Hey Matt just curious, do you have any advice on figuring out tang dimensions on hilted blades or potentially any advice on dehilting peened swords without destruction? Working on replicating blades. Trying to get certain stuff sorted now while I wait to move for space to work on heat treat. Katana are easy but not so much for European and other examples. And I was curious if you still do the school as once covid is over I was planning to potentially take a trip out and visit. But if you don't remember we've talked before about Japanese sword stuff and I believe I mentioned by replicating antiqued idea for training tools grade weapons. Tested some of my ideas for faster replication of blades. But finding issues with getting Saber examples. Long swords and things with rotted hilts are easier. I seem to remember you mentioning swords being rehilted in the past as far as restoration work. Though on the extreme side Trying to see if there's a way to get exact measurements.
I’ve heard tell of those who were wise in the ways of science constructing a large wooden rabbit in order to gain entry into a castle. Then again, it could have been a badger.
Fun fact: In medieval English, the trebuchet was known as a trip-gate or trap-gate. (Both variations were used, probably in different parts of England). Only the French said "trebuchet" back then, and Norman-English nobility of course.
The Angevin Occitan dialect of French was still the preferred court language in England up until the reign of Henry IV in 1400, so the use of French by the upper classes extended well past the Norman dynasty and well into the Hundred Years Wars.
In America: We'll ban ladders because a Jackie Chan movie showed how dangerous of weapon it is. We have statistics of thousands of people dying from ladders every year.
Wait up Sarge, he's got another pair on the top of his van. I know it says he's an electrician, but I think he's actually a mercenary siege contractor! Just look at his collection of shovels!
I think one thing that pop culture often misrepresents about siege towers is that they weren't primarily used to get the attackers onto enemy battlements but that they were fortifications in their own right that allowed ranged troops a better angle for shooting at the defenders whilst having some cover themselves.
Glad you included shovels, picks, and axes in the honourable mentions, since that was the first thing I thought of! Simply digging a trench for cover can be a very important step if the enemy has effective missile weapons. Also, I grew up in Bungay, where the castle has some of the few surviving examples of medieval undermining, so digging under the walls is more associated in my mind than trying to go over them!
The quality and efficiency of the tools did improve quite a bit during this period. It's probably not a coincidence that iron tools started popping up. It doesn't seem likely that they were developed in peace time. Iron would have been too expensive and wooden picks and shovels were good enough.
At northern end of swabian Alb plateau, there had been lots of castles. But in contrast to movies, they had been rather small. But this castles often had been protected by nature on three sides, by rocks or terrain falling down rather straight, so an assault was difficult or impossible from two or three sides, and the side you could reach had been narrow or protected by a natural ditch ,which was deepened or widened by human work.
If you only need your castles to threaten the flanks and supply of the enemy to deter them, you don’t need the enormous space needed for garrison and supply of hundreds of men. A small castle in a perilous position has the best defence combo there is - being incredibly hard to take, and giving no value to an invading force that takes it.
@@UnreasonableOpinions : A lot of those small castles had been in bad condition in 14th century, when german Ritter/ knights culture came to an end. Richer or high rank noblemen bought a lot of this castles, even uninhabitated or destroyed ones, but only for Farmland, forests , noblemans rights etc. to enlarge the territory . Most of the remaining castles in my region had been destroyed in 1525 during the Great Farmers Revolt. Some few had been repaired, but most knightts now build palaces / manour houses, some lightly fortified, and few inportant castles had been transformed into modern fortresses.
@@bigredwolf6 : I was perhaps five times at Hohenzollern castle. The first was destroyed in 15th century, the second which was modernized arround 1610 was no more well repaired later and in very bad condition in early 19th century. What you see now is only a romantic monument for Hohenzollern family, the prussian branch owns 2/3 and the swabian branch ( Hohenzollern- Sigmaringen) 1/3. The third castle was never a real Residence, and no Fortress. The Bastions are not intended for cannons, and with exeption of the entrance part, there are not even crenelations on the walls. The entrance fortifications are not so strong as they look, are for 19th century oldfashioned and would not have withstanded cannonfire ( See Bombardement of Marienburg/ Würzburg in 1866). In Böblingen i was only one time, perhaps 10years ago to visit Bauernkriegs( farmers geholt) - and Butchers museum.
I wonder if ladders were really used, or if they were just an artistic representation. It would make sense to keep the information about what would really be needed from uneducated peasants, because knowledge is power. Imagine you have a 10 meter (30 feet) high wall. Then you would need a ladder that's at least 15 meters (45 feet), and you would have at least 8 soldiers in amour and with weapons climbing. That's nearly a metric ton of weight held by two wooden sticks. I really think you can't make that work.
@@mrdelaney4440 That Uruk-hai may have been bare chested but he was incredibly well armored, wearing the legendary "plot armor" Even Legolas was powerless against such magic.
I visited the remains of Burgos Castle in 2008, and though it was mostly destroyed during the Peninsular War, they did have a model there depicting the extensive mining and counter-mining tunnels made during earlier sieges by the Moors in medieval times.
Being that first bloke up the ladder.. Arrow to the face, rock to the face, spear to the face. Its a bloody miracle anybody followed them up that ladder...
We all know the tool, we all informed about strategies.... But there is a missing piece of the puzzle- how to mentally condition soldiers to defy self preservation/ survival instinct to siege/defense?
Sting, in his “Shape of my Heart”, sung “I know that the spades are weapons of war” ;-) By the way nice seeing your school insignia depicted. And imho you could have dedicated one honourable mention (at least) to the ammunition types used with trebuchet and other artillery pieces.
To the besiege fortifications: There is a very popular one in Germany called Burg Trutzeltz. It was little castle (just ruins left), build to besiege Burg Eltz. The word "Trutz" could be translated to "counter" in this context.
The rule of thumb that the offense needs a 3 to 1 (local) superiority to be successful is against opponents in a hasty defense. Basically, the defense found trees to hide behind, stacked up rocks and branches for a makeshift wall, or dug shallow fighting pits. Against a prepared defense, you probably need at least a 5 to 1 advantage. Against an actual fortified construction (say a pillbox, bunker, etc.) you can easily need better than a 20 to 1 advantage. Castles can easily provide its defenders with over 100 to 1 advantage, particularly pre-gunpowder.
Those rabbits are a staple of medieval artworks. Pretty much the equivalent of a modern day shitpost with the concept of rabbits and hares comitting atrocities against humans being seen as rather comedic because it represents a role reversal.
That was amazing and I had a good laugh when I saw that. Was trying to recall which medieval armies were known for deploying rabbits troops and I gotta say I came up blank
Great discussion. Let's not forget the army laying the siege was usually under a time constraint. They had a limited amount of time before reinforcements showed up. So most often they did not have the time to construct a lot of siege engine or towers.
Mining is always under represented in talks about sieges so good job in mentioning that. A group miners from the Forrest of Dean were taken on the Aginourt campaign. Just imagine climbing a ladder, carrying a heavy shield whilst people are trying to kill you, then at the top you need to fight, absolutely terrifying.
