Mangonel

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Mangonel

A mangonel (derived from Greco-Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
word manganon, meaning "engine of war") was a type of catapult

Catapult

A catapult is any one of a number of non-handheld mechanical devices used to throw a projectile a great distance without the aid of an explosive substance?particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines....
or siege machine used in the medieval period

Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
to throw projectiles at a castle

Castle

A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. The term has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning, but it is usually regarded as being distinct from the general terms fort or fortress in that it describes a residence of a monarch or noble and commands a specific defensive territor...
's walls. The exact meaning of the term is debatable, and several possibilities have been suggested. It may have been a name for counterweight artillery (trebuchet

Trebuchet

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Encyclopedia

A mangonel (derived from Greco-Latin

Latin

Catapult

Middle Ages

Castle

Trebuchet

A trebuchet or trebucket is a siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages either to smash masonry walls or to throw projectiles over them....
s), possibly either a fixed-counterweight type, or one with a particular type of frame. The Arabic term manajaniq comes from the same word, and applies to various kinds of trebuchet. It is also possible that it referred to more than one kind of engine, in different times or places, or was a general term. For this use see trebuchet

Trebuchet

A trebuchet or trebucket is a siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages either to smash masonry walls or to throw projectiles over them....
.

In modern parlance mangonel is often used as the name of a Medieval form of onager

Onager (siege weapon)

The onager was a post-classical Roman Empire siege engine, which derived its name from the kicking action of the machine, similar to that of an onager ....
, though there is little evidence for this historically. In this sense, mangonel had poorer accuracy than a trebuchet

Trebuchet

A trebuchet or trebucket is a siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages either to smash masonry walls or to throw projectiles over them....
(which was introduced later, shortly before the discovery and widespread usage of gunpowder

Gunpowder

Gunpowder, also called black powder, is an explosive mixture of sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate, KNO3 that burns rapidly, producing volumes of hot solids and gases which can be used as a propellant in firearms and as a pyrotechnic composition in fireworks....
). The mangonel threw projectiles on a lower trajectory and at a higher velocity than the trebuchet with the intention of destroying walls, rather than hurling projectiles over them. It was more suited to field battles.

Mangonels shot heavy projectiles from a bowl-shaped bucket at the end of the arm. The bucket could launch more rocks than a sling; this made it different from an onager

Onager (siege weapon)

The onager was a post-classical Roman Empire siege engine, which derived its name from the kicking action of the machine, similar to that of an onager ....
. The sling was changed to a bucket for more force when firing. In combat, mangonels hurled rocks, burning objects (fire pots

Fire pot

A fire pot is a container, usually earthenware, for carrying fire. Fire pots have been used since prehistoric times to transport fire from one place to another, for warmth while on the move, for cooking, in religious ceremonies and even as weapons of war....
, vessels filled with flammable materials that created a fireball on impact), or anything else readily available to the attacking and defending forces. The more unusual types of projectile included dead, and often partially decomposed, carcasses of animals or people, used to intimidate, demoralize, and spread disease among the besieged. This tactic often proved effective. The short supply of food, which was often of low quality or rotting, combined with the cramped living space of the defenders, poor hygiene, and vermin infestations provided an ideal scenario for the spread of disease. It should be noted, however, that the mangonel's principal role in battle, particularly medieval battle, was to knock down a castle or city's walls and infrastructure, not to kill/demoralize troops. Its unpredictable, yet powerful strikes were best suited to hitting broad, non-moving targets such as buildings or walls.

External links

, by Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus

Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Ancient Rome historian. His is the last major historical account of the late Roman empire which survives today....
An analysis of the Onager/Mangonel