Felix Beuker

The Dardanelles gun is one of the few remaining examples of an Ottoman Bombard. These giant bronze guns were the height of weapons technology when they were cast and were crucial in many of the Ottoman’s conquests. Perhaps the most famous of all of these conquests is the fall of Constantinople in 1453, wherein several giant bombards were instrumental in knocking down the ancient Theodosian Walls. These giant guns serve as an example of the Ottoman’s participation in the military revolution and the emergence of gunpowder. This specific gun was cast at the Imperial Foundry at Instanbul in 1464, and it remained in service until the mid-19th century.

Link to Recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1su_Ub7yN2osGH5u1vPQzdi-DJRiMzGn7/view?usp=sharing

Biblio:

Ágoston Gábor, Guns for the Sultan: Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005)

Major-General J. H. Lefroy (1868) The Great Cannon of Muhammad II. (A.D. 1464.), Archaeological Journal, 25:1, 261-280, DOI: 10.1080/00665983.1868.10851420

“Royal Armouries Collections.” Royal Armouries collections. Accessed December 8, 2022. https://collections.royalarmouries.org/#/objects.