“K&C Medieval Ballista” (1 Viewer)

[King & Country]

Hi Guys,

Re the above...the info and background was supplied by an excellent source book “Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World AD500-1500”.

Hopefully this helps.

Best wishes and thankyou for the many kind and appreciative comments.

Andy​

 

[Mark IV]

Andy,

I hope this is the start of more seige weapons.

It is a great piece along with the other offerings this month.

Regards
Mark

 

[Phantom Warrior]

There is some confusion about siege engines as the names were sometimes used interchangeably. In Roman times, the Ballista fired a bolt but the same machine could easily be converted to fire a stone. Stone throwers were usually called Catapults. The French made much use of Ballistae and catapults of different designs and sizes during the Crusades. The K&C model is a small Ballista configured to throw a 30 lb. rock as a sling or catapult. Use was anti-personnel against mass formations or wooden fortifications. Bigger versions could throw stones of 200+ lb. against stone walls.

Now that is a Ballista.

Terry

 

[nysoldiers]

Thanks for the information and I agree we need more siege equipment!

 

[Phantom Warrior]

Thanks for the information and I agree we need more siege equipment!

There is very little info on rock throwing ballistae even in the book Andy used and even less on rock throwing ballistae in the Crusades other than the French used them in various sizes. The French even mounted some on rotating platforms so they could better aim them. Part of the reason is that ballistae were losing favour by the Crusades to other forms of catapults which were cheaper to make and simpler to build and maintain.

Terry