Summary - Attacking side: 1. Ladders 2. Artillery - trebuchets, catapults and ballistae (mainly in Antiquity), cannons (from the 14th century) 3. Handheld missile weapons - bows, crossbows, and later handheld firearms 4. Pavise or large shield 5. External fortification - build a castle around the castle. Sometimes, rarely, use siege towers. Honorable mentions: 1. Battering ram - probably weren't used a lot 2. Picks, shovels, axes, and spades - tunnel under the walls and collapse them 3. Bundles of wood, pontoons etc to get over gaps Most important were probably ladders and missile weapons.
Before watching. Catapult, trebuchet, battering ram, ladder for climbing, pick/shovel for tunnelling. Edit: Two on list and two honorable mentions. Better than I expected.
If I hit first to end you rightly, I'm still going to lose. Keep pommels threaded and hit with the sharp part. But yes, strike first whenever possible.
I wonder if ladders were really used, or if they were just an artistic representation. It would make sense to keep the information about what would really be needed from uneducated peasants, because knowledge is power. Imagine you have a 10 meter (30 feet) high wall. Then you would need a ladder that's at least 15 meters (45 feet), and you would have at least 8 soldiers in amour and with weapons climbing. That's nearly a metric ton of weight held by two wooden sticks. I really think you can't make that work.
I heard two interesting things about cannons: 1) the siege of Constantinople was a wake-up call for the European powers. Before this, they were not that interested in this technology and the church was trying to ban their introduction, just like they did with crossbows (and eventually failed). 2) In German-speaking lands, there was a knight, who put all his wealth in the construction of one big cannon. He and his few dozen men were then working as thugs for hire. Whenever a knight failed to pay tax, or a dispute involved a siege, he could be hired for coin and he made a killing from it... Most of his enemies had no gunpowder weapons and if they had, they were early hand-cannons or some tiny cannons which would not pose any significant risk as his cannon had a much greater range and it was strong enough to breach pretty much any defenses given enough time... Most enemies surrendered as soon as they saw him and his cannon! However, one day, he was tasked with subduing a fortified city and that's when his luck turned... The cities defenses were not impressive and there were only a few knights defending it, most were just archers and citizens with mostly improvised weapons and no armor. He expected them to surrender, but they declined. He then shot a breach and charged in and he quickly got past the line of defenders into the city but was soon surrounded by a huge mob of citizens and they were pretty much beaten to death...
Interesting that the concept of "suppressive fire" basically existed in the Medieval era and antiquity. In b4 "the average arrow wasn't very deadly because it only killed 1 in a thousand times fired!"
I would like to see a double fletched arrow, the regular set, then about halfway up the shaft a second set, with a weakening ring behind that. SO that when the arrow shoots off, due to the wobbly effect the back stage might break off yet the arrow-cum-bolt still goes on...yes I know it reduces the force of the impact, the real reason for the weakening ring would be that once the arrow is fired, even if it makes it whole to the target, when pulled out...it would then break rendering it useless (except maybe for the much slower crossbow).
@@FlyingAxblade_D20 any cracks, cuts or imperfections in an arrow makes it possible to explode when loosing, so any archer who likes his eyes wouldn’t shoot that.
@@FlyingAxblade_D20 Yes, as Dylan D says, you do NOT weaken arrow shafts or they"explode" while shooting & injure the archer. Any extra fletching adds drag & slows the arrow quickly. If you want to shoot arrows too short to be returned, you'd use an overdraw device such as the Turkish Sippur; though they may not have been known to most Europeans. Then again crossbows were highly favoured in fortification defence & short arrows could be converted into bolts.
The Romans famously made use of suppression against defenders on walls, even to the point that they created giant (stationary) siege towers to dominate sections of wall they were then to assault with ladders. They'd often put artillery in such towers overlooking the wall, which is a pretty good deterrent for resistance.
You can see why massive rams are popular in fantasy cinema sieges; they’re a heightened version of the common rams of six men with a handy log at a posters gate, and it adds a great focal point for the drama that any layman can tell represents a threat to the defenders.
Well, the ladders are: + cheap + easy to use + fast to build + easy to build + easy to mas produce + easy to carry & travel + multi functional, like for small/personnel size bridge + easy to disassemble
I think you didn't consider the length these ladders would need. It the castle walls are 10m high then you need ladders that are at least 15m. It's hard to find and transport pieces of wood that are this long. And I wonder how you would make them structurally sound because they would have to be able to carry the weight of about 8-10 soldiers with their battle equipment. That would mean the two sticks on the sides of the ladder would need to be able to carry about 1 metric ton. which means they need to be really thick and therefore heavy, which will make them really hard to handle, if you can make ladders that long being capable of carrying that amount of weight at all.
Very interesting, thanks Matt! I'm looking forward to watching the other video on the defensive weapons. Surely there too Holliwood twisted my representation of sieges. n_n
Loved this video. I was hoping one day you’d start covering the topic of sieges, Matt. Any chance we’d get more in the future? Maybe “Misconceptions of Sieges”, whether in movies, games, etc. I know you touched on it a bit with this video but a whole video about it would be fun. Maybe also a video on how a “typical” siege would be carried out, like points on how to take a fortification, etc.
You forgot to mention petrarii, manually-operated "trebuchet" (traction trebuchet, or mangonel), that was used before (from 6th century BC) and then side-by-side with its offspring, often larger and more powerful, counterweight trebuchet (12-16th century).
Something I think only the Romans used were earthen ramps such as that at Masada (I think). It required a very organized, and highly skilled army to use them but once they're in place, they can't be easily destroyed.
I really like how you mention the need to suppress the defenders and keep their heads down by hammering the battlements with the period equivalent of small arms fire while men-at-arms scramble up the ladders, ditches are being filled and/or towers are being wheeled up to the wall. I also really like the mention of defensive works being used by the attackers to guard themselves against sorties, and probably against relieving forces as well. However, I also notice you didn't mention the use of out-works by the defenders to create defence in depth. And so many thanks for mentioning pioneering tools as weapons of war! The shovel, pick, axe and carpenters' tools were truly essential to warfare!
If I can remember, the guide at Conwy Castle said the normal castle garrison was only about 15 soldiers. No more than 30. And if you have been to see that castle, you'd understand why.
I would not relish being the first bloke climbing a massive ladder whilst rocks, oil, arrows and spears are raining down on me, and then having to fight by yourself up the top!!
In the 19th century during the Peninsula War the English called the first wave of troops in a siege the Forlorn Hope. The French called them Enfants Perdus. If you survived you were likely to get a promotion (guaranteed in the case of the French). It's similar to the Dopplesöldner from before that. Give men enough rewards and they will be first in line to do the most dangerous things.
