Crosson 1Eric CrossonMrs. SchaubEnglish, 10:1511 May 2007Trebuchets and Other Siege EngineDuring the middle ages, or the era from about 750 to 1600 C.E., many fortificationsknown as castles were built. These castles gave protection to kings, princes, dukes, earls,other nobles, and sometimes peasants. The purpose of a castle was to protect towns frommarauding kings and their plundering armies. The castle's massive stone walls,sometimes over 40 feet high, were a highly discouraging sight to any attacking army.However, if the right machines were built, even these gigantic stone structures could bereduced to piles of rubble. Starting with the Greeks, many machines, called siege engines,were designed. Which one was the most effective during a siege?If a king wanted more land or wealth, or simply entertainment, he would go out andattempt to capture a castle. There were many different ways to do this. One could simplystorm the castle, hoisting ladders against the stone walls, and attempt to overrun thedefenders with sheer numbers. With this tactic, many people were killed, and astechnologies progressed, the approaching army could be demolished as the castle’sarchers unleashed waves of arrows (Donnelly 45-49). A safer method was to dig tunnels.Starting far away, out of arrow range, a hole would be made by workers calledminers. The miners would tunnel their hole towards the castle wall, and destroy the castlefrom the safety of being underground. They would take torches to a castle’s woodensupport beams before rejoining their army. When the support beams grew too weak to

Crosson 2hold up the weight of a castle’s wall, the wall would collapse, bringing down the wallwith it. This would leave a gaping hole in the side of the wall, allowing the attackingarmy to pillage the castle. (Donnelly 12-15).A king could also try to bribe or threaten the castellan, or owner of the castle. If the castellan could not be persuaded to change sides, then spies were often sent into the building. Their goal was either to open the gate, allowing the attacking army to slaughter the unsuspecting defenders, or simply sabotage the defending castle’s supply of food andwater. This would force the castellan to surrender (Gurstelle 9-11).Along the same lines, one’s armies could blockade the castle, and prevent anysupplies from reaching the castle. When the castle’s supplies ran low, or their food andwater were depleted, the castle’s inhabitants were forced to come to terms with their opponents (Donnelly 18-12).The last way to capture a stronghold was to bombard it night and day with siegeengines. These monstrous machines hurled heavy stone rocks at the castle’s walls, andcould quickly reduce the castle to nothing but pebbles (Donnelly 92).Much like modern artillery, siege engines came in many different varieties. The firsttype to be invented was the tension siege engine. A now-unknown engineer developed anover sized arbalest (the term for a medieval crossbow) that was so powerful that a manhad to brace the ‘gastrophetes,’ or ‘belly bow’ against his stomach to cock it. Then thearchers loaded a bolt (the name for the arrows that a crossbow or gastrophetes shoots)that was up to 24 inches long (Donnelly 92). When the archer pulled the trigger, the catchwas released that held back the bow, and the natural spring of the bow (made fromleather or horn) shot the bolt approximately 250 yards (Gurstelle 18-19).

Crosson 3The next piece of artillery that was invented was the torsion engine. Around 399B.C.E., the ruler Dionysus the Elder hired the best military thinkers from all around.Together, they came up with the idea of using the energy produced from the tightlywound coils of rope to propel large bolts enormous distances. Because the torsionengine’s power came from coils of rope, this type of siege engine was called the torsionengine (Gurstelle 19-20). The first model was called the ballista. The ballista used twocoils of rope placed vertically to store energy. First, the coils were wound tight, twistedmany times. Two sticks were inserted into the coils of rope. Then, a string was attachedthat connected the two sticks. The string was pulled back, locked by a trigger. Thismotion also retracted the two sticks. Finally, the bolt was loaded. When the trigger was pulled, the string was released, and the coils of rope unwound, flinging the two sticks andthe string that they were attached to forwards at a great speed. The string pushed the boltforward with it, shooting the bolt a remarkable distance (Gurstelle 22-24).The first time the ballista was used, when Dionysus the Elder and his Syracuseansattacked the Motyans, the historian Diodurus recorded that the Motyans counterattackedthe Syracuseans, but were “held back by a great quantity of flying missiles (Donnelly94).” Dionysus and his troops won the battle. Soon word of the ballista and its successspread far, and it was incorporated into most armies’ artillery. The ballista workedwonderfully during most attacks, but was flawed in that when rope is moistened, itstretches. Since the tightly wound rope is what gives the ballista its power, if that ropestretched, the ballista could not shoot. Even the morning dew was enough to render the ballista useless (Gurstelle 23).