There are
more navy ships, and they have some cannon.
The blast furnace was introduced in the iron industry. A blast of
hot air was constantly forced from a stove into the lower part of
the furnace which was heating at high temperature a mixture of the
iron ore and a reducing agent that combined with the oxygen
released. After the iron was extracted, it was allowed to harden
and then reheated and hammered on an anvil to shape it and to
force out the hard, brittle impurities. Blast furnace heat was
maintained by bellows worked by water wheels. Alchemists sought to
make gold from the baser metals and to make a substance that would
give them immortality. There was some thought that suffocation in
mines, caverns, wells, and cellars was not due to evil spirits,
but to bad air such as caused by "exhalation of metals".
There were morality plays in which the seven deadly sins: pride,
covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth, fought the
seven cardinal virtues: faith, hope, charity, prudence,
temperance, justice, and strength, respectively, for the human
soul. The play "Everyman" demonstrates that every man can get to
heaven only by being virtuous and doing good deeds in his
lifetime. It emphasizes that death may come anytime to every man,
when his deeds will be judged as to their goodness or sinfulness.
Card games were introduced. The legend of Robin Hood was written
down.
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