In medieval times, there were many forms of artillery and siege weapons such as the Ballista, Catapult, and Trebuchet. Each one of these siege weapons proved excellent in battle but one reigned supreme. The trebuchet was the favorite and most effective. It was improved upon over the years and made into the deadliest siege weapon of the medieval era. It was widely favored due to its ability to launch anything that would fit in the sling over castle walls (Alchin,2015). The exact date that the trebuchet was created is unknown, however, we do know that it was introduced into battle around the 12th century (Gillmore,1981). It originally started out as people pulling on ropes quickly to launch a projectile over a castle wall. This form of trebuchet …show more content…
This began to become a main concern to siege engineers, and they developed a counterweight version. This eliminated the need for people to manually operate the trebuchet and instead relied on gravity to launch the projectiles, although still required a person to pull back the weight, but assigning two people to each trebuchet, one to load and one to pull back, would be way more efficient than the original version. This type of a trebuchet became one of the most valuable siege weapons in battle; it was used a lot more in battles because it would launch the same distance every time instead of a shorter distance due to operator fatigue. After the creation of this form of trebuchet, these weapons became the most formidable opponents for large …show more content…
While in the previous designs, the arm moved only on the fulcrum, the floating arm trebuchet has its fulcrum move along a horizontal beam. In this design, it uses more of a square shape than the triangle of a typical trebuchet (Tarver, 1995). This is what we decided to build because it is the most practical design for amateurs, and it works well even though it is scaled down. Apart from its simplicity, this will also be the best design for changing out the arms, which is what we will be testing, the top of the floating arm trebuchet is open so that you can pull the arm to the very top. Using this design will allow us to simply take the arm off of the top and change it with another longer or shorter
When in combat, both sides had the same kind of artillery. Soldiers used muskets and small handguns and generals on the other hand would ride on horseback with a sword and pistol. Another type of weaponry that was used were cannons. Even though cannons were much more powerful, muskets were easier due to the fact that they were portable and fired rounds quicker.
This is a brief paragraph or two on each of the major siege weapons. For the not just the besiegers but also the defenders. Please note most of these weapons were not used alone and often had many different versions of the same weapon.
According to Chevedden et al., (2002) the Latin word for trebuchet was “ingenium” and those who designed, made and used them were called inginators. These early engineers kept modifying the trebuchet to increase the range and impact force. One of the improvements engineers made was varying the length of the sling ropes so the shot left the machine at a ? angle of 45 degrees to the vertical (shown in the figure above), which produces the longest trajectory (Chevedden et al.,
In medieval Europe there were many different weapons and types of fighting. It depended on the time period they fought in. “A soldier's choice of armor depended on the time during which he lived, the type of fighting he did and his economic situation” (Blackwell 1). Some types of fighting were hand-to-hand, which were swords, axes, and many more. Another type would be projectiles, like crossbows, javelins. The last one would be firearms which guns and others. “Many medieval soldiers wore armor to protect themselves from the weapons of their enemies” (Blackwell 2). Siege weapons such as catapults helped armies break into castles and towns. Most soldiers carried some blades in addition to their swords. “A dagger had a hilt like sword and a double-edged blade that was typically between 6 and 12 inches long” (Blackwell 1). Medieval soldiers used many weapons for hand-to-hand combat. All knights carried a sword with them and were expected to be skilled at swordplay. If you could afford swords then there was always something cheaper like the Quarterstaffs, which are long...
