The Firearm Revolution: Catherine Fletcher on how the firearm changed society

The Firearm Revolution: Catherine Fletcher on how the firearm changed society

From Historically Thinking by Al Zambone

April 9, 2026 · 30 min

About this episode

Catherine Fletcher discusses the transformative impact of firearms on society during the sixteenth century.

“Over the course of the sixteenth century,” writes my guest Catherine Fletcher, “the handgun made a transition from a novel and decisive military technology to become an everyday object, in use across society and carrying a new set of cultural associations that would persist through the coming centuries.” This was the firearm revolution. In this conversation, Fletcher explores how an evolving technology became a transformative one—not simply changing warfare, but altering the structure of society itself. Guns moved from battlefields into cities, homes, and daily life. In doing so, they reshaped how states exercised power, how individuals understood violence, and how social order was enforced. Catherine Fletcher is a historian of the Renaissance and early modern Europe, and is Professor of History at Manchester Metropolitan University .

People in this episode

Host: Al Zambone

Guest: Catherine Fletcher

Topics covered

  • firearms
  • society
  • military technology
  • Renaissance
  • cultural associations
  • violence
  • social order

Keywords

  • firearm revolution
  • Catherine Fletcher
  • military technology
  • Renaissance
  • social change
  • violence
  • cultural impact

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Manchester Metropolitan University

Books & works: The Firearm Revolution

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