What is "kartouwe"

A kartouwe is a siege gun used in European warfare during the 16th and 17th centuries. The name is a corruption of Latin quartana (quarter cannon). Kartouwe is of Dutch origin, in the Holy Roman Empire the gun was called Kartaune in German or cartouwe in contemporary Latin, in the Swedish Empire Kartow, spelling variants include kartouw, kartouve, cartow, cartaun, courtaun and others.