Medieval kings had a way to crush rebellions: Rocket cats
8 March 2014 4:57 AM IST
Bring on the rocket cats!
Fanciful illustrations from a circa-1530 manual on artillery and siege warfare seem to show jet packs strapped to the backs of cats and doves, with the German-language text helpfully advising military commanders to use them to ‘set fire to a castle or city which you can’t get at otherwise.’
Digitized by the University of Pennsylvania, the unusual, full-color illustrations recently caught the attention of an Australian book blog and then found their way to Penn researcher Mitch Fraas, who set out to unravel the mystery.
‘I really didn’t know what to make of it,’ said Fraas, a historian and digital humanities expert at the Penn library. ‘It clearly looks like there’s some sort of jet of fire coming out of a device strapped to these animals.’
So were these unfortunate animals from the 1500s really wearing 20th-century technology?
Fraas’ conclusion: No. Obviously.
The treatise in question was written by artillery master Franz Helm of Cologne, who was believed to have fought in several skirmishes against the Turks in south-central Europe at a time when gunpowder was changing warfare.
Circulated widely and illustrated by multiple artists, Helm’s manual is filled with all sorts of strange and terrible imagery, from bombs packed with shrapnel to missile-like explosive devices studded with spikes - and those weaponized cats and birds.
Fanciful illustrations from a circa-1530 manual on artillery and siege warfare seem to show jet packs strapped to the backs of cats and doves, with the German-language text helpfully advising military commanders to use them to ‘set fire to a castle or city which you can’t get at otherwise.’
Digitized by the University of Pennsylvania, the unusual, full-color illustrations recently caught the attention of an Australian book blog and then found their way to Penn researcher Mitch Fraas, who set out to unravel the mystery.
‘I really didn’t know what to make of it,’ said Fraas, a historian and digital humanities expert at the Penn library. ‘It clearly looks like there’s some sort of jet of fire coming out of a device strapped to these animals.’
So were these unfortunate animals from the 1500s really wearing 20th-century technology?
Fraas’ conclusion: No. Obviously.
The treatise in question was written by artillery master Franz Helm of Cologne, who was believed to have fought in several skirmishes against the Turks in south-central Europe at a time when gunpowder was changing warfare.
Circulated widely and illustrated by multiple artists, Helm’s manual is filled with all sorts of strange and terrible imagery, from bombs packed with shrapnel to missile-like explosive devices studded with spikes - and those weaponized cats and birds.
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