Home Articles About Us Contact. The medieval battlefield was dominated by large artillery weapons, and among these the trebuchet was king. This massive weapon was eventually capable of throwing massive boulders over meters, but it did not start that way. It took over years of innovation, experimentation, and modification to transform a moderately effective projectile-throwing machine into an agent of mass destruction and fear, and finally, in modern times, into an agent of instruction and pleasure.
Artillery has been the centerpiece of many armies over the centuries because of the massive amounts of destruction, fear, and uncertainty it has caused in enemy camps. This aspect of warfare has made tremendous advancements throughout history, with current artillery weapons having the capability of sending projectiles past the horizon and landing within a few feet of their intended targets. These super weapons are the result of over two millennia of trial and error that began with the development of the trebuchet.
Two of the major predecessors of the trebuchet were the ballista Fig. The ballista worked well against troops and cavalry, but had no effect upon walls and structures [2]. The ballista eventually gave way to the catapult [3]. The trebuchet consists of a long beam placed off center on a pivot on a large base that would support the entire apparatus Fig.
The longer end of the beam would hold the projectile while the shorter end would hold a counter weight [2]. The counterweight is usually very heavy and provides the mechanical force to fire. The proper ratio for the throwing arm to the short arm is approximately 4 to 1, while the proper ratio for the counterweight to the projectile is approximately to 1 [4].
One of the most important components of the trebuchet is the sling, which greatly increases the range of the weapon by simply extending the length of the throwing arm [5].
Not only does the sling add firing distance to the trebuchet, it gives the crew manning the trebuchet the ability to aim. They attached a weight to the short end of the throwing arm, resulting in an engine known as the hybrid trebuchet. The counterweight, possibly an iron plate forged directly to the short end of the pivoted beam, extended the range of the machines. Attaching a sling to the longer end of the beam and adding wheels that allowed the trebuchet to gain the full advantage of motion made it possible for war engines to sling a rock against a castle wall with accuracy.
Although hybrid trebuchets may have been known as early as the eighth century, documented evidence indicates this design was gaining widespread acceptance among Arab and Byzantine armies during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Improved firing power was certainly the primary advantage of the hybrid trebuchet. Such a machine used at the siege of Damietta in Egypt in fired stones weighing four hundred pounds at the city walls.
Nevertheless, if a trebuchet powered by a small counterweight was good, then one with a large counterweight would be even better. As European engineers adopted the trebuchet and improved it in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries after encountering these machines during the Crusades , this premise was taken to its logical conclusion by developing the counterpoise trebuchet. Unlike traction and hybrid trebuchets, there was no need for human intervention in operating of the counterpoise trebuchet.
These machines, powered by either stationary weights, or by hanging buckets filled with sand, rocks, or rubble from the short end of the beam, used gravity to far surpass the capacity of any crew of pullers.
Missiles thrown from the Trebuchet catapults were deadly. The Trebuchet is generally associated with throwing stones. A Trebuchet could release up to stones in one day! Should the supply diminish sharp wooden poles and darts would be used. Fire caused havoc in a besieged castle or city and a variety of fire missiles, including firebrands were thrown. Terrifying Greek Fire was also used as a missile from the Medieval trebuchet. Medieval Trebuchets could launch missiles hundreds of yards at, or even over, a castle, fortress or city wall.
Attackers were ingenious in their ideas for launching Trebuchet missiles which would cause as much distress and discomfort inside the castle or town walls. Trebuchet missiles included the following objects:.
The Medieval trebuchet was a massive war engine and its size required that the machine would be built at the site of the siege. The Gynours were under constant bombardment from the arrows and missiles of the enemy. The enemy would also attempt to burn the trebuchet during any daring reconnaissance trips. The catapult used potential energy stored in twisted rope to hurl objects. While catapults could be reloaded more quickly, their range was less and their payload lighter.
Trebuchets were very heavy and often built on-site, and were not designed to be mobile, but to lay siege to a castle or city and destroy its protective walls. The counterweight greatly extended the range of the trebuchet so that it could remain far enough from its target to be out of reach of serious harm, but still close enough to unleash its deadly terror.
Trebuchets were known to hurl stones weighing pounds up to yards. King Edward I built the largest known trebuchet, called Warwolf, to assault Stirling Castle in Scotland after a long siege in When the inhabitants saw what was being built, they tried to surrender based on the sight of it alone.
King Edward refused to accept their surrender, however, until after he had a chance to use the machine, which leveled a large section of the castle wall.
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