Pic of a very very old grenade

[paul the grenade]

Heres an interesting illustration from a fighting manual from 1459 by Hans Talhoffer. A famous German fencing master.
The centre picture appears to be a flaming grenade. Note the inflateable cushion.
paul

 

[spotter]

Hello paul,,any idea what these early "grenades" were filled with,were they just burning oils

 

[paul the grenade]

ive come across a few references to them being called "fire pots" but nothing of any detail. i presume they were clay pots filled with an incendiary mixture of some sort and thrown of castle walls at the attacking troops.
cheers, paul.

 

[Andysarmoury]

Hi i remember reading somewhere that they were filled with pitch.
Cheers
Andy