[Nick Harbud]

Wikipedia has a nice picture here

[Chris]

Thanks again. Helpful.

Quite an odd looking piece, I must say . . .

Must have been a chore to load and must have made quite a racket when discharged.


Cheers,
Chris

[Erpingham]

One of the things to remember is that coulverine was an evolving weapon and exactly what was meant by one might have varied between authors .  If you flicked through the pictures in that gallery Nick linked, you will find considerable differences.  It's also probably moot whether coulverineer in the 1470s always meant a man with a coulverine rather than other types of handgun.