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The Trebuchet - The Middle Ages were a time of a fierce arms race. This arms race was one of developing technologies and how they affected defensive and offensive weapons. One of the key developments in this arms race was in the area of siege weapons. These were large weapons that were meant to lay siege to castles by hurling objects over the castle walls or by hurling objects directly at the walls in an attempt to destroy them.

The Best of the Siege Weapons

When we think of siege weapons we most often think of the catapult and this was a siege weapon but it had some flaws. It was difficult to build and it was difficult to fire. Around the 12th Century a new siege weapon was developed and it was superior to the catapult in many ways.

This new siege weapon was the Trebuchet and some of the things that made it superior to the catapult was the ease of building. It had only one moving part and it didn't need any complicated springing action to fire it off. It used the simple concept of a pivoting see-saw with a heavy weight on one end and a projectile on the other end.

One of the best things about the trebuchet was the fact that it could be made from simple objects. All a sieging army had to do was cut down a few trees and make their own trebuchet. This meant that if an army marched off to siege a castle somewhere they didn't have to take the siege weapon with them they could just make it from materials they found near the castle they were sieging.

Another thing about the Trebuchet was that it could really fire large objects over long distances with good accuracy. So in almost every respect it was a superior weapon to the catapult. This wa a significant point as over the centuries castles became stronger and stronger, and their walls became thicker and thicker. A trebuchet could fire larger objects at these more fortified walls.

You can Make a Trebuchet

These benefits of the trebuchet are also something that makes it a very good project for you to make. Here is a great tutorial on how to make your own Trebuchet. All you need is a few pieces of wood, some string and a heavy counterweight that you can make out of a stone, pennies, or almost anything else that is heavy. Give this Trebuchet project a try and in no time you will be destroying miniature castle walls in the kingdom of your choice.

a table top trebuchetHow to Build A Trebuchet

 

 

 

 

 

 

here some great fantasy websites:

Storm The Castle.com - Fantasy and creativity with an edge

Epic-Fantasy.com - website devoted to the genre of epic fantasy

The Fantasy Guide - The complete guide to fantasy on the web

The Heroic Dreams Fantasy blog - daily updates and info on the genre in movies books and more

 

Knight-Medieval.com Everything about Knights from weapons to armor, chivalry and more.

 

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