Siege device

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Blide from the 12th century

Siege devices , also known by the collective term Antwerk in historical parlance , include tools for storming and machines for destroying or weakening a fortification during a siege .

Ever since humans hide in or defend themselves in fortifications, attackers have found ways and means to destroy or overcome the defender's fortifications .

Siege machines ranged from primitive constructions such as ladders and rams, which were made on site and were often only siege equipment, to complicated apparatus and machines that were carried by the besiegers.

Constructs to destroy or weaken a fortification are:

Constructs for storming a fortification are:

For the course of a siege and other possibilities for storming fortifications see there.

literature

  • Volker Schmidtchen : Military technology between tradition and innovation using the example of the Antwerk. A contribution to the history of medieval warfare. In: “gelêrter der arzeniê, ouch apotêker”. Contributions to the history of science. Festschrift for the 70th birthday of Willem F. Daems. Edited by Gundolf Keil , Horst Wellm Verlag, Pattensen / Hanover 1982 (= Würzburg medical-historical research, 24), ISBN 3-921456-35-5 , pp. 91-195.