Editing Medieval warfare (section)

==Transition to gunpowder warfare==
{{Further|Gunpowder artillery in the Middle Ages}}
In 1326 the earliest known European picture of a gun appeared in a manuscript by Walter de Milemete.<ref name=kelly29>{{Cite book | last = Kelly | first = Jack | title = Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, & Pyrotechnics: The History of the Explosive that Changed the World | publisher = Basic Books | year = 2004 |page=29}}</ref> In 1350, [[Petrarch]] wrote that the presence of cannons on the battlefield was 'as common and familiar as other kinds of arms'.<ref name="norris 19">{{cite book|last=Norris|first=John|year=2003|title=Early Gunpowder Artillery: 1300–1600|publisher=Marlborough: The Crowood Press|isbn=1-86126-615-4|page=19}}</ref>

Early artillery played a limited role in the [[Hundred Years' War]], and it became indispensable in the [[Italian Wars]] of 1494&ndash;1559, marking the beginning of [[early modern warfare]]. Charles VIII, during his [[First Italian War|invasion of Italy]], brought with him the first truly mobile siege train: [[culverin]]s and [[bombard (weapon)|bombard]]s mounted on wheeled carriages, which could be deployed against an enemy stronghold immediately after arrival.