miquelet

The term miquelet is used today to described a particular type of Snaplock.

Two main forms of the miquelet were produced.

In less than three decades, a lock did appear that is known today as the Miquelet Lock.

The development of the snaphance occurred separately but at the same time as the creation of the miquelet.

The French flintlock without any miquelet features was termed "llave a la francesa."

There is often confusion, or at least a difference of opinion, as to what constitutes a snaplock, snaphaunce, miquelet and a flintlock.

The Spanish miquelet is termed "alla micheletta" by Italian auctioneers.

The type of musket would be described as a Kabyle snaphance or a Kabyle miquelet.

Regional varieties include the Baltic Lock, the Russian Snaplock, and the Miquelet Lock.

The miquelet is often termed the "Mediterranean" lock due to its widespread use in areas surrounding the Mediterranean, particularly in the Ottoman sphere of influence.

Probably the oldest surviving example of what certainly qualifies as a patilla miquelet lock is item No.I.20 in the Real Armería, Madrid.

As a distinctive feature, this Flintlock possessed a Miquelet Lock, as well as 3 brass belts, in order to fix the barrel to the wood stock.

(See also flintlock mechanism, snaphance, Miquelet Lock) The flintlock was widely used during the 18th and 19th centuries in both muskets and rifles.

The patilla is the classic Spanish miquelet and the designation of patilla is often used nowadays in lieu of miquelet.

The miquelet may have come to the attention of arms makers in Istanbul via long-established trade routes from Italian city-states through the port of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) to provinces on the Balkan Peninsula.

The development of firearm lock mechanisms had proceeded from matchlock to wheellock to snaplock to snaphance and miquelet in the previous two centuries, and each type had been an improvement, contributing some design features which were useful.

The archaic form of Spanish lock was further developed by Madrid and provincial gunmakers, almost certainly including the Marquart family of Royal gunmakers, into the Spanish patilla style now most associated with the miquelet.

One commonly held view is that the term was coined by British troops in the Peninsular War to describe the particular style of musket used by the Miquelet (militia) assigned to the Peninsular Army of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

The term flintlock was, and still is, often applied to any form of friction (flint) lock other than the wheellock with the various forms sub-categorized as snaphaunce, miquelet, English Doglock, Baltic Lock, and French or "true" flintlock ("true" being the final, widely used form).