What were the role of siege weapons in medieval battle?
Siege weapons were used to overcome the obstacles of walls when attacking a city or castle. They were sort of like the tanks of today. Most of the soldiers were foot troops like knights or bowmen, who obviously could not penetrate large walls easily. So machinery was needed to either bring down these walls, or allow the troops to overcome them another way. The most common siege weapons were: Catapult (later called the Trebuchet) – A machine which hurled large rocks at the walls of a castle. It was so powerful that it was able to hurl huge boulders a distance of over 500 feet. Pretty impressive for a society with no electricity and no knowledge of the laws of Physics. Siege tower – This was basically a very simple tower constructed of wood which could be rolled on wheels. Rather than bringing down the walls of a castle, soldiers would stand on the top, in the house of the tower. The tower would then be rolled up against the walls of the castle, and the soldiers would be able to climb ov
