Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Arsenal
(986 words)

1. Concept and function

An arsenal was a storehouse for large quantities of weapons and other armaments. Scale alone distinguished it from the older armory (which was generally a room within another building), which might house the weaponry owned by a noble family. The two terms, however, overlap in the earliest modern sources at least, and the Latin armamentarium can also refer to either. The German Zeughaus was generally used in the same sense as arsenal, but it always strictly referred to a…

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Hohrath, Daniel, “Arsenal”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_030761>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160321



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