The 5 main Stuart castle weapons

By Jamie Payne

Battering ram

• A battering ram is used to weaken or break down thick castle walls with the force of several men behind it the battering ram could seriously damage the castle. As the battering ram developed more and more changes were made until eventually wheels were added to make it easier to push.

Trebuchet

• A trebuchet was kind of like a catapult but an old version. It could throw things that were a heavy as 350 pounds at high speeds at a castle. The idea of a trebuchet was to throw heavy rocks at the castle walls and inside the castle to create high damage.

Mangonel

• The magonel was important weapon in the middle ages it was like a catapult. The magonel fired its weapons from a round shaped bucket from the end of its arm. The missiles were thrown in a overhead arc and could cause huge damage to the castle the attacking side were trying to destroy.

Ballista

• The ballista was like a giant crossbow and worked by using tension. It was designed to throw massive arrows or darts it threw straight at the target like you would do with a gun. The force that the missiles were thrown at was so powerful it was capable of killing several enemies at once it could also cause damage to the castle itself.

Siege Tower

• The siege tower was a valuable weapon in the middle ages as it not only gave defence for the attackers they could also attack from the top and rush into the castle. It could also hold the other siege weapons safely it was usually the size or bigger than the castle wall so that the attackers could climb into the castle.