@@Aerroon true but it's a completely different context, in the middle ages you had armor, the ones leading the climb would be knights or the most heavily armed men at arms, the gambesons would be quite good at preventing and absorbing the oil, it wouldn't be comfortable but better that than burned though. While in the 19th century you had no armor unless you were a cuirassier or some special type of cavalry, and storming a breach you would be shot at by grape shot cannon, while also being shot at by muskets and have grenades thrown at you and if you reached th defenders you would facing a wall of bayonets and musket butts, his was made worst by star forts being highly effective at countering attacks from all directions and having far less places where there could be dead spot where the defenders couldn't fire at , most casualties in the middle ages during sieges would be do to enemies sneaking into your camp and poisoning the water or food supply, or this going sour on their own do to other circumstances, as water can go bad and food sour even if you were careful And so if contagious disease spread it wouldt tend to put an end to the siege killing large portions of the army. Although there are outliers such as the siege of constantinople, but then this had abnormally huge defenses compared to everywhere else, so the Turks took atrocious casualties up until when they were getting ready to abandon the siege the Hungarians offered them cannons for a price, and even then with breach's on the wall it wasn't easy but they did it, there is also a myth that a gate was left opened but there is no evidence for this. But usually people wouldn't attempt a direct attack on the walls unless there was something pressing them like an incoming enemy army on its way to relieve the defenders, such as in Badajoz during the Pennisula War, it wasn't a course of action they wanted to take but one they had no choice but to take or lest all their gains be for nothing and would have made the British army vulnerable to potentially devastating counterattacks.
My Picks, - Digging/Construction tools, not only defences and tunnels, but try making a trebuchet without them. There is counter mining, also the attackers men need shelter and infrastructure for living. - Money, treachery seems to have undone as many defences than almost anything else. - Yes, Filling in the gap, see Alexander the Great (chancer) and his siege of Tyre. Before the siege it was an Island in the Med, not afterwards.
Can you do a video on spears with really long metal points, like the ahlspiess, and why they were made that way? I doubt it’s because they were having too many wooden shafts break
Hi Matt I love the videos with long views of medieval art. The pictures are so though provoking and inspire the imagination. I think the ram was used extensively to knock out corner stones when castles had corners. This was attempted on all corners at once and often just a distraction for the underminers. On another note, look at the swordsmen fighting at the top of ladders. What brave men. But think about fight manuals and there is nothing about fighting atop a ladder. There is no room for foot work and most of the wards and attacks are impossible. I believe you would need a very thick heavy durable sword for that type of encounter. A heavy sword that could put up strong solid guard. Very different from a sword used in the treatises and fight manuscripts. Thanks for another great vid matt.
1. Ladders - used in conjunction with hand weapons, large shields 2. Artillery (trebuchets, cannon) 3. Hand weapons (bows, crossbows, handgonnes) - used in conjunction with ladders, pavises 4. Pavise/large shield - used in conjunction with ladders, hand weapons 5. External fortifications (palisades, trenches)
27:50: This also happened in the Peloponnesian War. In 424 BCE, Athenian General Demosthenes conducted a surprise attack on the neighbouring city of Megara. The first objective was the fortified port of the city, Nisaia. Demosthenes sent ahead a contingent of light-armed troops, mostly refugees from the allied city of Plataia. These light-armed stormed the gates swiftly, before the defenders were able to close them, and beat off counterattacks before the main Athenian contingent of heavily armed hoplites came up to secure them. They failed, however, to take Megara proper. They hung on to Nisaia for most of the rest of the war, but never conquered Megara itself. A good demonstration of how a surprise charge at the gates can be the swiftest and most efficient way of taking an enemy fortification.
I can see ropes being less of a battlefield weapon and more of tool of gaining a place via coup d'main, espionage or things akin to modern special forces missions. Small group uses grapples and ropes to sneak over the walls to open the gates without a garrison knowing. Makes sense they won't show up much in art depicting a true battle.
Wheelbarrows. That would have been almost omniprecent in any kind of siege on the siegeworks. Because you can move a heck of a lot more dirt/wood/whatever with a wheelbarrow compared to carying it in your hands.
I think slings and staff slings should have gotten an honorable mention. They aren't the most common thing in medieval period, but I suspect a lot of them were used during sieges of walled villages and small towns as petite versions of a trebuchet. Because that's what they essentially are. There is also a possibility of them being used en masse during large sieges as a sort of a "well, the melee infantry has nothing better to do" thing (you can make a sling out of a strip of cloth in ten seconds tops), but the evidence for that is sparse at best. Speaking of sieges of smaller scale, battering rams were probably used there quite a lot - take your basic wagon, put a log on it and some planks on top, and you have something that can take out the doors of that pesky fortified manor without getting you shot. It's just the sort of warfare that doesn't make it into big chronicles.
In the present day, according to US standard doctrine, a 3 to 1 advantage is required when attacking an enemy on the defense. I think it means a well prepared enemy on the defense. So I imagine that back when forts and castles were a thing, you'd need more than a 3:1 advantage when attacking a well fortified enemy.
I have a question regarding trebuchets (and other pre-gunpowder artillery): How effective were they in creating breaches? I read somewhere that they weren’t powerful enough to smash down walls, and were instead used to take out battlements (crenelations) and any unfortunate defenders who happened to be standing behind them. What do the sources say about this?
I wonder about that too. I don’t see trebuchets, even cannons destroying stone walls. I’ve always thought they just shot at the gate till it collapsed. Its always the weakest part.
The fortification on top of the walls were much thinner tan the wall itself. The wall itself can be weaken as well. If the wall does not fall in the actual fighging season, you can shoot on the same spot in the next one. And don't forget that there are buildings inside a castle or city. Depending on the conflict you may not want to offer them. If the war was about voting for the right king or getting money from merchants, signing a contract is cheaper than fighting.
From my research, the goal was to get the town to surrender rather than to fight your way inside. The constant bombardment from 4-8 kg rocks was about harassing the people living inside the town to make them come out and fight or pay you to go away (the viking approach)
@@wendel5868 cannons can destroy walls, it takes several days to weeks to form a breach, depending on period. Trebuchets were used to destroy crenalations and harass the defenders they couldn't bring down castle walls or do any relevant damage to the wall.
I'd love to hear a video about the non-weapon tools of siege. Modern legend tells us about hurling dead livestock in, redirecting or damming the stream that supplies the castle with water, setting fire to things, building ramps of earth up the wall, sending a cave troll with a big club, testudo formations, grappling hooks fired from giant crossbows or ballistae to secure the ladders with draw ropes etc. There are also all those "Siege ended, no combat required" solutions where one side or the other gives up for reasons other than weapons; disease, famine, thirst, winter, storms, reinforcements (kinda a weapon), the creation of functional supply chains (was that even a thing?), a bribed defender, locusts (I might be misremembering that one), Nazgul, peace negotiations, etc.
Honorable mention to pestilence and starvation? I read a few books on fortifications and sieges. The defense of a castle/city can be as interesting as the office. Counter mining is a tactic. Which goes to detecting mining. One siege, before the medieval period, use brass diaphragms with rods sunk into the ground. They were to detect the vibrations, IE sounds, of mining. In another siege a large bellows was made, with piping that was used to intercept the mine. The bellows were used to pump the smoke and gasses of of burning chicken feathers. The feathers were not cleaned after plucking I'm sure.
Is that scholagladiatoria's castle they're attacking? 1:49 I bet Matt's the one throwing the stone! How could he ever miss, having practiced by throwing stones at butts for many years.
Mining evolved quickly as soon as gun powder arrived. Explosive mining was still in use up until the First World War. A video on mining and counter-mining would be interesting. Not only in ancient of medieval times but in the modern age. Places like Butte de Vauquois, Argonne and Crête des Éparges on the Western Front saw the most extensive mine warfare of the First World War. On Vauquois the French and Germans blew more than 500 mines and counter mines. On Les Éparges around 300. Yet mine warfare is often overlooked in military history no matter the period.
