A trebuchet is a type of catapult that uses a hinged arm with a sling attached to its tip to launch a projectile, and it served as a powerful siege engine until the arrival of gunpowder weapons. The traction trebuchet, worked by teams of soldiers pulling ropes to swing the arm, originated in ancient China, with descriptions appearing in the Mozi text compiled in the 4th century BC, and it spread westward, reaching the Byzantines, Persians and Arabs by the sixth or seventh century AD. The counterweight trebuchet, which uses a falling weighted box in place of manpower, appeared around the Mediterranean by the 12th century, with the earliest known description dating to 1187, and the weapon remained in military use until cannons superseded it in the 15th century.
Facts
SignificanceSourced to the subject's own accountThe trebuchet was the dominant heavy siege engine of the medieval period, able to launch heavier projectiles over greater range than earlier torsion catapults. The manpower driven traction trebuchet spread from China across Byzantine, Persian and Arab lands by the sixth or seventh century AD, and the larger counterweight trebuchet that appeared around the Mediterranean in the twelfth century remained the standard siege weapon until gunpowder artillery replaced it. 1 Connections
In Field
Source Trebuchet (Wikipedia)
Open Questions
Source Trebuchet (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
- Also in War and Military Atlas: Trebuchet, the same subject.
Sources
1. Trebuchet (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead paragraph 1
It was a common powerful siege engine until the advent of gunpowder. The design of a trebuchet allows it to launch projectiles of greater weight and/or at greater range than a traditional catapult.
In Field: Mechanical Engineering, Lead section
It was a common powerful siege engine until the advent of gunpowder.
View the Source Open Questions (1 open question)
What is the precise date and place of the trebuchet's invention, for either the traction or counterweight type?
The traction trebuchet is dated only to "by the 4th century BC" in China with no named inventor, and the later counterweight trebuchet only to "around the 12th century" in Christian and Muslim lands around the Mediterranean; no primary source in this research gives an exact year or a single inventor for either device.
What would resolve this A dated primary text or archaeological find establishing a specific year and place for the first traction trebuchet in China, or for the first counterweight trebuchet, would resolve this.
History of military technologyTrebuchet (Wikipedia)
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