WotR gonnes

[aphillathehun]

I don't know how prevalent artillery was in the WotR but I do read about them in some battles.  Who did these belong to?  Were gonnes used on the side of the current king belong to the king, or the country?  Those used on the other side belong to some individual magnate?  Were the crews part of some magnates retinue?

[Cubs]

From what I've read, small artillery pieces were pretty common and were used by whoever had the money to buy or hire them. It was very much a technical arm so it was common for European master gunners to be hired from the continent, veterans of the various wars. Although guns had been used for the last century or so, they were still slow, fairly unreliable and the effect was probably more psychological than material (which isn't to say they weren't effective).

[painterman]

I believe that much of the wheeled artillery in WotR would have been taken on campaign from government locations - notably the Tower of London or Calais - where such pieces were stored. I don't know of an English magnate who has a documented itinerary which included artillery pieces (but I maybe wrong).
Numbers were probably small and the impact on the outcome indecisive, but I think every battle from Northampton to Bosworth had artillery in use.
Northampton 1460 is currently the earliest known use of guns in England - there's evidence of a cannonball find last year on the site and written evidence from witnesses on the day.
Hope that helps,
Simon.