Editing 1340s (section)

====Military technology====
It was around this decade that [[medieval cannon]] began to be used more widely in Europe, appearing in small numbers in several European states by the 1340s.<ref name="Nicolle">Nicolle, p 21</ref> "Thunder jar" weaponry utilizing gunpowder and other firearm technology spread to Spain in 1342 and to the city of [[Aachen]] in Northern Germany in 1346.<ref>Delbrück, p 28</ref><ref>Nossov (2005), p 209</ref> "[[Ribauldequin|Ribaldis]]" were first mentioned in the English Privy Wardrobe accounts between 1345 and 1346, during preparations for the campaign in France.<ref name="Nicolle"/> The effectiveness of these cannon was limited, as they are believed to have only shot large arrows and simple grapeshot, but they were so valuable that they were directly controlled by the Royal Wardrobe.<ref name="Nicolle"/> Contemporary chroniclers such as the French [[Jean Froissart]] and the Florentine [[Giovanni Villani]] record their destructiveness on the field at the [[Battle of Crecy]] in 1346.