Traction Trebuchet

The trebuchet, in all its forms, was very much in vogue in the reenactment and research community in the 1980s and 1990s. Several museums around the world have also built their own, with Middelaldercenteret in Nykøbing Falster in Denmark as one of the first modern examples of counterweight trebuchet...

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Autores principales: Siri Hjesvold, Simon McCallum
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: EXARC 2018
Materias:
war
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/3b04c48fa7f4420eb04b38c7a870f76f
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:3b04c48fa7f4420eb04b38c7a870f76f2021-12-01T14:42:33ZTraction Trebuchet2212-8956https://doaj.org/article/3b04c48fa7f4420eb04b38c7a870f76f2018-08-01T00:00:00Zhttps://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10360https://doaj.org/toc/2212-8956The trebuchet, in all its forms, was very much in vogue in the reenactment and research community in the 1980s and 1990s. Several museums around the world have also built their own, with Middelaldercenteret in Nykøbing Falster in Denmark as one of the first modern examples of counterweight trebuchet (Hansen, 1989). Despite the multitude of builds, very little has been published about the process. When it comes to the traction machines, the authors are only aware of Tarver’s influential article (1995). From the historical perspective, Paul Chevedden (1998; 2000), amongst others, brought focus to the traction-based version of the machine, which is more commonly considered as an introductory note of the more awe-inspiring counterweight. At the Tower of London, a traction trebuchet clearly modelled on counterweight machines uses a pulling crew of about 4 people, throwing across the grass along the length of the outer walls (This seems to be their standard number, based on a range of YouTube videos taken by members of the public). This is the beginning of our work to change this state of the evidence of traction trebuchets, and attempt to see what the results of our experiments can do to help understand the physical realities of traction trebuchets at war. While those who specialize in traction trebuchets often have some tactical knowledge of its attributes, many historians of siege warfare more generally rely heavily on historical assumptions that do not necessarily stand up to critical evaluation. “While somewhat simpler to construct than its ancient predecessor, the logistical requirements of the traction trebuchet were just as great or even greater, and it needed even more trained crews and engineers to operate effectively, as well as a large number of expert craftsmen.” is only the most recent statement by Petersen (2013, p.409) of commonly accepted attributes. This is primarily accurate for traction trebuchet based on counterweight designs, principles and purposes. In this paper, we aim to illustrate why this is, in our experience, an inaccurate view of the smaller scale machines.Siri HjesvoldSimon McCallumEXARCarticlewararmyfightingweaponwood workingearly middle agesdenmarkMuseums. Collectors and collectingAM1-501ArchaeologyCC1-960ENEXARC Journal, Iss 2018/3 (2018)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic war
army
fighting
weapon
wood working
early middle ages
denmark
Museums. Collectors and collecting
AM1-501
Archaeology
CC1-960
spellingShingle war
army
fighting
weapon
wood working
early middle ages
denmark
Museums. Collectors and collecting
AM1-501
Archaeology
CC1-960
Siri Hjesvold
Simon McCallum
Traction Trebuchet
description The trebuchet, in all its forms, was very much in vogue in the reenactment and research community in the 1980s and 1990s. Several museums around the world have also built their own, with Middelaldercenteret in Nykøbing Falster in Denmark as one of the first modern examples of counterweight trebuchet (Hansen, 1989). Despite the multitude of builds, very little has been published about the process. When it comes to the traction machines, the authors are only aware of Tarver’s influential article (1995). From the historical perspective, Paul Chevedden (1998; 2000), amongst others, brought focus to the traction-based version of the machine, which is more commonly considered as an introductory note of the more awe-inspiring counterweight. At the Tower of London, a traction trebuchet clearly modelled on counterweight machines uses a pulling crew of about 4 people, throwing across the grass along the length of the outer walls (This seems to be their standard number, based on a range of YouTube videos taken by members of the public). This is the beginning of our work to change this state of the evidence of traction trebuchets, and attempt to see what the results of our experiments can do to help understand the physical realities of traction trebuchets at war. While those who specialize in traction trebuchets often have some tactical knowledge of its attributes, many historians of siege warfare more generally rely heavily on historical assumptions that do not necessarily stand up to critical evaluation. “While somewhat simpler to construct than its ancient predecessor, the logistical requirements of the traction trebuchet were just as great or even greater, and it needed even more trained crews and engineers to operate effectively, as well as a large number of expert craftsmen.” is only the most recent statement by Petersen (2013, p.409) of commonly accepted attributes. This is primarily accurate for traction trebuchet based on counterweight designs, principles and purposes. In this paper, we aim to illustrate why this is, in our experience, an inaccurate view of the smaller scale machines.
format article
author Siri Hjesvold
Simon McCallum
author_facet Siri Hjesvold
Simon McCallum
author_sort Siri Hjesvold
title Traction Trebuchet
title_short Traction Trebuchet
title_full Traction Trebuchet
title_fullStr Traction Trebuchet
title_full_unstemmed Traction Trebuchet
title_sort traction trebuchet
publisher EXARC
publishDate 2018
url https://doaj.org/article/3b04c48fa7f4420eb04b38c7a870f76f
work_keys_str_mv AT sirihjesvold tractiontrebuchet
AT simonmccallum tractiontrebuchet
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