Yah I was surprised that tunneling or sapping didn’t make the top five but glad to see it in the honorable mentions. Although in the same vein I feel like earth works should have made the honorable mentions (trenches and ramps especially) also I always feel like “starving them out” get overlooked. If you’ve got the time (and you don’t always) and you can seal in the defenders, well just wait for them to starve. I think a lot of siege comes down to time. How much time you have before reinforcements come, how much time till supplies run out? And if you don’t have a lot of time I hope you have apt of ladders and arrows!
Ladders would be quite difficult to defend against, even without missiles being shot at you. Unlike in movies, they would be at much greater angles. You would need to push them more than a foot away to tip them. You don't necessarily need hooks or to even reach the very top, reaching a couple feet below the top might stop the ladder from being messed with. You mentioned trenches as being useful for surrounding palisades but and that goes double for defenders. Strong ladders have a limited length and moats are an easy way to push the nearest stable ground beyond that point. Large shields would provide protection, not just from javelins, but against simpler missiles from those above. While they are usually armed with boiling oil in cinema, defenders would probably be more fond of just using large rocks. They are cheap and far more effective if the attackers are not taking care to shield themselves. And similarly to the objective of suppressive fire, when they take care to shield themselves, they will be slower. It seems sensible that wood bundling or other debris would be used to get over tenches but they would not do as well for moats of any significant depth.
From what I understand the ladders would usually be fastened to the walls with rope and iron spikes driven into the wall when possible, so essentially the ladders would be very difficult to push away. Combine that with some hooks or being well placed inside the crenellations so the ladder can't be pushed sideways off the wall and you have a fairly secure ladder. Of course it doesn't protect you from large stones or boiling water being dropped on you, or crossbow bolts being shot at you but it's one less thing to worry about. :)
From my experience(I was a window cleaner for a few years) with ladders, you need the top of the ladder as high or higher than the top of the wall you're assaulting. If it's below the top you end up very flat against the wall with nothing to hold onto & climbing from that position is near impossible.
Ladders are one of the most dangerous things on a construction site. So much so that some construction companies don't allow ladders. I can't imagine using a ladder while people are actively trying to kill me. Let alone modern ladders are very importantly built to a standard. Using a ladder that some guy built is nuts. Now job built ladders are still a thing, they are made to code.
1:43 I think I hear something in the distance... Somebody screaming something. Sounds like something about pouring hot oil through... a machination? Meticulous shin? I can't quite make it out...
The most important in a medieval siege was ..diggers with a sense of direction. Tunnels are lovely ,but if they miss the mark, they wont do you much good. Underground ,in the dark ,its easy to get lost.
I see rams and larger torsion engines like the large Hellenistic or Roman era ballistas and the larger onagers going out because the trebuchet does the same job but is far simpler to build. Smaller versions survive as anti-personnel weapons and even then on the ballista end up getting displaced a good deal by outsized arbalests because in an anti-personnel role a really big crossbow does the same job just as well but is simpler.
Matt, you left off shovels. More fortifications walls fell to mining operations than most of the others. Good video, thanks. Oops, an honorable mention. Hadn't watched it all yet, obviously.
Wonderful video as always. Concerning the diggers/miners who would dig under the castle or fortress. Have you read or read about the Chinese philosopher from China's Warring States period Mo Tzu? He had a few ways to defend against them.
Signup for your FREE trial to The Great Courses Plus here: ow.ly/ChKX30rDCOk
@@F1ghteR41 You beat me to it... F raid!
Hey Matt just curious, do you have any advice on figuring out tang dimensions on hilted blades or potentially any advice on dehilting peened swords without destruction?
Working on replicating blades. Trying to get certain stuff sorted now while I wait to move for space to work on heat treat. Katana are easy but not so much for European and other examples.
And I was curious if you still do the school as once covid is over I was planning to potentially take a trip out and visit. But if you don't remember we've talked before about Japanese sword stuff and I believe I mentioned by replicating antiqued idea for training tools grade weapons.
Tested some of my ideas for faster replication of blades. But finding issues with getting Saber examples. Long swords and things with rotted hilts are easier. I seem to remember you mentioning swords being rehilted in the past as far as restoration work. Though on the extreme side Trying to see if there's a way to get exact measurements.
F
@rosifers silence crazy man
Fire! How is fire in general not on the list?
Excellent point about the suppressive effect of archers. Suppression of the enemy movements is often overlooked in media.
Even in depictions of modern conflict
I believe that’s true for deterrent tactics in general. Movies always like showing soldiers die, but never what they do not to die.
Well I remember a lot of suppressing fire from, the Stargate Series I believe.
@@oneoranota If you've got a p90, you might as well. 😁
That's what having a Leeroy Jenkins is for. You send him in to draw the enemy attention (and their fire) .... Cannon fodder
I’ve heard tell of those who were wise in the ways of science constructing a large wooden rabbit in order to gain entry into a castle. Then again, it could have been a badger.
No, you misunderstand, it was rabbits that were attempting to gain entry to castles. (8:22)
@@GaryDunion no, see, it’s not meant to be taken literally. Any wooden constructed likeness of a rodent or similar animal will suffice.
“ Run away, run away!” ( Monty python)
@@Arachnoid_of_the_underverse Brother Maynard, bring up the Holy Hand Grenade!
@@wisealaundo4580 So you're saying the rabbits were themselves concealed within a large wooden marmot? A bold yet compelling theory, professor.
Fun fact: In medieval English, the trebuchet was known as a trip-gate or trap-gate. (Both variations were used, probably in different parts of England). Only the French said "trebuchet" back then, and Norman-English nobility of course.
A real interesting thing, thanks!
@@scholagladiatoria and castle defenders said "shit...."
@@Adam_okaay unless they were French or Norman, then they said mairde.
@@benholroyd5221 or "chier!" It's slightly more exclamatory.
The Angevin Occitan dialect of French was still the preferred court language in England up until the reign of Henry IV in 1400, so the use of French by the upper classes extended well past the Norman dynasty and well into the Hundred Years Wars.
Police officer: Is that a ladder you're carrying? I arrest you for possession of an offensive weapon.
Well...in England.
In the UK. "You gotta license for that ladder?"
In America: We'll ban ladders because a Jackie Chan movie showed how dangerous of weapon it is. We have statistics of thousands of people dying from ladders every year.
@@GallowglassAxe We must ban Assault Ladders
Wait up Sarge, he's got another pair on the top of his van. I know it says he's an electrician, but I think he's actually a mercenary siege contractor! Just look at his collection of shovels!
I love the picture in picture presentation. Your video quality have been getting better lately.
Thank you very much!
I think one thing that pop culture often misrepresents about siege towers is that they weren't primarily used to get the attackers onto enemy battlements but that they were fortifications in their own right that allowed ranged troops a better angle for shooting at the defenders whilst having some cover themselves.
True, especially considering that most fortification were surrounded by ditched which made approach by a moving tower totally impossible.
Glad you included shovels, picks, and axes in the honourable mentions, since that was the first thing I thought of! Simply digging a trench for cover can be a very important step if the enemy has effective missile weapons.
Also, I grew up in Bungay, where the castle has some of the few surviving examples of medieval undermining, so digging under the walls is more associated in my mind than trying to go over them!
