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Mardi bin Ali al-Tarsusi

 

 
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Mardi bin Ali al-Tarsusi
 
 
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Mardi bin Ali al-Tarsusi was a 12th century Ayyubid
Ayyubid dynasty

The Ayyubid or Ayyoubid Dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Kurds origins which ruled Egypt, Syria, Yemen , Diyar Bakr, Mecca, Hejaz and northern Iraq in the 12th and 13th centuries....
 writer and expert on military
Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force ....
 matters. He wrote a number of treatises, including a military manual for Saladin
Saladin

ala ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub , better known as Saladin in medieval Europe, was the Sultan of Egypt and Greater Syria. He led the Islamic opposition to the Second Crusade and Third Crusade....
 in 1187. His writings have proved an invaluable resources for medieval and military historians.

The well known treatise was entitled Tabsirat arbab al-albab fi kayfiyat al-najah fi al-hurub min al-anwa' wa-nashr a'lam al-a'lam fi al-'udad wa-al-alat al-mu'inah 'ala liqa' al-a'da' , or "Information for the intelligent on how to escape injury in combat; and the unfurling of the banners of instruction on equipment and engines which assist in encounters with enemies."

first clearly written record of a counterweight 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....
 comes from Mardi bin Ali al-Tarsusi, who wrote a military manual for Saladin
Saladin

ala ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub , better known as Saladin in medieval Europe, was the Sultan of Egypt and Greater Syria. He led the Islamic opposition to the Second Crusade and Third Crusade....
 circa 1187.






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Mardi bin Ali al-Tarsusi was a 12th century Ayyubid
Ayyubid dynasty

The Ayyubid or Ayyoubid Dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Kurds origins which ruled Egypt, Syria, Yemen , Diyar Bakr, Mecca, Hejaz and northern Iraq in the 12th and 13th centuries....
 writer and expert on military
Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force ....
 matters. He wrote a number of treatises, including a military manual for Saladin
Saladin

ala ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub , better known as Saladin in medieval Europe, was the Sultan of Egypt and Greater Syria. He led the Islamic opposition to the Second Crusade and Third Crusade....
 in 1187. His writings have proved an invaluable resources for medieval and military historians.

The well known treatise was entitled Tabsirat arbab al-albab fi kayfiyat al-najah fi al-hurub min al-anwa' wa-nashr a'lam al-a'lam fi al-'udad wa-al-alat al-mu'inah 'ala liqa' al-a'da' , or "Information for the intelligent on how to escape injury in combat; and the unfurling of the banners of instruction on equipment and engines which assist in encounters with enemies."

Counterweight trebuchet

The first clearly written record of a counterweight 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....
 comes from Mardi bin Ali al-Tarsusi, who wrote a military manual for Saladin
Saladin

ala ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub , better known as Saladin in medieval Europe, was the Sultan of Egypt and Greater Syria. He led the Islamic opposition to the Second Crusade and Third Crusade....
 circa 1187. He describes a hybrid trebuchet that he said had the same hurling power as a traction machine pulled by fifty men due to "the constant force [of gravity], whereas men differ in their pulling force." (Showing his mechanical proficiency, Tarsusi designed his trebuchet so that as it was fired it cocked a supplementary crossbow, probably to protect the engineers from attack.)

In his book, Medieval Siege, Jim Bradbury
Jim Bradbury

Jim Bradbury is a United Kingdom historian specialising in the Medieval warfare of the Middle Ages.Bradbury lectured in history at Brunel University....
 extensively quotes from Mardi ibn Ali concerning mangonel
Mangonel

A mangonel was a type of catapult or siege machine used in the Middle Ages to throw projectiles at a castle's walls. The exact meaning of the term is debatable, and several possibilities have been suggested....
s of various types, including Arab, Perisan and Turkish, describing what could be trebuchets, but not quoted as above. In On the Social Origins of Medieval Institutions, more detailed quotes by Mardi ibn Ali may be found on the various types of trebuchets.