Medieval Siege Weaponary !!!!!
May 19, 2010 Leave a comment
During the Medieval ages there were many wars that were conducted with sieges against a town or manor or a castle. When ever a siege happened there were three ways it could work.
1. The siegeing armies could block the entrance and keep the people from getting food and water.
2. The siegeing armies could go to war against the town, manor or castle.
3. The siegeing armies could just wait until the town,manor or castle surrenders.
The Seige tower : Siege towers were used to get archers and other troops at the castle wall height or higher. The were generally made of wood and after a few years they made them with wood but covered it from the ground up with metal sheets, so it couldn’t catch fire when the threw flaming jars of oil at it. This war machine was almost unstoppable until it was at the wall of the castle. When it was at the wall of the castle it was vulnerable to attack from behind and when they had opened the draw bridge the enemy was able to throw the flaming jars of oil inside the tower and shoot arrows into it as well.The siege tower mechanism carried scores of soldiers, who climbed ladders to move between the different levels of a siege tower. Near the top of the siege tower was a strategically placed drawbridge which was lowered to allow the attackers to race onto the battlements. Siege Towers were large and expensive to construct they were therefore the last type of siege weapon to be constructed at a siege when the castle could not be over run by ladder assault and pounding walls. They weighed 2500 to 3500 pounds. www.travelblog.org/…/blog-278060.html
The Battering ram : Battering rams were generally made of woods like oak, ash and fir. The reason they use this kind of this wood is because it is very hard, and very strong. Many battering rams needed many solders to work because it was so heavy and very hard to move even with wheels. They normaly used it to pound, shake, batter and punch down walls and doors. They weighed up to 1200 to 1500 pounds. dvice.com/…/7-weapons-that-changed-warfare.php
The Ballista : The ballista was a weapon that the earlier Greek created. It relied upon different mechanics using two levels with torsion springs instead of a prod, the springs were made up of several loops of twisted skeins. Early versions projected heavy bolts, darts and spears along a flat trajectory. The force of the missiles launched from the Ballista was designed to have great penetration and were capable of skewering several of the enemy at one time during siege warfare. From the on the next generation came and was smaller and used to attack infantry and calvery. They wieghed up to 400 to 500 pounds. www.siege-engine.com/MistaBallista.shtml
The Catapult : The catapult is a machine used to throw large objects a great length at an opponents castle or lots of infantry. Even though the catapult has been used for a very long time it has proven it’s self to be the most effective during sieges. The Catapults history dates back to antiquity. Various types of catapults were used by the Chinese, Greeks and Romans. The Catapults reached Europe during the middle ages and were used extensively by the French. Catapults history notes that the weapons were introduced to England in 1216 during the siege of Dover as were many other types of siege weapons. Louis the Dauphin of France crossed the channel with a large force and laid siege to Dover Castle making a violent and incessant attack on the castle walls.The war machines weighed from 6 to 7 hundred pounds. civilianmilitaryintelligencegroup.com/?p=1383
The Trebuchet : One of the Medieval siege weapons used during the Middle Ages was the Trebuchet. The Trebuchet was an invaluable Medieval siege attack weapon, similar to a catapult, which was used for hurling heavy stones to smash castle or city walls. Medieval engineers of the Middle Ages worked hard on the design of the Trebuchet to ensure that this siege weapon and the aim of this type of catapult, or sling, would have the greatest effect. The force of the Trebuchet was capable of reducing castles, fortresses and cities to rubble. Trebuchet history dates back to antiquity. The traction trebuchet is believed to be an ancient war engine which was invented in China in 300BC. It is thought that the trebuchet may have developed from the stave sling. In the traction trebuchet a large troop of men pulled down on ropes to propel the missile. The trebuchet reached Europe during the early Middle Ages, or Dark Ages, in 500 AD and was used extensively by the French. At this time the design of the trebuchet was revised so that the troop of men used to pull down the ropes were replaced with a large fixed, or pivoting, counterbalance weight. The Traction Trebuchet used people as a power source. The Counterpoise Trebuchet replaced the people power with a weight on the short end. captainsofindustry1000.blogspot.com/2009/06/t…
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