Missle Fire Rate:

[Furious Mental]

The process for loading and firing cannon did change during the middle Ages. Originally the chamber was filled with powder in the rear three fifths. The next fifth was empty and the final fifth filled with a soft wood plug. Then the cannonball was loaded and held in place with soft wooden wedges. Then, to get the best possible seal and reduce pressure loss due to windage it was all covered with a mixture of wet mud mixed with straw which then had to dry before it was fired. Furthermore, having fired the bombard it had to cool before it was reloaded. Now, for all I know there may well have been some sort of psychological advantage to an unpredictable bombardment but frankly I think it more likely that the slow rates of fire of early artillery was due simply to the reloading process taking so long.

Medieval armies certainly had more than 10 cannon on hand. The French made 24 cannon for the siege of Augillion in 1345, and used at least 32 cannon against Saint-Saveur-le-Vicomte in 1375. About thirty years later one French chronicler wrote that any army trying to take a substantial place would need at least such a number of cannon firing shot of 200lb or heavier. The siege train with which the Spanish finally took Grenada had about 180 artillery pieces in it.