Trebuchet History

The earliest trebuchets were ‘traction trebuchets’, which were developed in China in the 4th Century B.C.E. Traction trebuchets used human labor instead of a counterweight for power. The Chinese needed so much power for the trebuchet that they had up to 250 soldiers pulling on ropes to operate the machine. This machine could throw stones up to 100 meters, but was not very accurate, because of the inconsistency in using manpower.

A Trebuchet is a weapon used during the medieval ages in siege warfare. The trebuchet was used for the defense of towns, strongholds, and cities. First the materials used to build medieval trebuchets. Second the origins of trebuchets. Third how trebuchets were transported.

This second edition of DeVries and Smiths’ book, Medieval Military Technology, encompasses many of the weapons, fortifications, vessels, machines, and armour developed throughout the medieval period, to provide a brief cultural history of the relationship between military technology and medieval society. DeVries and Smiths’ purpose in compiling this book was to lay out their argument in a way to which the reader can understand the purpose of medieval military and its relationship to society. The central

The Union forces also produced many long range artillery weapons. Unlike the Confederates, who used Howitzers; the Union Army used mortars. The short-squat mortar, as it was called, was originally used by the Ottoman's in 1453. The mortars operated by the Union were primarily used to hurl shells over walls or into large concentrations of enemy soldiers. In addition to lobbing bombs over walls, the mortars were also extremely effective in dismantling naval forces. The mortars could be shot from miles inland, therefore Confederate naval forces never saw the bombs coming. The mortar weighed 17,120 pounds and could fire a 220 pound bomb 4,325 yards. There were smaller versions of these mortars (the 300 lb Coehorn mortar with a 5.8 inch bore that hurled an 18 pound shell), but they saw very little activity on the battlefield.8

8. John Deere’s steel plow, as well as McCormick’s mechanized reaper, allowed farmers to get more harvested a t a faster pace and without the strenuous amount of labor usually needed. Eli Whitney also created the cotton gin as well as interchangeable parts which would be easier, faster, and cheaper to replace than regular machines.

Another result of technological progression was the matchlock, which would shoot with ignition of a lit match. "The introduction of firearms into the Elizabethan Weapons Arsenal saw the end of castle warfare and the building of the magnificent Medieval castles"(Alchin 1). With the invention of lethal, quick cannons came the decline of forts for defense as soldiers prepared for battle. Cannons were made of bronze and iron, in many different sizes, and they fired stone or iron, to be used on land or

the introduction to new technology. The specialized machinery required to save labour power which was good for the american economic. American was known as the ones that still borrow from the Europeans and would take their technologies for their purposes. “The woodworking machines is something the Americans have taken from the europeans which they liked because it required less labour” (Rosenberg, 105). The downside of this technological was that it would waste their natural resources like wood. Most of the specialized machinery allowed workers to fix these machines themselves which was easier for every individual. “America also became a powerhouse for metalwork” (Rosenberg, 109). The specialized machinery

Many improvements have been made on the tractor since the model John Froelich invented in 1892. The first tractor had three wheels and was clumsy to move. Eventually tractors would be made with four wheels which made them easier to drive and more stable when moving. The invention of the tractor would also lead to the invention of the Caterpillar or ‘crawler’ which worked much like the tractor except it used tracks instead of wheels. These machines proved especially useful in places like the California which had heavier soil. The invention of the tractor also lead to the invention of powered hydraulics to lift heavy machinery and the ‘power take-off’ allowing the tractor to be used more efficiently as a power source to other machines while the tractor was stationary or moving. These improvements and inventions have led to many types of machines which have made farming more efficient and

A trebuchet is a siege weapon most commonly used in the middle ages. It uses gravity to propel an object. There are competitions held today called "Pumpkin Chunkin '" which use trebuchets to launch pumpkins as far as possible. The common question is what the dimensions should be when making it. Should the arm be longer or shorter? Should the counterweight be heavier or lighter? These questions have been asked by competitors in trebuchet competition as well as engineers. And this is why the project is in the field of mechanical engineering.

The Siege of a Castle was a guarantied victory, but it took a long time of patience. Patience was the key to victory with this strategy, however it was scarce in the battlefield, because of the angry, impatient soldiers waiting to get home to their families. The city walls were suppose to be fortifying a position that could not be easily overrun, and that it could be strong enough to enable the defense to maintain that position for a long period of time. Siege of a fort, castle, or city walls had four basic concepts. The Sieging technique was directly directed towards these four. In order for the attackers to get inside they would have to go over the wall, tear a passage through the wall, dig a tunnel underneath it, or just wait until the defenders surrendered.

The Moors also built atalayas, or watchtowers and rock castles that served as part of the defense system for the castle. The watchtowers were used as communication devices for castles that were great distances apart. The watchtowers would signal the castle in case of an enemy attack by using smoke and mirrors. They built rock castles, or small defense castles high on rocks, using the natural terrain to the maximum effect. Since the rock castles were small they did not house many soldiers.

Not only are gunpowder powered infantry weapons more deadly than medieval infantry weapons, but gunpowder powered artillery is more lethal than

First up is the longbow, a great invention but sadly it was not yet of this time. Believe it or not the long bow wasn’t on the Europe main land until many years after it was invented. According to Max Perham the longbow was invented by the Celts in Wales around 1180, but was not really used by the English military until the 1300’s. Also according to Virginia Ream the army’s attacking would not just bombard the castle walls. There were people that would dig under the castle’s walls to weaken them then they would fire at that area to bring them down.

to in Italy, France, England, and other countries from about 1330 onward. Which goes to

2017). From there, the Moors and the Ottoman Turks created their own forms of firearms. The Moors fought the Europeans in Spain for control of the area, and not even a year after that war the first firearms were finished in Italy. Soon after that the first cannons began to appear, the earliest to appear was from the Turks, they created the bombard. Which were these huge cannon, bigger than one could imagine. The bombards would blow down castle wall this was one of the key weapons that caused the city to fall. With it, fell the recipe of another type of gunpowder, which was mostly used as an early form of flame thrower (Sammon, J. 2012).