medieval catapult on a modern day tank chassis

Trebuchets were very heavy and often built on-site, and were not designed to be mobile, but to lay siege to a castle or city and destroy its protective walls. While catapults could be reloaded more quickly, their range was less and their payload lighter. The catapult used potential energy stored in twisted rope to hurl objects. It was the machine of choice for the siege of castles, and far eclipsed the range of the simple catapult. The first recorded use of a trebuchet is in Europe in the 12th century. The placing of wheels allowed the machine to move forward and backward with the motion of the arm and swinging action of the counterweight. Instead of a group of men pulling down to launch the payload, the machine used gravity and a large counterweight to launch an object. The counterweight trebuchet was a double-armed machine that improved on its predecessor. The catapult, also known as a traction trebuchet, was a much larger version of the stave sling, generally with a group of men used to pull down on ropes that would then propel the object of choice, usually large rocks, at castle or city walls. The ancient precursor of the trebuchet was the stave sling, also known as staff sling, which was a simple sling on the end of a staff for hurling rocks. While medieval times are not known for their technological advances, this clever piece of machinery has had lasting implications. But while one might think all vestiges of medieval times were left in the past, there is one holdover that only seems to be increasing in popularity: the siege engine known as the trebuchet. The Middle Ages, spanning roughly from the 5th to the 15th centuries, are a romantic age, spurring forth tales of knights in shining armor fighting over castles protected by high stone walls and drawbridges over perilous moats. A highly detailed model of the Stirling Warwolf medieval trebuchet, like the one King Edward made in 1304 which leveled a section of a castle wall.

Medieval catapult on a modern day tank chassis