The Trebuchet was a very advanced siege engine that was used in the middle ages, it helped destroy several castles. The Trebuchet is a type of catapult that was used as a siege engine in the middle ages. The Trebuchet is a highly advanced device in terms of its engineering and it was built by engineers with exceptional designing and building skills. The advanced engineering of the trebuchet allowed the trebuchet to “sling” rocks, soil etc. to a target, thus allowing the trebuchet to destroy and weaken the castles walls and defences. These points link back to the focal statement that the trebuchet is a very advanced siege engine
Question 5: “Texts construct characters who represent the best qualities in human nature, as well as those who represent the worst.” Discuss how at least ONE character is constructed in a text you have read or viewed. (Sem 2, 2016)
Crossbows can vary a lot in design and construction. They range from 50 to 400 lbs. in draw weight. They can be very small hand held pistols or rifles, which can fire rapidly and accurately with pinpoint accuracy up to 60 yards and kill ranges up to 100 yards. The larger bows with 400lb. draw weights could have ranges of over 400 yards they could fire large arrows, rocks and other types of projectiles accurately while staying well out of range of most enemy fire. These bows were built of large beams and sat on wheels so that 2 men could change the position of the bow easily. These bows were very powerful but were also very slow in loading and firing. They had mechanical winches, which were hand cranked to draw the bowstring back. It took two men to run these bows called siege machines.
The Met museum said that the most popular used weapons were “spear, sword, axe, and the bow and arrow.” These weapons and tactics of fighting then became the backbone of weapons today, such as guns. Spears, bows and arrows allow knights to fight from a distance, such as hand grenades and guns used in today’s military.
...e went into motion. Possible projectiles of the trebuchet were living prisoners, jugs of Greek fire, rocks, and animals. Another large weapon of siege was used primarily in storms, the battering ram. In its early stages, the ram was no more than a hefty beam with a mass of metal attached to the end. Men would hoist the cumbersome boom onto their shoulders and run into a wall or door as many times as needed until the surface under attack gave way. In the Middle Ages, it was developed into more of a machine, for the ram hung from the center of a tent under which the men operating the ram could hide. The ram could be swung like a pendulum much more easily than having to constantly run back and forth. Also, castle guards often poured hot oil or other things onto the ram and its engineers. The tent, which was on wheels, protected the men and the battering ram as well.
In relation to war, the most preferred weapon was the javelin, which could be used for both close combat and long range. The javelin was a highly effective weapon and it ensured that those using it were not easy to defeat. Furthermore, the javelin was often used alongside a shield, which was essential for not only blocking attacks, but also kept the enemy at bay while the javelin was used to strike. 'The horse' was also used but because of having to use both a shield and
The trebuchet is used with a long wooden arm refreshed on a hinge point, which acted as a big level. A bullet was placed on one end and soldiers in this earlier form of the trebuchet pushed on slings devoted to the other end to fundamentals swing the arm around and throw the
The Field Guns, which were lightweight and easier to move, and the Siege Guns, which were much heavier and less mobile. The cannons utilize three different types of rounds. The rounds were solid shot, grapeshot, and canister. Solid shot rounds were used for structures, buildings, and ships. The grapeshot, which was a canvas bag of lead or iron balls, was ideal for long range personnel.
There are many technicalities and terms associated with a successful device. Some of the main factors come from the materials used, and where they were used in the structure. Some are best used in one place, or another. All of this must be taken into consideration when deciding on how to best utilize the physics and forces applied to the boomerang. As it is a simple machine, it dominates in simplicity for a somewhat daunting task.
Another type of catapult is the Onager. Onagers were used right up to the middle ages with the Trebuchet, when gunpowder and the Cannon were invented and eventually replaced the catapults.
First the energy of conservation. The setting of the trebuchet before firing is shown in Fig 1. A heavy counterweight of mass (M) (contained in a large bucket) on the end of the short arm of a sturdy beam was raised to some height while a smaller mass (m) (the projectile), was positioned on the end of the longer arm near or on the ground. In practice the projectile was usually placed in a leather sling attached to the end of the longer arm. However for simplicity, we shall ignore the sling and compensate for this omission by increasing the assumed length of the beam on the projectile’s side. The counterweight was then allowed to fall so that the longer arm swung upward, the sling following, and the projectile was ultimately thrown from its container at some point near the top of the arc. The far end of the sling was attached to the arm by a rope in such a way that the release occurred at a launching angle near the optimum value ( most likely by repeated trials) for the launch height. The launching position is shown in fig.2 where we have assumed that the projectile is released at the moment the entire beam is vertical. In the figures: (a)=height of the pivot, (b)= length of the short arm, (c)= length of the long arm, while (v) and (V) are the velocities of (m) and (M), respectively, at the moment of launching.