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A Brief History of the Catapult

We typically think of a catapult as something3rd and 4th Century BC and this type of early
that was used in the Middle Ages to destroycatapult was much like a big crossbow. They
the walls of a castle. But catapults have astood around 8 feet tall. True that these are
very long history dating long before the timecatapults but the thing that makes a catapult
of castles and they were developed andinto the machine we generally consider to be
designed in many different ways by manyauthentic is the development of the swinging
different  cultures  over  the  centuries.arm. This is the arm that holds the bucket
and  projectile.
What  is  a  catapult?
Variations  of  Catapults
The general definition is that a catapult is
a machine that stores energy then quicklyThe term "catapult" is used to define a very
releases this energy to fire a projectile. Towide variety of large machines for hurling
be a "real" catapult the machine generallyprojectiles and some of the more common
has to be too large for a person to carry. Ifvariations include the trebuchet, which is a
we just used the storage and release ofcatapult that uses gravity and a seesaw
energy to define a catapult then a longboweffect to hurl its projectile. Another
would also fit this definition. So the sizevariation is the ballista, which is similar
of  the  machine  is  important.to a crossbow and uses twisted skeins of
material to create torsion as its way of
How  did  catapults  develop?storing  energy  for  release.
Catapults are an offshoot of the Crossbow.The  End  of  Catapults
Over time crossbows got larger and larger.
They went from being a hand-held weapon toWith the invention and use of gunpowder and
something called the Belly-Bows which were sothe subsequent creation of artillery the
large they had to be braced against acatapult became obsolete as the weapon of
knight's belly. From there they got evenchoice for warfare around the fourteenth
larger and became something called standcentury.
crossbows where they were mounted on stands.
Eventually they got large enough to beCatapults have a long history and changed
defined as something in their own right anddramatically over many centuries. The true
no longer crossbows. This size change alsocatapult that we think of today as a siege
brought  about  changes in how they operated.engine only saw limited use in the middle
ages. Just as it was coming into its power as
When did the first catapults appear anda machine of destruction gunpowder and
where? The earliest writings of catapultsartillery quickly replaced it as the weapon
were that they originated in China around theof choice.



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