The quality and efficiency of the tools did improve quite a bit during this period. It's probably not a coincidence that iron tools started popping up. It doesn't seem likely that they were developed in peace time. Iron would have been too expensive and wooden picks and shovels were good enough.
Really dig the medieval art that is accompanying your presentation, Matt.
At northern end of swabian Alb plateau, there had been lots of castles. But in contrast to movies, they had been rather small. But this castles often had been protected by nature on three sides, by rocks or terrain falling down rather straight, so an assault was difficult or impossible from two or three sides, and the side you could reach had been narrow or protected by a natural ditch ,which was deepened or widened by human work.
If you only need your castles to threaten the flanks and supply of the enemy to deter them, you don’t need the enormous space needed for garrison and supply of hundreds of men. A small castle in a perilous position has the best defence combo there is - being incredibly hard to take, and giving no value to an invading force that takes it.
@@UnreasonableOpinions : A lot of those small castles had been in bad condition in 14th century, when german Ritter/ knights culture came to an end. Richer or high rank noblemen bought a lot of this castles, even uninhabitated or destroyed ones, but only for Farmland, forests , noblemans rights etc. to enlarge the territory . Most of the remaining castles in my region had been destroyed in 1525 during the Great Farmers Revolt. Some few had been repaired, but most knightts now build palaces / manour houses, some lightly fortified, and few inportant castles had been transformed into modern fortresses.
@@bigredwolf6 : I was perhaps five times at Hohenzollern castle. The first was destroyed in 15th century, the second which was modernized arround 1610 was no more well repaired later and in very bad condition in early 19th century. What you see now is only a romantic monument for Hohenzollern family, the prussian branch owns 2/3 and the swabian branch ( Hohenzollern- Sigmaringen) 1/3. The third castle was never a real Residence, and no Fortress. The Bastions are not intended for cannons, and with exeption of the entrance part, there are not even crenelations on the walls. The entrance fortifications are not so strong as they look, are for 19th century oldfashioned and would not have withstanded cannonfire ( See Bombardement of Marienburg/ Würzburg in 1866).
In Böblingen i was only one time, perhaps 10years ago to visit Bauernkriegs( farmers geholt) - and Butchers museum.
A video from scholagladiatoria is something I need every week
"Ladders: There's not an awful lot more to say about them"
... Lindybeige Lloyd talked about them for 52 minutes.
Well that’s Lloyd for you.
Lloyd: "17 important points about this granite pebble I found at Maldon."
Me: "Two hour runtime? Sure, I'm in."
probably in one take
I wonder if ladders were really used, or if they were just an artistic representation. It would make sense to keep the information about what would really be needed from uneducated peasants, because knowledge is power.
Imagine you have a 10 meter (30 feet) high wall. Then you would need a ladder that's at least 15 meters (45 feet), and you would have at least 8 soldiers in amour and with weapons climbing. That's nearly a metric ton of weight held by two wooden sticks. I really think you can't make that work.
@LUCA SAIYAJIN 20 feet tall ladders wouldn't have helped much with most castle walls considering the angle at which you have to place them.
Roses are red, water comes in liters, trebuchets use a counterweight to shoot a 90kg stone projectile over 300 meters
Water comes in gallons. Roses can be white and pink and yellow too. And beware of the power of my War Wolf.
Gallons do not exist in the real world.
Everyone knows the best siege weapon was a Uruk-hai Berserker with a torch.
The only time Legolas failed.
@@mrdelaney4440 That Uruk-hai may have been bare chested but he was incredibly well armored, wearing the legendary "plot armor" Even Legolas was powerless against such magic.
the Best? Well, as long as its not in the real world: hmmmm, my choice: Drogon 🐲😁
@@EnkaMexi Bard the Bowman: Oh no, not again! *grabs black arrow*
"Anyway...."
@@-Zevin- 🤣
I visited the remains of Burgos Castle in 2008, and though it was mostly destroyed during the Peninsular War, they did have a model there depicting the extensive mining and counter-mining tunnels made during earlier sieges by the Moors in medieval times.
Being that first bloke up the ladder.. Arrow to the face, rock to the face, spear to the face.
Its a bloody miracle anybody followed them up that ladder...
We all know the tool, we all informed about strategies.... But there is a missing piece of the puzzle- how to mentally condition soldiers to defy self preservation/ survival instinct to siege/defense?
I heard it was common for the defenders to throw their feces at the defenders. Which sounds like an efficient and cheap deterrent.
On siege ladders check Lindybeige's video "A point about siege ladders", I really enjoyed it
Sting, in his “Shape of my Heart”, sung “I know that the spades are weapons of war” ;-)
By the way nice seeing your school insignia depicted. And imho you could have dedicated one honourable mention (at least) to the ammunition types used with trebuchet and other artillery pieces.
To the besiege fortifications: There is a very popular one in Germany called Burg Trutzeltz. It was little castle (just ruins left), build to besiege Burg Eltz. The word "Trutz" could be translated to "counter" in this context.
indeed, thought of that one as well... and also the Roman siege fortifications around Alesia.
The rule of thumb that the offense needs a 3 to 1 (local) superiority to be successful is against opponents in a hasty defense. Basically, the defense found trees to hide behind, stacked up rocks and branches for a makeshift wall, or dug shallow fighting pits. Against a prepared defense, you probably need at least a 5 to 1 advantage. Against an actual fortified construction (say a pillbox, bunker, etc.) you can easily need better than a 20 to 1 advantage. Castles can easily provide its defenders with over 100 to 1 advantage, particularly pre-gunpowder.
Well I for one am curious about those besieging bunnies at 8:23. (If possible without Monty Python references but I suppose that's inevitable.)
Those rabbits are a staple of medieval artworks. Pretty much the equivalent of a modern day shitpost with the concept of rabbits and hares comitting atrocities against humans being seen as rather comedic because it represents a role reversal.
That was amazing and I had a good laugh when I saw that. Was trying to recall which medieval armies were known for deploying rabbits troops and I gotta say I came up blank
Great discussion. Let's not forget the army laying the siege was usually under a time constraint. They had a limited amount of time before reinforcements showed up. So most often they did not have the time to construct a lot of siege engine or towers.
Mining is always under represented in talks about sieges so good job in mentioning that. A group miners from the Forrest of Dean were taken on the Aginourt campaign. Just imagine climbing a ladder, carrying a heavy shield whilst people are trying to kill you, then at the top you need to fight, absolutely terrifying.
1:55 the dude with the red Surcoat on the left, is my everyday mood graphically represented.
Summary - Attacking side:
1. Ladders
2. Artillery - trebuchets, catapults and ballistae (mainly in Antiquity), cannons (from the 14th century)
3. Handheld missile weapons - bows, crossbows, and later handheld firearms
4. Pavise or large shield
5. External fortification - build a castle around the castle. Sometimes, rarely, use siege towers.
Honorable mentions:
1. Battering ram - probably weren't used a lot
2. Picks, shovels, axes, and spades - tunnel under the walls and collapse them
3. Bundles of wood, pontoons etc to get over gaps
Most important were probably ladders and missile weapons.
Before watching. Catapult, trebuchet, battering ram, ladder for climbing, pick/shovel for tunnelling.
