A ribauldequin, also known as a rabauld, randy, ribault, ribaudkin, infernal machine or organ gun, was a late medievalvolley gun with many small-caliber iron barrels set up parallel on a platform, in use in medieval and early modern Europe during the Renaissance period. When the gun was fired, multiple barrels discharged their projectiles at once, yielding a much higher rate of fire than single-barrel (typically larger-caliber) guns. Organ guns were lighter and more mobile than most previous artillery pieces, making them more suitable for engaging enemy personnel rather than fixed fortifications such as castles.[1] The name organ gun comes from the resemblance of the multiple barrels to a pipe organ.[2] As an early type of multiple-barrel firearm, the ribauldequin is sometimes considered the predecessor of the 19th century mitrailleuse.[3]
^J. F. C. Fuller (1987) [1954]. A Military History of the Western World: From the earliest times to the Battle of Lepanto. Vol. 1. Da Capo Press. p. 469. ISBN978-0-306-80304-8.
^Willbanks, James H. (2018). Machine Guns: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 22.
^Chinn, George M. (1951). The Machine Gun: History, Evolution, and Development of Manual, Automatic, and Airborne Repeating Weapons, Volume I. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy. p. 15.
^Verkhoturova, Mariana; Jenzen-Jones, N.R. (2021). "Rethinking the "Cossack Gun": A 17th Century Organok from Lviv". Journal of the Arms & Armour Society. XXIII (5): 365–372.