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Notes about trebuchet
Weapon production in medieval times
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The Trebuchet have been used as much as they have been modified throughout history. The knowledge of the Trebuchet may have been contained to a small population if it weren’t for traders spreading the knowledge. Due to the spread of knowledge the traction Trebuchet was used during the Crusades as well as other military campaigns. One example of the trebuchet being modified was when Murdi ibn al-Tarsusi depicted a hybrid Trebuchet which had a crossbow to protect the “workers” from incoming attack. Another example of the Trebuchets “ammunition” being modified for greater impact in sieges was when armies put burning sand, oil and decomposed matter to launch. History has had many great minds before their time, Leonardo Da-Vinci was one of those great minds shunned away. Sadly Leonardo had to work in secret due to executions by the church for scientific thought. But Leonardo was able to work in secret by using a writing method called mirror writing. Mirror writing is writing backwards in such a way which can only be read by using a mirror. Leonardo had made many masterpieces in his lifetime (and hid them away), including the trebuchet sling release, and the giant crossbow. At the end of his life the great artist passed having to think his work may never see the light of day. …show more content…
The traction trebuchet was powered by soldiers pulling ropes to launch a projectile.
Due to the coordination of launching the traction trebuchet with a team the traction trebuchet was modified. The modification was applying a weight to the short end of the throwing arm to make the hybrid trebuchet. The weight was not the only modification made to the traction trebuchet, more “upgrades” made include wheels and a sling that apply more accuracy when launching over walls of a castle. Another trebuchet that required close to no human interference due to the use of gravity to launch projectiles. This trebuchet is called the counterpoise trebuchet and used a large counterweight for
launching. Weapons that launched projectiles were used since the time of the greeks/romans. One of the earliest examples of a trebuchet is when Wu Jing Zong Yau describes traction trebuchets in the 4th century b.c.e capable of massive distances. In June 1210 Count Simon De Montfort penetrated the fortress of Minerve thanks to his engineers building a massive trebuchet he led the Minervians to surrender. Although the “Malvoisine” was not new it was able to scare and harm the MInervians into surrender. Truly the trebuchet is an engineering masterpiece of its time worthy of fearing its opponents into surrender. Since the trebuchet arose in the arsenal of siege weapons it allowed a blazing path of power and advancement to follow. The trebuchet has had a large range of modification in both war tactics and its own design. The trebuchet had also started one of the first forms of bio warfare by launching diseased ridden bodies to infect those inside the fort. Mankind will always be modifying to explore into the unknown, the trebuchet just happened to be in mankind's way.The trebuchet gives mankind a larger view into the technology of the ages before the industrial revolution.
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.
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.
The earliest model was the trebuchet. It started by using a large weight on one end of a pivoting arm. The arm was pulled back the missile was placed and then let go. The weight went down, the arm went, and the missile launched. The later model gained its power from a tightly wound skein of rope, hair, and skin. the skeins were twisted incredibly tight and then had a wooden arm up to sixty feet long placed in between them. The arm was pulled back using pulleys and rope, the missile was placed in the wood cup and then the arm was released. The arm sprang to a 90 degree angle where it was stopped by a large padded piece of wood. The arm was then brought back down and fired again.
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.,
Trebuchets earned a reputation for being much more accurate and precise than their onager and catapult counterparts. Not only was this accuracy a benefit, but being based on rotational motion and leverage rather than torsion (spring power) and lacking in a throwing arm stop, the trebuchet proved a much safer alternative for the personnel operating it. Onagers and Mangonels would literally explode on occasion when the torsion proved too great or a crack developed in the throwing arm due to the rapid stops it experienced.
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
...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.
...nturies later. Leonardo Da Vici was a great thinker and he was way ahead of his time in what he did and if it wasn't for some of the things he did then we as a civilization wouldn't have some of the things we have now. His works has greatly influenced the world today and has changed the way people do things.
The engineering of a trebuchet was vastly improved over time, but was only due to our past ancestors wanting to use a trebuchet over a catapult because it is able to launch over longer distances and be more accurate. Many changes have been made to the trebuchet since the 12th century when it was first introduced by Christian’s and Muslim’s. They both used this to throw objects up to 90 kg for about 300 meters. They would use these weapons to throw heavy objects into forts and bunkers. Many armies still used these up through the 15th century, the ironic part about this is that gun powder was made and used at the beginning of the 15th century. The First trebuchet was referred to the “Traction Trebuchet”. This type of trebuchet was based around man’s strength; it would have
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
Whenever people think of a trebuchet or any catapult for that matter, they typically think of stones being launched from them, but that isn’t completely true. Stones may have been thrown from them but other items such as darts, balls of fire, super hot tar, burning sand which got inside of the target's armor and caused severe injuries, pots of Greek fire, dung (AKA poop), dead or injured bodies, body parts, dead animals, or anything that was rotting. Trebuchets were great for having objects thrown and launched at enemies that you had a lot of distance from and they got a lot of momentum on the objects that were thrown from it (if built correctly). While it might have a few perks to it, it also consisted of a lot of cons. It was a very complex machine and therefore required a person with designing and building skills to put one together and build it. It was also very difficult to transport it from battle to battle, and when you did finally get the trebuchet relocated, you had to find a super strong person to load the machine as well as launch objects from the machine while having to dodge missiles, bows, arrows, etc. being launched at them because they were under attack. During battles, if the enemy got brave they would come over to attack and would burn the whole trebuchet down to the ground and you’d basically be defenseless aside from a few
Most people do not realize that a parachute and the Mona Lisa have one common factor—Leonardo da Vinci. His techniques of self-teaching are very impressive and unique from anyone else’s during the Renaissance era. This Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci, generously impacted the art and science world by creating new-world inventions, perfecting newly found art techniques, and creating the most famous pieces of art in history.
It is said that the academics of Leonardo’s time did not take into consideration his work in any other field than painting, because he did not have a formal education. Instead he had developed an important attitude at a young age towards his critics, where he wrote “I cannot quote from eminent authors as they can, these trumpeters and reciters of the works of others. I know that all knowledge is vain and full of error when it is not born of experience, and so experience will be my mistress”. Leonardo da Vinci was a mysterious man who most definitely left his impact on the world, his time and modern time. A lot of people say Leonardo was a genius others say he was a complete mastermind who was ahead of his time, one thing for sure is that he was very talented.
Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most well-known geniuses in human history. This man masters knowledge of all kind: painting, architecture, music, geology, philosophy, biology, math, physics, chemistry, etc. His probably most famous painting, Mona Lisa, fascinated millions of people around the world and the amazing and mysterious details in the painting attracted a number of scientists and scholars to devote their whole career in studying them. Born and lived in Italian Renaissance age, which is a period of time when arts flourished and knowledge was valued, Leonardo was surrounded by many great contemporary artists and a perfect creative environment. These favorable factors supported him to fully exercise his talents.
Leonardo Da Vinci is a famed artist today due to his renowned painting of the ‘Mona Lisa’. In the 14th century, people of Venice would have known him as an engineer, people of Milan would have known him for his Last Supper, but only the people of Florence would have seen his whole character. Da Vinci is known as the archetypal Renaissance man, a man of “unquenchable curiosity” and “feverishly inventive imagination”. Da Vinci created many technologies and new innovations which were so advanced for his time and age that many scholars did not believe him. He contributed to civilisation through three main areas: art, science and engineering.