Trebuchet Essay

Trebuchets were the main artillery weapons in medieval times. Developed in the 12th century somewhere in Western Europe, trebuchets were the most efficient weapon when it came to tackling castle walls. Using a heavy counterweight, trebuchets could fling projectiles two-hundred to three-hundred yards like boulders, flaming tar and even diseased dead animals. Most people confuse a trebuchet with a catapult, but trebuchets were better that catapults when trying to take over a castle.
Catapults are often confused as being Trebuchets and vice versa. While catapults used the elasticity of twisted rope to fling projectiles, trebuchets used a heavy counterweight and could fling much farther. Fifty feet tall was about the maximum height of a trebuchet and it could fling farther that a catapult at about twenty feet tall at best. Both were used to take down castles, but trebuchets were more common. Trebuchets and catapults may be often confused, but have totally different statistics.
Trebuchets and Catapults are very different medieval weapons. Without them, most of the weapons today wouldn’t exist like a sling, a handheld trebuchet. Catapults don’t have as much power as a trebuchet.