Edit: Two on list and two honorable mentions. Better than I expected.
22:30 Yup. A flaming barrel would presumably do a lot more to make someone soil themselves than a flaming arrow.
Fascinating to hear your thoughts as always Matt - cheers and take care!
Thought you would talk about the mantlet instead of the pavise, but close enough. Very interesting video as always!
It doesn't matter what weapon you have as long as you hit FIRST
Again! You're on fire. Much like some fortifications during a siege.
If I hit first to end you rightly, I'm still going to lose. Keep pommels threaded and hit with the sharp part. But yes, strike first whenever possible.
@@ronnoc5278 Skallagrim wants to know your lokation.
Unless in the words of the famous Admiral Ackbar "It's a trap!"
I got you first with my foam stick.
I win right?
Lindybeige made a nice video about siege ladders ("A point about siege ladders"). It's worth to watch.
I wonder if ladders were really used, or if they were just an artistic representation. It would make sense to keep the information about what would really be needed from uneducated peasants, because knowledge is power.
Imagine you have a 10 meter (30 feet) high wall. Then you would need a ladder that's at least 15 meters (45 feet), and you would have at least 8 soldiers in amour and with weapons climbing. That's nearly a metric ton of weight held by two wooden sticks. I really think you can't make that work.
Matt, you should really make the follow up video for the defender's weapons in medieval sieges. Great video!
Nice to see you got a sponsor that fits your content :)
I may do a comparison to this with Japanese ladders. Great video.
I heard two interesting things about cannons:
1) the siege of Constantinople was a wake-up call for the European powers. Before this, they were not that interested in this technology and the church was trying to ban their introduction, just like they did with crossbows (and eventually failed).
2) In German-speaking lands, there was a knight, who put all his wealth in the construction of one big cannon. He and his few dozen men were then working as thugs for hire. Whenever a knight failed to pay tax, or a dispute involved a siege, he could be hired for coin and he made a killing from it... Most of his enemies had no gunpowder weapons and if they had, they were early hand-cannons or some tiny cannons which would not pose any significant risk as his cannon had a much greater range and it was strong enough to breach pretty much any defenses given enough time... Most enemies surrendered as soon as they saw him and his cannon!
However, one day, he was tasked with subduing a fortified city and that's when his luck turned... The cities defenses were not impressive and there were only a few knights defending it, most were just archers and citizens with mostly improvised weapons and no armor. He expected them to surrender, but they declined. He then shot a breach and charged in and he quickly got past the line of defenders into the city but was soon surrounded by a huge mob of citizens and they were pretty much beaten to death...
Interesting that the concept of "suppressive fire" basically existed in the Medieval era and antiquity.
In b4 "the average arrow wasn't very deadly because it only killed 1 in a thousand times fired!"
I would like to see a double fletched arrow, the regular set, then about halfway up the shaft a second set, with a weakening ring behind that. SO that when the arrow shoots off, due to the wobbly effect the back stage might break off yet the arrow-cum-bolt still goes on...yes I know it reduces the force of the impact, the real reason for the weakening ring would be that once the arrow is fired, even if it makes it whole to the target, when pulled out...it would then break rendering it useless (except maybe for the much slower crossbow).
@@FlyingAxblade_D20 any cracks, cuts or imperfections in an arrow makes it possible to explode when loosing, so any archer who likes his eyes wouldn’t shoot that.
@@FlyingAxblade_D20 Yes, as Dylan D says, you do NOT weaken arrow shafts or they"explode" while shooting & injure the archer. Any extra fletching adds drag & slows the arrow quickly. If you want to shoot arrows too short to be returned, you'd use an overdraw device such as the Turkish Sippur; though they may not have been known to most Europeans. Then again crossbows were highly favoured in fortification defence & short arrows could be converted into bolts.
Great content great channel. Thank you from Canada
Really enjoyed this video! Would definitely watch more like this 😊
The Romans famously made use of suppression against defenders on walls, even to the point that they created giant (stationary) siege towers to dominate sections of wall they were then to assault with ladders. They'd often put artillery in such towers overlooking the wall, which is a pretty good deterrent for resistance.
You can see why massive rams are popular in fantasy cinema sieges; they’re a heightened version of the common rams of six men with a handy log at a posters gate, and it adds a great focal point for the drama that any layman can tell represents a threat to the defenders.
Well, the ladders are:
+ cheap
+ easy to use
+ fast to build
+ easy to build
+ easy to mas produce
+ easy to carry & travel
+ multi functional, like for small/personnel size bridge
+ easy to disassemble
Made from wood thick enough to bear several people at once, they'd be pretty heavy & also need decent carpenters to make them.
I think you didn't consider the length these ladders would need. It the castle walls are 10m high then you need ladders that are at least 15m. It's hard to find and transport pieces of wood that are this long. And I wonder how you would make them structurally sound because they would have to be able to carry the weight of about 8-10 soldiers with their battle equipment. That would mean the two sticks on the sides of the ladder would need to be able to carry about 1 metric ton. which means they need to be really thick and therefore heavy, which will make them really hard to handle, if you can make ladders that long being capable of carrying that amount of weight at all.
Fantastic content as always. Thanks so much !!!
Very interesting, thanks Matt! I'm looking forward to watching the other video on the defensive weapons. Surely there too Holliwood twisted my representation of sieges. n_n
Yes, please, to a future defending castle's weapons-video :)
I'm so freaking glad I said shovels and picks. Lol I was ready to make a uppity comment when I didnt hear it on ur list
Loved this video. I was hoping one day you’d start covering the topic of sieges, Matt.
Any chance we’d get more in the future? Maybe “Misconceptions of Sieges”, whether in movies, games, etc. I know you touched on it a bit with this video but a whole video about it would be fun.
Maybe also a video on how a “typical” siege would be carried out, like points on how to take a fortification, etc.
You forgot to mention petrarii, manually-operated "trebuchet" (traction trebuchet, or mangonel), that was used before (from 6th century BC) and then side-by-side with its offspring, often larger and more powerful, counterweight trebuchet (12-16th century).
I love the lack of scale on the paintings in the video. Soldiers as tall as the walls they are climbing? It looks so hillarious!
Something I think only the Romans used were earthen ramps such as that at Masada (I think). It required a very organized, and highly skilled army to use them but once they're in place, they can't be easily destroyed.
Best weapon on a siege: Shovels
Digging ditchs is the most important thing.
You can ask a Kriegsman about others uses also.
@@troublesome9654 I believe that they just keep digging until they find someone, or the commander order a charge. lol
I really like how you mention the need to suppress the defenders and keep their heads down by hammering the battlements with the period equivalent of small arms fire while men-at-arms scramble up the ladders, ditches are being filled and/or towers are being wheeled up to the wall.
I also really like the mention of defensive works being used by the attackers to guard themselves against sorties, and probably against relieving forces as well. However, I also notice you didn't mention the use of out-works by the defenders to create defence in depth.
And so many thanks for mentioning pioneering tools as weapons of war! The shovel, pick, axe and carpenters' tools were truly essential to warfare!
Sunday after noon history lesson.what could be better.
If I can remember, the guide at Conwy Castle said the normal castle garrison was only about 15 soldiers. No more than 30. And if you have been to see that castle, you'd understand why.
