The History and Importance of the Trebuchet - 1631 Words.

Castle Weapons List. Medieval castles became popular across Europe from 10th century onwards. From this period until the end of the medieval era, castles evolved significantly and so did their overall structures and defences.

Stone was a stronger material than stone, lasted much longer and was not vulnerable to being burnt down- the arrival of trebuchets that could throw burning missiles was a major risk to wooden castles (Trueman, 2015). Therefore, stone gradually replaced wood as the main building material for castles as advances in construction technology allowed.

Counterweight trebuchets were the most powerful weapons of their day. Large counterweight trebuchets could throw 300 kg rocks over 200 yards. The most massive trebuchets were reported to throw rocks in excess of 1000 kg. The length of the beam is the most crucial aspect of Trebuchet design.

A Trebuchet was a device used in wars and sieges in the Middle Ages.It could be used to throw stones at ramparts, trying to break them down.It could also be used to throw things over the walls of a city. These could be corpses of animals or people that had died of the plague.Trebuchets were more accurate than other medieval catapults. How it works.

A heavy missile, such as a rock, was loaded into the sling. When the shorter end was pulled down, the sling flew up, launching the missile. Rocks were hurled at the castle’s walls to break them down, or over the walls onto the people inside. Smaller trebuchets had a team of men who hauled down the arm to send a missile flying into the air.

Trebuchets appeared in China in about the 4th century BC and in Europe in the 6th century CE, and did not become out dated until the 16th century, well after the introduction of gunpowder. Trebuchets were far more accurate than other medieval catapults.

Large trebuchets of the late Middle Ages would probably be constructed on site from local timber. (Some sieges took many months, even years. For more info on sieges, see Medieval Castles.) Besieging armies would therefore only need to transport the hardware for the machine. Even so, the hardware for one large trebuchet could load up to 30 wagons.

Records of the use of trebuchets suggest that the largest could fire rocks of up to 1,500 kg (although smaller stones must surely have been more typically used) and could achieve a rate of fire of one stone every 15 seconds. Maximum range varied but was probably between 200 and 300 feet.

Counterweight Trebuchet The earliest written record of the counterweight trebuchet, much more powerful than the traction version, appears in the work of the 12th century Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates. Niketas describes a trebuchet used by Andronikos I Komnenos, future Byzantine emperor, at the siege of Zevgminon in 1165 which was.

The site teaches visitors about medieval siege engines, in particular the trebuchet, a fearful weapon used against castle defenders. The NOVA site explains how their team of engineers and historians built their own a working trebuchets, a story that was featured in a recent PBS NOVA television episode. You can even try out the trebuchet.

Trebuchets were used against fortresses as they were capable of hurling a great amount of weight, destroying walls and buildings in its way. Despite the use of gunpowder, trebuchets were continually used up through the 15 century as they were still very effective against opposing forces.