Table Of ContentNon-Gunpowder Artillery
(Medieval Mechanical Artillery)
Convention is to refer to non-gunpowder artillery as 'machines' or 'engines'. While
some of the the large pieces used in the late medieval era can be traced to
tension and torsion powered machines used in ancient times, the rotating-beam
engine (most famous of which is the trébuchet) is unique to medieval warfare. Like
modern artillery, medieval crew-operated weapons were of two general
categories relating to tactical employment: indirect fire (throwing or lobbing)
objects (projectiles) toward a target area, and directly shooting a missile
(arrow/bolt or 'bullet') at a target. The size of such weapons and logistical
demands of providing the consumable projectiles to be shot emphasized the use
of such machines mainly for siege operations - employed both by the besiegers
and the defenders. However, such machines, in their diminutive form, were
occasionally used in field battles.
Note that this page addresses only mechanical artillery and not the broader range
of devices, such as towers and rams, employed in siege operations.
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Directory
Indirect-Firing
Machines:
trébuchet
General Direct-Firing Further
mangonel
Remarks Machines Links
catapult
pierrière
General Remarks
W
ar machines [engines] were employed throughout the middle ages, even after the
introduction of effective gunpowder artillery. The names to distinguish specific
machines used by contemporary chroniclers and other observers were not standard.
This leaves today's historians with some doubt, in some cases, as to what specific
machine is really being described in the old texts. However, contemporary drawings
and the scattered written references allow for an understanding of the various types,
even though there may be some disagreement as to the exact names. Names of
categories used in this page are based upon those followed by M. Reanud Beffeyte,
who has researched for many years and has successfully reconstructed an array of
medieval war machines. His work is further exhibited at the ARMEDIEVAL website.
Terminology is further compounded by the fact that some of the machines existed
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during the ancient Greek and Roman eras, and they were also used by Eastern
armies, especially the Muslims. It is in the Muslim realm that the one machine unique to
the medieval era emerged (most likely it had an earlier origin in Chinia) and was
introduced to the Western armies. The machine, in various configurations, operated on
a balance or lever principal. It propelled its projectiles from force due to the rotation of
a beam about a fulcrum. These machines are often described as trébuchets, though
some authorities distinguish the different configurations of these machines with distinct
terms for each. Unfortunately, there is not complete agreement on the various, specific
terms. This page uses the expression 'rotating-beam' machines where some other
authors employ 'lever-artillery' or 'balance-machines'.
Scholars generally agree that rotating-beam throwing machines initially existed in
ancient China, and are estimated to have been transmitted to Central Asia and then to
the Western Muslim world around the seventh century C.E. Initially, a team of men,
rather than a weight, were used to pull down the short length of a beam that rotated
about a pivot point supported by an upright frame. This swiftly raised the long length of
the beam which held the projectile to be launched. The use of human pulling power is
described as 'traction power'. In some cases, both small counterweights and
manpower were employed in these rotating-beam machines. Some authors see this
combination as a 'hybrid' form in the evolution of the rotating-beam engines. In its final
form, the robust rotating-beam engine operated entirely by the counterweight, and is
sometimes described as a 'gravity engine'.
Stone or earth filled hutches gave the energy to launch and hurl very heavy objects.
When constructed with due consideration for the geometric aspects of balance, these
large machines had remarkable stability and endurance, allowing repeated firings
upon the same target over a long period. Estimates are that the counterweight
trébuchet was developed in the eastern Mediterranean region in the late twelfth century
and its use spread rapidly to norhtern Europe. The obvious military benefit led to the
counterweight rotating-beam engines replacing in the medieval era most of the ancient
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Greek and Roman arm-throwing catapults designs.
As with all weapons, there was continuous experimentation and variations in
construction. Some rotating-beam engines had the hutches rigidly fastend to the
pivoting arm. Many historians believe that these were called 'mangonels' by Western
Europeans of the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries. However, the expression
'mangonel' can be traced to a Byzantine-Greek word for the rotating-beam machines
used in the seventh century. Obviously the names for the machines did not remain
constant as the configurations evolved during the medieval era. More on the
controversy of the mangonel is addressed later in this page. In this document, the
'mangonel' will be portrayed as M. Beffeyte, a leading authority on medieval siege
weapons, has judged most appropriate based upon the frequency he has found the
term used by medieval observers/authors.
The most effective counterweight rotating-beam machine developed in the Western
medieval armies had suspended hutches that swung on a piviot at the short end of the
rotating arm. These are what M. Beffeyte calls 'trébuchets'. Expressions for 'trébuchet'
('trabuchis', 'trabuqet', etc.) reportedly first appear in Western accounts in the late
twelfth century. The first references appear to be to rotating-beam machines, powered
by swinging counterweight hutches, and using a sling to hold the projectile. There were
variations of counterweight configurations. Some trébuchets had one hutch, others had
two -- equally balanced on both sides of the beam. These were given (by some
authors) a particular name, couillard.
The specific war machines shown below are divided into two broad categories
according to their artillery role: Indirect Fire and Direct Fire.
RETURN To DIRECTORY
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Indirect-Firing Machines
TRÉBUCHET
trébuchet. A rotating-beam throwing
engine (machine) based upon
counterweight induced energy quickly
rotating the arm about a pivot. The
principal required balance in the
structure and was most effective when
using a movable hutch ( articuler le
�
contrepoids), or hopper, that held the
'weight' of stones or earth.
Trébuchet is the more current term,
though it was called many names by the
medieval chroniclers and writers. Even,
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medieval chroniclers and writers. Even,
today there is not complete agreement
on what to call the engine when the hutch
is fixed, and does not swing as the arm
moves (see mangonel below). The
trébuchet had great precision and the
advantage of hitting the same spot
repeatedly. It was quite effective in trying
to blast a hole through stone walls or
wooden barriers, and continuing
bombardment into nightime.
A form of the trébuchet which had split
counterweights was a rotating-beam
engine called a couillard, or biffa. The
advantage was that it was lighter to
transport and easier to assemble on
site.
Power of rotating-beam machines
varied considerably due to the weight of
objects thrown and of the counterweight,
among many other factors unique to
each firing and engine. It is estimated
that the larger machines had a range of
200 meters for hurling a 100 kg object.
Its rate of fire was about 2 times per
hour. Crews could be well over 50 men.
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trébuchet
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trébuchet
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trébuchet
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A nineteeth-century scholar's version of a traction-assisted trébuchet. It
is questionable that the manpower actually added much to the
effectivness of the large counterweight rotating-beam machine
illustrated here. However, this 'hybrid' system was significant as the
rotating-beam engines grew in size (and throwing capability) beyond the
simple 'bricole' machines shown later in this page.
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