A page from 16th C German manuscript ("Das Feuer Buch") from the
University of Pennsylvania's collection, depicts a cat and a
bird attacking a castle with bombs strapped to them. As if that
wasn't enough, the illustrator chose to depict these bombs in a
way that made the poor critters look jet-propelled. The caption
is "To ignite a castle with a cat." Beyond the novel inclusion
of our rocket bird and turbo cat - up top - this 1584 treatise
on explosive devices appears to illustrate weaponry seen in
earlier manuscripts and offers no new technologies for the
Renaissance commando types. The sketches show various types of
barrel bombs, hand grenades, nasty fragmentation/shrapnel
explosives, cannons, caltrops (anti-personnel ground spikes),
unsophisticated spear and staff-mounted 'rockets' or bombs,
catherine or pin wheel fireworks and your-guess-is-as-good-as-
mine fire vessels and defensive emplacement stakes. Good to know
that our modern evil ways build on the twisted imaginations of
artistic forebears. Early Ex