Trebuchet facts for kids

A trebuchet

A trebuchet was a powerful machine used long ago. People used them in wars and when attacking castles in the Middle Ages. They could throw big stones at castle walls to break them down. Sometimes, they even threw things like animal carcasses over the walls of a city. This was to spread disease and make people inside give up. Trebuchets were often more accurate than other medieval catapults.

How a Trebuchet Works

A trebuchet works in a clever way. It has a long arm that swings. One end of the arm has a heavy basket. This basket is filled with heavy rocks or other weights. This heavy part is called a counterweight. The other end of the arm holds the projectile, usually a large rock.

To get ready, several people would pull the firing arm down. This would lift the heavy counterweight up. When the arm is released, the heavy basket swings down quickly. This makes the other end of the arm swing up very fast. This action launches the rock far and with great speed.

The trebuchet also uses a special sling. This sling is attached to the end of the firing arm. It adds an extra 10 to 15 feet to the arm's length. The sling gives the projectile a whip-like speed just before it lets go. This is how the trebuchet makes the rock fly so fast and far.

Images for kids

• 

  Counterweight trebuchets at Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle

• 

  The onager was a torsion powered weapon used in Europe from the fourth until the sixth century AD

• 

  Side view of counterweight trebuchet, with a detail of the counterweight release mechanism

• 

  Wheeled whirlwind traction trebuchet from the Wujing Zongyao

• 

  13th-century drawing of a traction trebuchet

• 

  A couillard

• 

  A working trebuchet at Warwick Castle (England) based on drawings from the 13th Century

• 

  Five whirlwind trebuchets from the Wujing Zongyao

• 

  Crouching tiger trebuchet from the Wujing Zongyao

• 

  Sìjiǎo "Four Footed" traction trebuchet from the Wujing Zongyao

• 

  Traction trebuchet on a Song Dynasty warship from the Wujing Zongyao

• 

  12th-century drawing of a traction trebuchet (also called a perrier) next to a staff slinger

• 

  Early 12th-century Sicilian-Byzantine drawing of a traction trebuchet

• 

  13th-century drawing of crusaders hurling Muslim heads with counterweight trebuchets

• 

  14th-century drawing of a counterweight trebuchet

• 

  Counterweight trebuchet, 1430

• 

  15th-century drawing of a counterweight trebuchet

• 

  Early 17th-century drawing of a Chinese counterweight trebuchet packed for transport

• 

  Early 18th-century drawing of a Chinese ship armed with three counterweight trebuchets

• 

  19th century French drawing of a medieval counterweight trebuchet

• 

  Trebuchet at Middelaldercentret, Denmark

• 

  Trebuchet built by rioters in Hrushevskoho Street, Kiev, 2014

See also

In Spanish: Fundíbulo para niños