The trebuchet was one of the Medieval siege weapons used during the Middle Ages. They initially appeared in Asia during the 7th century. The Trebuchet was an invaluable weapon which was utilized for flinging hefty stones in order to destroy city or castle walls. The earliest trebuchets were very similar to catapults. History clearly displays the trebuchet as one of the most proficient and deadly siege weapons of all time, and the cleverness of thousands of ancient engineers led to its progress.
The engineers of the Middle Ages worked very diligently on the representation of the siege weapon to guarantee that the trebuchet and the objective of this model of catapult would have the most accurate outcome. The power of the Trebuchet was “capable
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of reducing castles, fortresses and cities to rubble” (Trebuchet). These crude siege weapons used human influence to launch missiles hundreds of meters. As these medieval siege weapons were utilized throughout the years to inflict chaos upon towns and strongholds, they evolved. As trebuchets evolved throughout the years, the most significant addition was the sling, which was used to launch the missile.
Engineers at this time improved the effectiveness of weapons by “extending the throwing arm of the weapon using a rope and a sling” (Rutan). The sling permits the missile to reach a superior velocity by converting kinetic energy.
Trebuchet history goes back to ancient times. The trebuchet is thought to be an antique war machine designed in China in 300 BC. It may have possibly been developed from the stave sling. The trebuchet eventually stretched all the way to Europe during the early Middle Ages, around 500 AD (Rutan). It was very popular in France. Earlier, the trebuchet worked like a catapult. A troop of men would pull down on the ropes of the trebuchet. However, this was later revised. The group of men were replaced by a counterbalance weight. Nevertheless, humans still powered this machine.
The Trebuchet was first introduced to England in 1216 in the Siege of Dover. Louis the Dauphin of France crossed the channel with a great force and laid siege to Dover Castle. The walls of Dover Castle were very violently and consistently attacked because Louis used the trebuchet. High de Burgh, the constable of Dover Castle, refused to give up. As a result, King Edward I required his chief engineer, Master James of St. George, to create the Warwolf. This was a new and bigger version of the trebuchet. Generally, the Warwolf is considered the most famous trebuchet
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in all of history (Rutan). In terms of materials, the medieval trebuchet was basically comprised of a lever and a sling.
The sling was used in places throughout the Far East to Europe before it was utilized in the trebuchet. Initially, this weapon was a pole with a sling attached. On one side, the sling was firmly attached while on the other side, it was very loosely attached to a hook. There was a part of the sling reversed for an object. Usually, a stone was inserted there or something of comparable size. When a soldier wanted to swing the stone, he would create a 180-degree arc from behind him. The loose part of the sling would slip off so that the sling could not keep the stone in place, and it would be launched in a forward direction. To flatten the path of the shot, a hook with a “slight forward curve was attached to or carved into the end of the pole” (History). The trebuchet’s main component was comprised of wood. Typically, it was oak. The other components of this war machine comprised of either iron or steel. The sling was created using rope. For the part that contained the missile, fabric was
used. The Byzantine chronicler Anna Komnene suggested the developing technology of hybrid trebuchets when she mentioned “several unconventional engines that were employed at the siege of Nicaea in Asia Minor in 1097, which she claimed amazed everyone with their ability to hurl gigantic stones” (Farrell). In a military manual written for Saladin in 1187, Arabic engineer Murdi ibn Ali ibn Murdi al-Tarsusi portrayed a hybrid trebuchet that he said “had the same hurling power as a traction machine pulled by fifty men due to the constant force of gravity, whereas men differ in their pulling force” (Farrell). The five principles of western warfare are technology, discipline, war plans, surprise, and greater economic strength. In terms of technology, the trebuchet had an engine worked by counterpoise. The trebuchet worked in the same way a seesaw works. The arm of the trebuchet would pivot from a certain point in order to launch the projectile. Also, the arm was suspended from a wooden frame. From the short end, a counterpoise was suspended. The sling was fitted at the long end (Guilmartin). The long end would raise the heavy weight, or the counterpoise, and a stone or another material was inserted into the sling. Once the arm was released, the missile would fly through the air in a high arc toward the target. In terms of discipline, the engines required precision and numerous men to pull down on the ropes. In terms of war plans, the trebuchet was used in many battles and sieges of castles. Trebuchets were not used for surprise since they were used in open battle grounds. Also, in terms of economic strength, trebuchets greatly helped with military strength and strategy. In conclusion, trebuchets were very efficient. It was a huge war machine and due to its size, they were built at the site of the battle or siege. Due to its massive size, the trebuchet’s strength was unparalleled. They could even throw horses over the walls of a town. The trebuchet completely revolutionized medieval warfare as a result.
