Advancements In Medieval Warfare: The Trebuchet

Advancements in Medieval Warfare; The Trebuchet Throughout the Middle Ages, the art of warfare progressed, and siege warfare was introduced. Many new weapons were created along with the introduction of siege warfare, one of them being the trebuchet. This weapon was developed in the seventh century and used until the fifteenth century. Trebuchets worked by flinging objects over fortress walls and destroying both the fortifications and people at the same time. As many weapons there were both advantages and disadvantages to this advanced technology, for example although it took time to operate, it also was effective in its purpose. Medieval warfare in Europe became more advanced due to the invention of the trebuchet.
Towards the end of seventh century a.d, the Arabs developed the first trebuchets. These original weapons were man-powered, therefore they could only launch relatively light objects("The Trebuchet." ). …show more content…
When the trebuchet launched stones it was capable of collapsing walls and even whole fortresses or buildings. Additionally, by using the trebuchet medieval warriors were able to destroy a city in a shorter amount of time(Devries and Smith). Although the trebuchet had multiple uses and it was considered invaluable there were some disadvantages to using it. For example, the trebuchets required skillful engineers to operate it, and these engineers often became sick, were killed, or left because they were unpaid. Also, these weapons took time to operate. On the opposite side, there were many advantages to using the trebuchet. One advantage is that it can launch objects from far distances. This proved useful when medieval armies were attacking another fortress. Since the counterweight trebuchet took fewer men to operate it this meant that there were more men to fight, which proved to be an