During the Middle Ages, many weapons were created to help aid in the winning of battles. As the castle walls became higher and stronger, a new way had to be invented to destroy them. One such weapon was the siege engine called a catapult. The term catapult was derived from the Greek word "katapultos". A catapult was a large machine on wheels with a basket attached to a long wooden arm and a power source for hurling projectiles on the other. The first catapult however was invented around 400 BC in Greek town Syracus. It was not the version seen so many times at our own wars in todays Society for Creative Anachronism.. The first catapult closely resembled a crossbow. It was called the Gastraphete, and worked similar to a crossbow. The Gastraphete had to be pointed at the ground and the operator had to use great force to set the weapon to fire. The Greeks were so impresses with the destruction this weapon caused, they created a bigger version of the Gastraphete. This was called a Ballista and was used more as a defense weapon against raiding armies. The machine had to be reloaded by many men, so the Greeks improved on the Ballista by building them with cranks on the end. Now only one or two men were needed to load the weapon and the others could continue the fight. The crank worked to pull the rope back putting the Ballista in the ready to fire mode.
Another type of siege weapon was the trebuchet, which is a form of catapult, but the power source was different. The trebuchet used gravity and weights to hurl the projectile. The catapult used in the Middle Ages was powered by one of four different sources. These were tension, torsion, traction, and gravity. Let's take a closer look at each power source and how it worked.
Tension powered catapults had a long flexible arm, so that when the basket was bent backwards to give the weapon its throwing power, the arm wouldn't break making the weapon useless in battle. The basket was tied or hooked in some way when bent backwards, so that large stones or other types projectiles could be loaded into the basket. When the basket was released the projectile would fly into the air hopefully hitting the castle wall and causing part of it to tumble to the ground. Sometimes flaming projectiles were put in the basket. Upon impact the ball would burst setting fire to everything in a given radius. The tension powered catapult was often used for destruction of castle walls, but sometimes it was used as a defense weapon from the castle itself. The tension catapult was able to throw and shoot farther than most other types. It was also a better weapon than the ballista, as the catapult was portable with it's wheels.
Torsion powered catapults such as the ballista used cranks to pull back the basket that held the projectile. Torsion was a form of power created when the rope of the Ballista was twisted to generate the force. The rope would get tighter and when released, the force would propel the projectile forward from the basket. The missile was propelled with such force that it could take out several armored men in one shot or do serious damage to a castle wall.
Traction powered catapults , trebuchet as they are commonly called, used people as the power source. The men would bring down the shorter end of the long beam or arm, causing the longer end of the arm to flip up, causing the basket to loose it's projectile towards the intended target. Some of these siege weapons were held by men and cause some difficulty in battle.
Gravity powered catapults simply used gravity to hurl the projectile. At its most basic understanding, a gravity catapult is simply a lever that uses centrifugal force to its advantage. Think of it as a modified seesaw. When two people are on the seesaw and both are of close weight, the see saw balances it's self. If another person came up and jumped on one end of the seesaw with one of the people, the single person on the opposite end is likely to become airborne. Like the seesaw, a gravity powered catapult is also pivoted in the middle. A counter-weight was built onto one end of the catapult and a basket or sling on the other. The projectile end was pulled down forcing the counter weighted end to rise. Once the projectile basket was released, gravity would pull the weighted end of the arm down, causing the projectile to hurl through the air.
Today, catapults of all kinds and sizes are used. We do not hurl projectiles at castles anymore, but we do build them to have fun. The next time you are at an event that has a siege weapon activity, watch how they work. They are used to hurl projectiles, but only to see what distance a projectile goes.
They are never used to hurl objects at people or buildings. So gather your supplies and step forward into the future of siege weapons!
During the Middle Ages, many weapons were created to help aid in the winning of battles. As the castle walls became higher and stronger, a new way had to be invented to destroy them. One such weapon was the siege engine called a catapult. The term catapult was derived from the Greek word "katapultos". A catapult was a large machine on wheels with a basket attached to a long wooden arm and a power source for hurling projectiles on the other. The first catapult however was invented around 400 BC in Greek town Syracus. It was not the version seen so many times at our own wars in todays Society for Creative Anachronism.. The first catapult closely resembled a crossbow. It was called the Gastraphete, and worked similar to a crossbow. The Gastraphete had to be pointed at the ground and the operator had to use great force to set the weapon to fire. The Greeks were so impresses with the destruction this weapon caused, they created a bigger version of the Gastraphete. This was called a Ballista and was used more as a defense weapon against raiding armies. The machine had to be reloaded by many men, so the Greeks improved on the Ballista by building them with cranks on the end. Now only one or two men were needed to load the weapon and the others could continue the fight. The crank worked to pull the rope back putting the Ballista in the ready to fire mode.
Another type of siege weapon was the trebuchet, which is a form of catapult, but the power source was different. The trebuchet used gravity and weights to hurl the projectile. The catapult used in the Middle Ages was powered by one of four different sources. These were tension, torsion, traction, and gravity. Let's take a closer look at each power source and how it worked.
Tension powered catapults had a long flexible arm, so that when the basket was bent backwards to give the weapon its throwing power, the arm wouldn't break making the weapon useless in battle. The basket was tied or hooked in some way when bent backwards, so that large stones or other types projectiles could be loaded into the basket. When the basket was released the projectile would fly into the air hopefully hitting the castle wall and causing part of it to tumble to the ground. Sometimes flaming projectiles were put in the basket. Upon impact the ball would burst setting fire to everything in a given radius. The tension powered catapult was often used for destruction of castle walls, but sometimes it was used as a defense weapon from the castle itself. The tension catapult was able to throw and shoot farther than most other types. It was also a better weapon than the ballista, as the catapult was portable with it's wheels.
Torsion powered catapults such as the ballista used cranks to pull back the basket that held the projectile. Torsion was a form of power created when the rope of the Ballista was twisted to generate the force. The rope would get tighter and when released, the force would propel the projectile forward from the basket. The missile was propelled with such force that it could take out several armored men in one shot or do serious damage to a castle wall.
Traction powered catapults , trebuchet as they are commonly called, used people as the power source. The men would bring down the shorter end of the long beam or arm, causing the longer end of the arm to flip up, causing the basket to loose it's projectile towards the intended target. Some of these siege weapons were held by men and cause some difficulty in battle.
Gravity powered catapults simply used gravity to hurl the projectile. At its most basic understanding, a gravity catapult is simply a lever that uses centrifugal force to its advantage. Think of it as a modified seesaw. When two people are on the seesaw and both are of close weight, the see saw balances it's self. If another person came up and jumped on one end of the seesaw with one of the people, the single person on the opposite end is likely to become airborne. Like the seesaw, a gravity powered catapult is also pivoted in the middle. A counter-weight was built onto one end of the catapult and a basket or sling on the other. The projectile end was pulled down forcing the counter weighted end to rise. Once the projectile basket was released, gravity would pull the weighted end of the arm down, causing the projectile to hurl through the air.
Today, catapults of all kinds and sizes are used. We do not hurl projectiles at castles anymore, but we do build them to have fun. The next time you are at an event that has a siege weapon activity, watch how they work. They are used to hurl projectiles, but only to see what distance a projectile goes.
They are never used to hurl objects at people or buildings. So gather your supplies and step forward into the future of siege weapons!
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