Finally, given the presence of the flattened wrought iron rounds at La Neuveville (Figure 7.18), it is possible that multiple loads might have been fired from a single barrel. The one firing experiment we conducted with a double load of lead round shot failed to produce a distinctive signature. However the test needs to be repeated in a more substantial programme of experimental firing.¹⁴⁶

In assessing the likely character of the guns used at Bosworth it is important to recognise the different tactical considerations for field artillery compared to those designed for sieges, garrison defence or for naval use. This is most clearly seen by comparing the various long naval guns in museum collections such as the Tojhusmuseet, Copenhagen with the much shorter barrels of the Burgundian field artillery.¹⁴⁷ Just as with handguns, so with artillery, one cannot simply assume that the lists of garrison or naval guns were all relevant for the battlefield. Hence the presence of 39 hakeguns, 26 handguns, a ribaudequin, 5 bombards, 45 fowlers and 65 serpentines amongst the guns at Calais in 1481 does not provide a guide as to the field artillery available at that time.¹⁴⁸ While some guns may have been practical to use in all contexts, most will not have met the tactical requirements for field use.

In later centuries the artillery used for close infantry support were short, light, manoeuvrable and easily re-targeted. They were optimised for firing at a close target as it was there that they delivered their most valuable firepower, breaking the ranks of advancing troops at as little as 100 m. The small ordnance captured from the Burgundians in 1476 in Switzerland included a substantial number of very similar short barrelled guns (Figure 7.32). Though their carriages may be recent replacements, the form of at least some is close to that seen in contemporary illustrations (Figure 7.31). But the latter illustration also shows a very different type of artillery piece was also in regular use at this time. This was the wagon mounted gun which, when deployed in groups, could be used to form a defensive position for infantry. It is also described by Machiavelli in 1521, who details its shortcomings, especially the problems of manoeuvrability. It therefore seems likely that the artillery present at Bosworth will have been a combination of these two types, some wagon mounted and others far more mobile guns on individual carriages.