section_path: Late Middle Ages/Technological and military developments
section_name: Technological and military developments
paragraph_text: Technological and military developments
  
  In cloth production, the second main employer after agriculture, the increased use of sheep with long-fibred wool allowed a stronger thread to be spun and the use of buttons to close garments enabled a better fit. Popular tailoring designs were quickly spread by pedlars, and trends in fashion were dictated by the Burgundian ducal court in much of 15th-century Europe. In metalworking, the blast furnace increased the quantity and quality of iron. The first patent law, in 1447 in Venice, granted a ten-year monopoly to inventors for their inventions.
  
  As increased tax revenues allowed the employment of mercenaries in growing numbers, wars began to be primarily fought by professional soldiers throughout nearly all of Europe in the mid-14th century. Mercenaries were initially hired for wars, but a standing army was created in France in the late 1440s. Around 1438, child tribute from the Christian population began supplying the Ottoman army with professional foot soldiers known as Jannisaries. In Bohemia, religious enthusiasm, stern discipline and the use of wagon forts were key factors in Hussite victories. The earliest references to cannons were recorded in the early 14th century, and the use of cheap handguns quickly began to spread c. 1360.