Sean McLachlan

Pre-matchlock handgonnes have been much maligned by historians,
many of whom dismiss them as inaccurate, primitive contraptions that
did little other than scare the enemy and endanger the user; however, an
examination of medieval chronicles and the experiences of modern
experimental archaeologists and re-enactors show otherwise. Early
handgonnes, while slow to reload and inaccurate at long range, had
superior penetrative power compared to bows and crossbows, and proved
their worth time and again on the battlefield. The fact that they spread so
quickly – within a century of their invention they were considered a vital
part of every European army, and within another century they had started
to displace the crossbow – shows they were a valuable addition to the
arsenal of the medieval soldier.