The ballista, or "shield piercer," was first developed by the Greeks using the same principles as a bow and arrow. Its primary use was to, as the name suggests, pierce enemy shields, since normal bows lacked the power to do so. Early versions of the ballista include the gastrophetes, which is nothing more than an enlarged bow that can be braced against the users body. http://members.lycos.nl/onager/GastrophetesPic.jpg As time went on ballistas were improved to become larger and more powerful
bows-and-arrows, others Maces, some swords, some knifes, etc. A mace was a metal ball with metal spikes welded on the Ball. A chain was attached to a wood stick onto the ball. The Mace would not kill only torture. Other siege weapons included the ballista, a HUGE Crossbow- like slingshot that could send a huge tree trunk 3 football fields Long. The ballasta was manly for breaking down castle walls, or for scattering A heavily guarded area. The most commonly used weapon was the sword. It was a long
Catapults A catapult is a tool or weapon used first by the people of Jeruselum to launch an object a large distance. The catapult has been used since ancient times and is still known today as one of the most effective weapons in war. The word catapult comes from 2 greek words “kata” meaning downward and “pultos” meaning a small circular battle shield. Together the word katapultos was taken to mean “shield piercer”. The earliest catapults were used under the rule of King Uzziah of Jerusalem. “In Jerusalem
A catapult by definition is “a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of explosive devices—particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines” (Wikipedia). Catapults have been used by the Greeks, Romans, and Chinese as siege weapons throughout history. Catapults were used to “launch missiles (many different objects were utilized). These missiles were either launched directly at the wall to cause maximum damage to the fortifications or were launched
Tension is defined as the pulling force exerted from an object to another object. Tension has been used for ages to keep things still or to hold something up. Tension stores energy when something gets more and more tense, which it then releases when the pulling force is quickly stopped such as having a rope that is tensed cut. Tension is very important to physics. Tension is a major part of a catapult, which provides its function. Catapults are huge projectile-launching devices which have been used
The discovery of gunpowder changed war from being fought with medieval weaponry and battle tactics to more modern day weapons and tactics because the gunpowder powered weapons are more deadly. Weapons that use gunpowder to launch projectiles have a greater range than melee weapons and are more powerful than bow and arrows. Also, cannons are more powerful and have a greater range and accuracy than catapults and they also can be reloaded faster than catapults. Gunpowder weapons changed war because
Although many think of trebuchets and catapults as two different things, trebuchets are actually a type of catapult. While a standard catapult is any device that will throw an object by means of tension, a trebuchet throws and object by means of gravity from a counterweight that will fling an object by means of stored up energy, which is known as potential energy. Modern trebuchets usually use metal weights or sandbags as the counterweight, but, medieval armies would use anything from bags of stone
Catapults are devices used to launch items far distances. One type of catapult that uses a sling and weight to fly items is called a trebuchet. Trebuchets were heavily used in the Medieval Ages as weapons to fling stones toward enemies. A diagram of a trebuchet is shown in Figure I. Parts Trebuchets have six main parts: the frame, swinging arm, sling, and counterweight. For a small wooden trebuchet, it will be made with (2.5 x 15 cm) planks, a metal bar, cloth, string, weights, and bolts/screws
Before the days of gunpowder, the military used large timber machines to hurl rocks, arrows and flaming barrels of tar at and into castles and forts. In ancient times, in order to prevent attacks from invaders, forts and castles are built for protection. These castles and forts had very strong walls and were sometimes placed high on top of a hill or such. Therefore, people within the military often build machines and structures to aid in attacking castles. These machines were called catapults, which
The constable of Dover castle was Hugh de Burgh - he refused to surrender. The Medieval Medieval Catapults used during the Medieval times of the Middle Ages were the Mangonel, the ballista and the mighty trebuchet. The Mangonel complimented the other available siege weapons. The Mangonel was not as accurate as the Ballista but it was able to throw missiles further than a Trebuchet. Missiles were thrown in an overhead arc as opposed to
sections of stone walls collapsed. They were great for sieges. The ballista was like a much larger version of the crossbow used by besiegers. It got it’s power from being fired with sinew ropes and had two arms. Although the ballista was a great weapon it was hard to construct, therefore the Romans developed a new version called the Mangonel. It, like the Ballista also got it's power from sinew ropes but unlike the ballista which used two arms, the Mangonel only used one arm. To make the Mangonel
were so impressed that they persevered to develop a bigger and more powerful version of the Gastraphete called the ballista. The Romans took inspiration from the Greeks to create their own catapult, within a few years of development, the Romans have successfully created the mangonel as a lighter alternative to the ballista and wheels are added to increase mobility. Unlike the ballista, the mangonel is less accurate although has a superior range and can hurl projectiles weighing up to 200 pounds. The
catapults used during ancient wartime were the doubled armed machine, more commonly known as the ballista for shooting arrows, and the single-armed catapult for the larger objects. In an article named “Stone-Hurling Catapult,
states, “Artillery weapons such as the ballista and the onager, used in both defensive and offensive roles in siege warfare, were the most terrifying and technologically advanced weapons in the Roman arsenal.” On behalf of the weapons they had the ballista and the onager was the most effective of them all. It did serious damage to their enemy because of the function each one had on an individual. Another weapon was the carroballista, it was the same as the ballista, but this one had an upgrade from that
The ballista is similar to the crossbow and it uses twisted skeins of material to create torsion as its way of storing energy for release (later it can release in such a way that will create power for the catapult to launch the projectile far). The Greek word "Ballistes" means to throw, which is why this catapult was named a ballista. It was invented by the Greeks and later modified by the Romans. Its appearance was the
History of Catapults Catapults are a very well known type of weapon. Yet not as many people know the true history of these fine instruments of siege warfare. Many people believe that catapults where a new and very often used technology in Medieval Ages, but the first catapults are said to have come during the time between 400 B.C.E. and 300 B.C.E. by the Chinese. Gee, they’ve pretty much invented everything. Anyways, the Middle Ages didn’t “start” until 476, so saying the catapult was first built
only once in their lifetime, humans could have almost as many babies as they like which caused a huge population change. As well as the population threat, the humans had developed new kinds of weapons that could harm the dragons such as bows and ballistas. The dragons did not take this news lightly and many of them were ready to attack. Though Asus
Medieval Siege Weapons 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. KNIGHT At age seven a son of a noble family was sent to a nobleman or lord, often who was a relative. Here he was a page and taught how to ride a horse, and his manners. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to a knight. As the squire
The History of a Trebuchet The history of a trebuchet is long and complex seeing as civilizations have struggled to properly maintain records throughout time. The term trebuchet comes from the French word “trebucher”, which means “to throw over”, or “to fall”. The war machine was called “Ingemium” in England, called so as it was Latin for “ingenious”. This ancient form of the trebuchet is called a traction trebuchet. Instead of utilizing a weight and gravity as modern ones do, this structure required
They have even been used to hurl corpses or fire into the innermost part of the cities walls. Either way, it is an effective way to siege a castle (About.com, 2014). A ballista is a massive crossbow mounted on a wooden frame. They fired tremendous ironclad darts, or arrows (Alchin, 2014). Ballistea is the plural form of ballista. For power, they used a bow instead of a torsion cord or gravity as propulsion for their