Earlier models just used a large weight on one end of a pivoting arm. The arm was pulled back the missile was placed and then let go.
During the Revolutionary War, the Artillery assets that were available were a combination of cannons, mortars and howitzers. There were two types of cannons used at this time. The Field Guns, which were lightweight and easier to move, and the Siege Guns, which were much heavier and less mobile. The cannons utilized three different types of rounds. The rounds were solid shot, grapeshot, and canister. The 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. The canister shot was a wooden cartridge carrying iron balls and when fired would explode like a shotgun for shorter range personnel. The cannons were mostly low trajectory as opposed the mortars which were high trajectory and fire bomb shells. The mortar was based on a wooden platform and a wedge of wood was used to incline the front of the barrel. There were land service mortars and sea service mortars. The land service being more mobile and the sea service much heavier and were permanently positioned on ships. By the time of the Revolutionary War there were nine types of land service mortar and four types of sea service mortar. They ranged from 4.4 to 13 inches. The rounds fired out of mortars were designed to fire at a high trajecto...
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.,
A popular weapon used by both sides was the rifle. Rifles were invented before the Civil War and were greatly used in the War of 1812. However, more types were built and a larger amount was used during the Civil War. Rifles added a spin to bullets for a greater accuracy at longer ranges. Using this weapon, soldiers could fire 400 yards away, as opposed to the average 80 yards (Robertson 50). Rifles were the fastest and hardest weapon of the time. Rifles allowed their bullets to be shot harder and faster towards its target. New inventions, used by the Union more than the Confederate, included Parrott rifles. They were composed of iron. Robert Parker Parrott, an American soldier and inventor, created these weapons, hence the name Parrott rifles. Despite its name, the Parrott rifle was actually a cannon. Its size ranged from 10 to 300 pounders. It was not favored by most because it was considered unsafe (“Civil War Artillery”). Because of its bulkiness and heaviness, it seldom led soldiers to inaccuratel...
At the beginning of the Middle Ages, battle was still fought by men usually with swords, spears, and axes because they fought so close to each other. In medieval times, there were many different weapons, which were used for many different reasons. Some reasons would be for war, hunting, farming and building. The same types of materials were used, but they designed into different types of weapons and armor. As you read, you will learn how as time pasted that either the armor or the weapons changed to be more protective and or more powerful. I will be covering in this paper the many types of weapons, a specific weapon, and last the armor they used to protect themselves.
Retrieved April 24, 2019. 20 January 2005 Slayton, Robert A. - "Standard" The Arms of Destruction. New York: Citadel Press, 2004.
The crossbow is a weapon of antiquity. There is plausible evidence that the Chinese developed the weapon as early as 1500 BC Surviving examples exist in China from as far back as the third century BC These Han dynasty relics display a great deal of sophistication. The lock (chi) is comprised of a cast bronze box which holds a rotating nut and a two-lever seer and trigger that locks the release in a set position. Roman soldiers captured and ransomed in Sogdiana in central Asia in the first decades of modern reckoning are credited with bringing the technology of the crossbow to the West.
Crossbows are a highly effective weapon for hunting and war even in today's standards. The first records of crossbows are from China in the 6th century BC. The knowledge then spreads slowly to the west into Europe during the time of the Roman Empire, the greatest empire of all times. The crossbow remained the favored weapon of war and hunting in Rome until the 15th century when gunpowder was also introduced from China.
...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.
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
These kinds of weapons were impractical for military use, but attracted many people to the arms race for weapons that could sweep the battlefield. “They had limitations in practice, among them slow re...
The system and technique of supplying an arrow with kinetic energy through the tension of limbs has been improved with the crossbow. The big catapults took up once again the principle of throwing stones. It all changed with the invention of the gunpowder. Cannons, guns and handheld weapons assumed the role of bow and arrow. Now, the warlike intention behind the long-distance effect went even more into the foreground.
Useful for the military, projectile motion can now be used for a number of weapons; which is when an object (like a bullet or cannon) is thrown-projected- and mov...