The only material I know on in English on medieval German etc. blast
furnaces is in The importance of iron making: papers presented at the
Norberg Conference 1995 (Jernkontorets Berghistoriska Utskott, Stockholm
1995). This is distributed in Great Britain by Merton Priory Press of
Cardiff.
These medieval furnaces seem to be a relatively recent discovery, at least
for the English speaking world, and I do not think it is yet clear what
they made. The iron they made was known in English as osmond. It is
probable (but not certain that this was the same commodity as the osmond
iron that was used to make wire in England in the 16th to 18th centuries.
What the Swedes call French furnaces, that is the familiar stone blast
furnaces seem to have been invented in the pays de Namur (now in Belgium
during the 15th century). I am not clear when these started making pots.
Peter King
----- Original Message -----
From: J. H. Brothers <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 29 November 2000 02:00
Subject: Re: Test, and a metal question
> I'm not going to claim to be an expert on European cast iron, but I think
there
> is now fairly compelling evidence that "blast furnaces" date from at least
> around 1200. There are some pretty early ones, 100-1200, showing up in
> Scandinavia, Germany, and Austria. Unfortunately, most of the literature
I have
> seen is not available in English. I do not know of any evidence for cast
iron
> cannon that early. They had to be making something with all that cast
iron.
>
> Jamie Brothers
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