THE MEDIEVAL CATAPULT
Castles had never known the devastation they would experience during the time of medieval catapults. The ability of a kingdom to protect its subjects and guarantee the survival of its rule began to be viewed in a whole new light. The catapult darkened a kingdoms sense of security. No longer could a castle offer such complete protection as it once had.
Catapults are siege engines using an arm to hurl a projectile a great distance. Catapults were usually assembled at the site of a siege, and an army carried few or no pieces of it with them because wood was easily available on site. Catapults can be classified according to the physical concept used to store energy when winched and release the energy when fired required to propel the projectile.
A mangonel was a type of catapult or siege machine used in the medieval period to throw projectiles at a castle's walls. Some examples of this design in history of catapult are reported to have had arms of roughly 50 feet in length and counterpoises of 20 tons. These were able to launch objects of up to 300 pounds an estimated 300 yards. |