Essay On Trebuchet

The History of a Trebuchet The name of the Trebuchet is ironic, being a French originated word, when this mechanical weapon was first invented in 300 BC, China (Alchin, “Trebuchet”). However, the machine that the Chinese used in the beginning, did not resemble the modern-day Trebuchet, and worked more like a sling. Sadly, this Trebuchet did not have the wished for results by the Chinese. Consequently, this weapon went through changes before it came to be the Medieval Weapon we think of today, the weapon that “overthrew” it’s two predecessors the catapult and ballista (“The Trebuchet”). After the Chinese made the sling like Trebuchet, the lever Trebuchet was made. This version of the Trebuchet was man operated. This machine was also created by the machine and was called the Traction Trebuchet. It fired when a group of men pulled on ropes that were attached to a lever on the machine, which launched the payload. Nevertheless, this man-operated machine, was put through a change again, since the Traction Trebuchet only had a range of 30-61 m and could only throw weights around 110 kg (“Trebuchet”). The final change to the Trebuchet, which occurred in the 12th century, became the modern-day Trebuchet and the first official counterweight

Similarly, due to all the changes of the machines and people throughout the years using false names to describe machines (due to lack of understanding) the history of the Trebuchet can be hard to follow. This is why, to some people, the first accepted version of the Trebuchet is the one made in the 12th century. People have this belief because, the machine made in the 12th century is the first version of the Trebuchet to use a counterweight as its energy source (rather than a sling and/or a level manually pulled by