The History of the trebuchet starts in
seventh century china where it is believed that a version of the trebuchet was
invented, but the trebuchet that is so successful in medieval Europe does not
come into play until around the tenth century. This is the true trebuchet, the
trebuchet with a counterweight. This trebuchet although it has many advantages
also had plenty of disadvantages that held this siege machine back. Some
disadvantages that medieval armies faced when the trebuchet was used to take
over a castle was that the trebuchet was at the time a complicated piece of
machinery which left the operators at a loss. This is what many people believed
prevented the French from capturing Dover castle in twelve seventeen. Another
disadvantage of a trebuchet is that if the weight set in the counterweight
portion of the trebuchet is misjudged against the weight of the projectile, when
they set it off it will misfire and send the projectile in an unpredictable
direction that could kill soldiers and livestock or destroy the armies equipment
accounts of this exist in the early age of the trebuchet when people where
uneducated on the use a trebuchet, for example in eleven seventy four they`re
accounts of Scottish soldiers led by William the lion besieging
Wark castle in Northumberland
where they had barely enough power to get the projectile in question out
of the sling and it landed on one of the Scottish soldiers heads killing him.
One thing that made the trebuchet a last resort for many besieging armies was
that the trebuchet was difficult and expensive to build making other less costly
and skilled methods had failed.
Some advantages of the
trebuchet is the great distance away you can from your target and still be more
effective at destroying your targets defenses. Another great advantage is the counter
weight the trebuchet uses for power, this is a considerable advantage over other
siege machine because they gained kinetic energy from things like tension on a
rope whereas gravity does all the work in this machine meaning less men have to
work the trebuchets and more can fight.
seventh century china where it is believed that a version of the trebuchet was
invented, but the trebuchet that is so successful in medieval Europe does not
come into play until around the tenth century. This is the true trebuchet, the
trebuchet with a counterweight. This trebuchet although it has many advantages
also had plenty of disadvantages that held this siege machine back. Some
disadvantages that medieval armies faced when the trebuchet was used to take
over a castle was that the trebuchet was at the time a complicated piece of
machinery which left the operators at a loss. This is what many people believed
prevented the French from capturing Dover castle in twelve seventeen. Another
disadvantage of a trebuchet is that if the weight set in the counterweight
portion of the trebuchet is misjudged against the weight of the projectile, when
they set it off it will misfire and send the projectile in an unpredictable
direction that could kill soldiers and livestock or destroy the armies equipment
accounts of this exist in the early age of the trebuchet when people where
uneducated on the use a trebuchet, for example in eleven seventy four they`re
accounts of Scottish soldiers led by William the lion besieging
Wark castle in Northumberland
where they had barely enough power to get the projectile in question out
of the sling and it landed on one of the Scottish soldiers heads killing him.
One thing that made the trebuchet a last resort for many besieging armies was
that the trebuchet was difficult and expensive to build making other less costly
and skilled methods had failed.
Some advantages of the
trebuchet is the great distance away you can from your target and still be more
effective at destroying your targets defenses. Another great advantage is the counter
weight the trebuchet uses for power, this is a considerable advantage over other
siege machine because they gained kinetic energy from things like tension on a
rope whereas gravity does all the work in this machine meaning less men have to
work the trebuchets and more can fight.