Essay Sample on Catapults

Throughout history, catapults have been fundamental to siege combat because of antiquity. Though historic, Catapults have been one of the most high-quality weapons in siege warfare. Various kinds of Catapults have been used by way of the Greeks, Romans, and Chinese. The first catapults have been early tried to enlarge the vary and energy of a crossbow. Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian, was once the first to report the use of a mechanical arrow firing catapult (early Ballista) in 399 BC. Catapults as we suppose of them had been delivered to Europe for the duration of the Middle Ages. Catapults made their exhibition in England in 1216 in the course of the Siege of Dover, the French crossed the Channel and have been the first to use Catapults on English soil. With fighting established all through Europe all through the Middle Ages the reputation of fortified citadel and town wall rose significantly. This made Catapults essential. Catapults have been used to launch missiles (many specific objects have been utilized). These missiles have been both launched immediately at the wall to motivate most injury to the fortifications or had been launched over the wall to lay siege on the populace inside the defensive walls. Catapults had been additionally used to throw missiles at soldiers. The first accounted acts of Biological Warfare concerned catapults. Bodies of the diseased had been hurled over the town partitions to infect the living citizens. Catapults have been used notably all through Europe (predominantly with the aid of the French) till 885-886 AD when new protection structures rendered catapults ineffective.

A ballista-style catapult was a siege engine used by both the Broddring Empire and the Varden. These styles of catapults roughly resemble a giant crossbow, one of these types of catapults were used to help the citizens of a town called Carvahall escape from another town called Terim. This conflict causes serious damage to different parts all around the city. Ballistae (Pluar for Balista) were mounted upon the walls of Borromeo Castle, in the event that, in their beliefs,  a hostile dragon tries to attack the city.

The trebuchet, pronounced tre·byu·shey, was a type of catapult used to defend castles and also used in battles. They originally came from Europe around the 12th century and were later used in China and Rome. They could launch projectiles from a max of around 300 feet and, at least, 120 feet.

For my project, I chose to make a mangonel style catapult, the word “mangonel” comes from the Greek word Mangana, but I chose the mangonel style because it looked easy, simple, and fun to create. To be able to enhance the catapult’s abilities, I would need to add more elastic tension around the area where the two sticks meet. Also, to enhance its capabilities, instead of propelling a light object, I would propel a slightly heavy object in the catapult so that it has more acceleration to its motion.

If you don’t know, a mangonel, pronounced mang·gow·nuhl, is a type of catapult or siege engine used in the medieval period to throw projectiles at a castle's walls. The specific meaning of the term is debatable, and countless possibilities have been suggested. Mangonel may additionally be indirectly referring to the mangon, a French hard stone located in the south of France. It may have been a name for counterweight artillery (trebuchets), perhaps either a men-assisted fixed-counterweight type or one with a specific type of frame. The Arabic term manajaniq comes from the equal word and applies to various types of trebuchet. It is also possible that it referred to extra than one kind of engine, in different instances or places, or was a general term.

When I tested my mangonel-styled catapult, I was able to hit the target about 67% of the time. To help it hit the target more often, I could practice the angle needed to hit the target, and I could discover the perfect angle needed to propel the projectile at just the right speed to increase the chances of hitting the target up to about 75%.