Medieval and modern times : an introduction to the history of western Europe form the dissolution of the Roman empire to the present time . n system ofusing letters. One cannot well divide XLVIII by VIII, but hecan easily divide48 by 8. RogerBacon knew of theexplosive natureof a compound ofsulphur, saltpeter,and charcoal, anda generation afterhis death gunpow-der began to beused a little forguns and document is stillpreserved referringto the making ofbrass caimon andballs in Florencein the year 1350 powderworks were in ex-istence in at least three German towns, and French a
Medieval and modern times : an introduction to the history of western Europe form the dissolution of the Roman empire to the present time . n system ofusing letters. One cannot well divide XLVIII by VIII, but hecan easily divide48 by 8. RogerBacon knew of theexplosive natureof a compound ofsulphur, saltpeter,and charcoal, anda generation afterhis death gunpow-der began to beused a little forguns and document is stillpreserved referringto the making ofbrass caimon andballs in Florencein the year 1350 powderworks were in ex-istence in at least three German towns, and French and Eng-lish books refer now and then to its use. At least a hundred and fifty years elapsed, however, before,gunpowder really began to supplant the old ways of fightingwith bows and arrows and axes and lances. By the year 1500it was becoming clear that the old stone castles were insufficientprotection against cannon, and a new type of unprotected castlebegan to be erected as residences of the kings and the nobility(seebelow; p. 276). Gunpo^wdervhas^Horie awsiy ,bows and arrows, spears and javelins, castles and walled Fig. 6g. Effects of Cannon on aMedieval Castle 258 Medieval and Modem Times Advantagesof printingwith mova-ble type Excellentwork ofmedievalcopyists It may be that sometime some such fearfully destructive com-pound may be discovered, that the nations may decide to giveup war altogether as too dangerous and terrible a thing to resortto under any circumstances. The inventions of the compass, of the lens, and of gunpowderhave helped to revolutionize the world. To these may be addedthe printing press, which has so facilitated and encouraged read-ing that it is nowadays rare to find anybody who cannot read. The Italian classical scholars of the fifteenth century suc-ceeded, as we have seen (pp. 254-255, above), in arousing a newinterest in the books of the Greeks as well as of the carefully collected every ancient work that they could layha
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