Catapults

The word catapult can mean many things. It now means any weapon that throws an object any distance.

But the word catapult was first used by the Romans. This catapult was some what like a cross bow. It could shoot a six pound javelin as far as far as 500 yards. It did this by having ropes twisted to create tension.

In the medieval times catapults were used as siege weapons. Siege weapons were weapons used when stormg a fort or castle. One very well known siege weapon is the battering ram. Which was held by many men and pounded against the castles front gates. But this is about catapults so we had better get back to that. There are many diffrent kinds of catapults these include Trebuchets, ballistas, and actual catapults.

Trebuchets are one of the bigger catapults. They work alot like a lever in this I mean that they have a counter weight at one end of a long wooden pole. And a rope connected to an object on the other end. They would then release the weight and this would swing around and send the projectile flying hundreds of yards.