On April 28th, 1503, a small Spanish army dug a trench, loaded their arquebuses, and ended a thousand years of mounted warfare in a single afternoon. The firearm, more versatile and destructive than ever before, had changed the face of the battlefield forever. But firearms changed more than just war - they altered the very fabric of society, sparking debates about crime, class, and who was allowed to be dangerous.
Focusing on Renaissance Italy, historian Catherine Fletcher joins us to explore how firearms changed the world, and how concerns around their regulation some 5 centuries ago still echo in our gun control debates today.
Catherine's book is called \"The Firearm Revolution: From Renaissance Italy to the European Empires\".
Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.
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