Bidspirit auction | 2 Signal/Festungskanonen Spanien 16./17. Jhd.

2 Signal/Festungskanonen Spanien 16./17. Jhd. - 2 signal/fortress cannons, Spain, 16th/17th centuries. Bronze, ht: approx. 9.5 cm each, Purpose: Used for visual and auditory communication (alerting, fleet coordination, indicating the time). They were used on galleons to report attacks, order changes of course or signal the start of a battle (as historically documented in the Battle of Lepanto).They did not fire heavy iron balls, but were loaded with black powder and, where necessary, stones to produce a loud bang and thick smoke.