Practical Manual of Artillery

many times with a good number of his own galleys, & at his own expense, he has helped the Imperial & the Catholic fleets in their needs; & furthermore, as the Catholic Majesty, not ignoring the rich gifts of the clear judgment of Your Excellency, & of how much importance it was, that, to compose & agree upon the differences of the states of Flanders with his Majesty, one should be personally present in Germany, & be Royal Commissioner General of the Diet, which was held there, sent you for that effect to the City of Cologne. Which Diet, finished with supreme reputation, & glory of His Majesty, & of Your Excellency, was then immediately proposed for the government of Catalonia; where in ruling & governing a Kingdom of people so proud, he left a perpetual example of prudence, & of justice. Nor does the trust stop here, which the Catholic Majesty had in the talent of Your Excellency, that before finishing the triennium of the government of Catalonia, he created you Governor of the state of Milan, & his Captain General in Italy; where at present Your Excellency governs with such high providence, & such great justice, that the whole world admires. Returning therefore, Most Excellent Duke, to where I started, which was to narrate the excellencies of the military art; which has been so ineffably illustrated, not only by the high value of Your Excellency, & of many other preeminent Princes, & Knights, which the Royal House of ARAGON, from whom Your Excellency draws your origin, has produced; but also of many other valiant Captains, as ancient, as modern; who tiring themselves night, and day, in the heat, & the frost, with the heavy weight of armor upon them, with the risk of losing their dear life every moment, have sought to ennoble, & make this such excellent exercise their own; investigating with the sharpness of their intellects various, & innumerable inventions, diverse & most subtle secrets, stupendous & marvelous machines to overcome enemies with them: but above all other things, they discovered the use, & the practice of artillery, in which consists today the greatest importance of our militia. Being therefore I, illustrious Prince, by long practice, & not little study, somewhat instructed in this art, & considering how much scarcity there is today of men skilled & expert in it, caused by the long peace, which GOD our Lord preserves in our time in Italy; I have set myself to write the present work, entitled, Practical Manual of Artillery; so that such qualified & noble exercise, for lack of records, may not be entirely put into oblivion; rather that being manifest & common as much to Princes, as to Generals of artillery, & other men of charge, they may all know not only in what way artillery ought to be used in any action; but also to know the errors committed by the founders around the formation of the same, the defects of the pieces, the inadvertence (if any there shall be) & little practice of the officials & Bombardiers, who have to use it, both in days at sea, as in actions on land, as one understands the charge of the General of Artillery