I would not relish being the first bloke climbing a massive ladder whilst rocks, oil, arrows and spears are raining down on me, and then having to fight by yourself up the top!!
In the 19th century during the Peninsula War the English called the first wave of troops in a siege the Forlorn Hope. The French called them Enfants Perdus. If you survived you were likely to get a promotion (guaranteed in the case of the French). It's similar to the Dopplesöldner from before that. Give men enough rewards and they will be first in line to do the most dangerous things.
Make sure you have a good helmet
@@Aerroon true but it's a completely different context, in the middle ages you had armor, the ones leading the climb would be knights or the most heavily armed men at arms, the gambesons would be quite good at preventing and absorbing the oil, it wouldn't be comfortable but better that than burned though.
While in the 19th century you had no armor unless you were a cuirassier or some special type of cavalry, and storming a breach you would be shot at by grape shot cannon, while also being shot at by muskets and have grenades thrown at you and if you reached th defenders you would facing a wall of bayonets and musket butts, his was made worst by star forts being highly effective at countering attacks from all directions and having far less places where there could be dead spot where the defenders couldn't fire at , most casualties in the middle ages during sieges would be do to enemies sneaking into your camp and poisoning the water or food supply, or this going sour on their own do to other circumstances, as water can go bad and food sour even if you were careful
And so if contagious disease spread it wouldt tend to put an end to the siege killing large portions of the army.
Although there are outliers such as the siege of constantinople, but then this had abnormally huge defenses compared to everywhere else, so the Turks took atrocious casualties up until when they were getting ready to abandon the siege the Hungarians offered them cannons for a price, and even then with breach's on the wall it wasn't easy but they did it, there is also a myth that a gate was left opened but there is no evidence for this.
But usually people wouldn't attempt a direct attack on the walls unless there was something pressing them like an incoming enemy army on its way to relieve the defenders, such as in Badajoz during the Pennisula War, it wasn't a course of action they wanted to take but one they had no choice but to take or lest all their gains be for nothing and would have made the British army vulnerable to potentially devastating counterattacks.
Dude the rocks and stuff don't bother me. The boiling oil and fat and pitch though.
Nah uh fuck that.
@@Aerroon they also got paid more usually.
Without looking: Time, Starvation, Disease, Treachery and Boredom.
Honourable mention to winter and contract expiry
I was just thinking about writing a story involving a siege so great timing on the video.
As a veteran of Field Artillery (13Bravo) I approve this message…💥💣👀
Greetings, my fellow tinnitus poster boy
@@bandit6272 WHAT?
@@Thatonedude227 I didn't catch that, what did you say??
@@bandit6272 cracking response.
My Picks,
- Digging/Construction tools, not only defences and tunnels, but try making a trebuchet without them. There is counter mining, also the attackers men need shelter and infrastructure for living.
- Money, treachery seems to have undone as many defences than almost anything else.
- Yes, Filling in the gap, see Alexander the Great (chancer) and his siege of Tyre. Before the siege it was an Island in the Med, not afterwards.
Can you do a video on spears with really long metal points, like the ahlspiess, and why they were made that way? I doubt it’s because they were having too many wooden shafts break
A huge wooden rabbit!
A huge wooden rabbit? Are you trying to pull that stunt from the Iliad on me?
Fetchez la vache!
No one expects the wood rabbit.
Hi Matt
I love the videos with long views of medieval art. The pictures are so though provoking and inspire the imagination.
I think the ram was used extensively to knock out corner stones when castles had corners. This was attempted on all corners at once and often just a distraction for the underminers.
On another note, look at the swordsmen fighting at the top of ladders. What brave men. But think about fight manuals and there is nothing about fighting atop a ladder. There is no room for foot work and most of the wards and attacks are impossible. I believe you would need a very thick heavy durable sword for that type of encounter. A heavy sword that could put up strong solid guard.
Very different from a sword used in the treatises and fight manuscripts.
Thanks for another great vid matt.
Very interesting. Great video!
I was expecting to hear about 15th century culveriners, the firearm predecessor. Regards.
Now that you mention Artillery in the world wars- Would you consider the Battle for Castle Itter in 1945 the last Castle siege?
Yay, siege weapons!
Nice talk.
Now you need one from the besieged's point of view. Countermining and counter-counter fortifications are trippy.
1. Ladders - used in conjunction with hand weapons, large shields
2. Artillery (trebuchets, cannon)
3. Hand weapons (bows, crossbows, handgonnes) - used in conjunction with ladders, pavises
4. Pavise/large shield - used in conjunction with ladders, hand weapons
5. External fortifications (palisades, trenches)
27:50: This also happened in the Peloponnesian War. In 424 BCE, Athenian General Demosthenes conducted a surprise attack on the neighbouring city of Megara. The first objective was the fortified port of the city, Nisaia. Demosthenes sent ahead a contingent of light-armed troops, mostly refugees from the allied city of Plataia. These light-armed stormed the gates swiftly, before the defenders were able to close them, and beat off counterattacks before the main Athenian contingent of heavily armed hoplites came up to secure them. They failed, however, to take Megara proper. They hung on to Nisaia for most of the rest of the war, but never conquered Megara itself. A good demonstration of how a surprise charge at the gates can be the swiftest and most efficient way of taking an enemy fortification.
I can see ropes being less of a battlefield weapon and more of tool of gaining a place via coup d'main, espionage or things akin to modern special forces missions. Small group uses grapples and ropes to sneak over the walls to open the gates without a garrison knowing. Makes sense they won't show up much in art depicting a true battle.
Wheelbarrows. That would have been almost omniprecent in any kind of siege on the siegeworks. Because you can move a heck of a lot more dirt/wood/whatever with a wheelbarrow compared to carying it in your hands.
I think slings and staff slings should have gotten an honorable mention. They aren't the most common thing in medieval period, but I suspect a lot of them were used during sieges of walled villages and small towns as petite versions of a trebuchet. Because that's what they essentially are. There is also a possibility of them being used en masse during large sieges as a sort of a "well, the melee infantry has nothing better to do" thing (you can make a sling out of a strip of cloth in ten seconds tops), but the evidence for that is sparse at best.
Speaking of sieges of smaller scale, battering rams were probably used there quite a lot - take your basic wagon, put a log on it and some planks on top, and you have something that can take out the doors of that pesky fortified manor without getting you shot. It's just the sort of warfare that doesn't make it into big chronicles.
I wish to know more about the fuzzy hats at 26:30
In the present day, according to US standard doctrine, a 3 to 1 advantage is required when attacking an enemy on the defense. I think it means a well prepared enemy on the defense. So I imagine that back when forts and castles were a thing, you'd need more than a 3:1 advantage when attacking a well fortified enemy.
I have a question regarding trebuchets (and other pre-gunpowder artillery): How effective were they in creating breaches? I read somewhere that they weren’t powerful enough to smash down walls, and were instead used to take out battlements (crenelations) and any unfortunate defenders who happened to be standing behind them. What do the sources say about this?
I wonder about that too. I don’t see trebuchets, even cannons destroying stone walls. I’ve always thought they just shot at the gate till it collapsed. Its always the weakest part.
The fortification on top of the walls were much thinner tan the wall itself.
