Gunpowder and Fireworks

Gunpowder and fireworks might have been invented independently in Europe, but they probably reached Europe via the Mongols, who spread west from China as far as central Europe by the mid-13th century. In 1267, the English monk Roger Bacon recorded seeing what were very likely firecrackers, which he compared with the flash of lightning and growl of thunder.In 1377 fireworks accompanied a religious mystery play by the bishop's palace in Vicenza, and were soon used to add sparks to figures of doves, representing the Holy Spirit, or angels, made to ascend and descend from the heavens on ropes.By the 15th century, rockets were being used in Europe for military and peaceful purposes. Italian and Spanish cities in particular fireworks for outdoor celebrations. The Italian metallurgist Vannoccio Biringuccio described festivities in Florence and Siena for feast days. These included 'girandoles' or whirling decorated wheels packed with fireworks which were suspended from a rope hung across a street or square.Fireworks were also used in the German lands. An elaborate colour-painted book commemorates the Schembart carnival of Nuremberg, which saw men dressed in brightly-coloured costumes parading through the town. Often these included some kind of pyrotechnics. One image shows a man wearing a hat in the form of a castle with fireworks and smoke shooting up from the towers, and interestingly, what looks like a smoking artichoke.