The wall itself can be weaken as well. If the wall does not fall in the actual fighging season, you can shoot on the same spot in the next one.
And don't forget that there are buildings inside a castle or city. Depending on the conflict you may not want to offer them. If the war was about voting for the right king or getting money from merchants, signing a contract is cheaper than fighting.
From my research, the goal was to get the town to surrender rather than to fight your way inside. The constant bombardment from 4-8 kg rocks was about harassing the people living inside the town to make them come out and fight or pay you to go away (the viking approach)
@@wendel5868 cannons can destroy walls, it takes several days to weeks to form a breach, depending on period.
Trebuchets were used to destroy crenalations and harass the defenders they couldn't bring down castle walls or do any relevant damage to the wall.
Lindybeige approves of this rambling advert. Seriously, nice overview of siege tech, Matt. Ta muchly.
Ah, the trebuchet. The favoured siege weapon of the killer rabbit.
Wonderful video! Of course I eat these illustrations up like the eye-candy they are!🍬🍭😁
Trebuchet are awesome.
Imagine how scary that kinda siege would be. Cannons and ballista are nuts too.
''there is potentially a whole nother video looking at the defensive weapons used by the defenders in the Castle'' please do
I'd love to hear a video about the non-weapon tools of siege. Modern legend tells us about hurling dead livestock in, redirecting or damming the stream that supplies the castle with water, setting fire to things, building ramps of earth up the wall, sending a cave troll with a big club, testudo formations, grappling hooks fired from giant crossbows or ballistae to secure the ladders with draw ropes etc.
There are also all those "Siege ended, no combat required" solutions where one side or the other gives up for reasons other than weapons; disease, famine, thirst, winter, storms, reinforcements (kinda a weapon), the creation of functional supply chains (was that even a thing?), a bribed defender, locusts (I might be misremembering that one), Nazgul, peace negotiations, etc.
Matt could you put list of images you used? If they are public domain of course.
I hope you do make the top five siege defence weapons video
8:25 Don't forget the Siege rabbits!
Honorable mention to pestilence and starvation?
I read a few books on fortifications and sieges. The defense of a castle/city can be as interesting as the office.
Counter mining is a tactic. Which goes to detecting mining. One siege, before the medieval period, use brass diaphragms with rods sunk into the ground. They were to detect the vibrations, IE sounds, of mining. In another siege a large bellows was made, with piping that was used to intercept the mine. The bellows were used to pump the smoke and gasses of of burning chicken feathers. The feathers were not cleaned after plucking I'm sure.
I guess gatehouses, especially in the later periods, were specifically designed to make trying to use a battering ram completely suicidal.
Nevertheless, destroying gates with mines was used up to 19th century.
@@morriganmhor5078 I think it was mainly walls that were undermined... but I was talking about battering rams, not mining.
@@ariochiv I didn´t mean anything about mining but some specific kind of bomb placed on the gate a blown.
Is that scholagladiatoria's castle they're attacking? 1:49 I bet Matt's the one throwing the stone! How could he ever miss, having practiced by throwing stones at butts for many years.
Looks like Scholagladiatoria's flag is with the attackers the triple crown flag is the defenders.
@@falconJB Dear me, you are right! Does that mean Matt has infiltrated the defenders' castle? Or perhaps he is the fellow resting in the tent?!
Mining evolved quickly as soon as gun powder arrived. Explosive mining was still in use up until the First World War. A video on mining and counter-mining would be interesting. Not only in ancient of medieval times but in the modern age. Places like Butte de Vauquois, Argonne and Crête des Éparges on the Western Front saw the most extensive mine warfare of the First World War. On Vauquois the French and Germans blew more than 500 mines and counter mines. On Les Éparges around 300. Yet mine warfare is often overlooked in military history no matter the period.
Yah I was surprised that tunneling or sapping didn’t make the top five but glad to see it in the honorable mentions. Although in the same vein I feel like earth works should have made the honorable mentions (trenches and ramps especially) also I always feel like “starving them out” get overlooked. If you’ve got the time (and you don’t always) and you can seal in the defenders, well just wait for them to starve. I think a lot of siege comes down to time. How much time you have before reinforcements come, how much time till supplies run out? And if you don’t have a lot of time I hope you have apt of ladders and arrows!
Excellent video once more !
Ladders would be quite difficult to defend against, even without missiles being shot at you. Unlike in movies, they would be at much greater angles. You would need to push them more than a foot away to tip them. You don't necessarily need hooks or to even reach the very top, reaching a couple feet below the top might stop the ladder from being messed with.
You mentioned trenches as being useful for surrounding palisades but and that goes double for defenders. Strong ladders have a limited length and moats are an easy way to push the nearest stable ground beyond that point. Large shields would provide protection, not just from javelins, but against simpler missiles from those above. While they are usually armed with boiling oil in cinema, defenders would probably be more fond of just using large rocks. They are cheap and far more effective if the attackers are not taking care to shield themselves. And similarly to the objective of suppressive fire, when they take care to shield themselves, they will be slower. It seems sensible that wood bundling or other debris would be used to get over tenches but they would not do as well for moats of any significant depth.
From what I understand the ladders would usually be fastened to the walls with rope and iron spikes driven into the wall when possible, so essentially the ladders would be very difficult to push away. Combine that with some hooks or being well placed inside the crenellations so the ladder can't be pushed sideways off the wall and you have a fairly secure ladder. Of course it doesn't protect you from large stones or boiling water being dropped on you, or crossbow bolts being shot at you but it's one less thing to worry about. :)
Arrows and bolts go through shields
@@throeawae2130 Depends on the arrow, bolt, bow, crossbow & shield. Some may, some won't.
From my experience(I was a window cleaner for a few years) with ladders, you need the top of the ladder as high or higher than the top of the wall you're assaulting. If it's below the top you end up very flat against the wall with nothing to hold onto & climbing from that position is near impossible.
Ladders are one of the most dangerous things on a construction site. So much so that some construction companies don't allow ladders. I can't imagine using a ladder while people are actively trying to kill me. Let alone modern ladders are very importantly built to a standard. Using a ladder that some guy built is nuts. Now job built ladders are still a thing, they are made to code.
Dead cows lobbed by catapult? Lol!
Matt, would Siege war be the origins of the War Pick? And would there be a war Shovel as well?
If any of your troops has died from disease, that's excellent projectiles.
A bit more modern. ua-cam.com/video/B_m2lZOQzIA/v-deo.html
1:43 I think I hear something in the distance... Somebody screaming something. Sounds like something about pouring hot oil through... a machination? Meticulous shin? I can't quite make it out...
Matt: "An object many of you might own."
Me: "Trebuchet!"
Matt: "A ladder."
Matt: "Actually, I don't have one of those..."
But you have a Trebuchet?
So glad you mentioned the importance of brass cannons in the fall of Constantinople
The most important in a medieval siege was ..diggers with a sense of direction. Tunnels are lovely ,but if they miss the mark, they wont do you much good.
Underground ,in the dark ,its easy to get lost.
I see rams and larger torsion engines like the large Hellenistic or Roman era ballistas and the larger onagers going out because the trebuchet does the same job but is far simpler to build. Smaller versions survive as anti-personnel weapons and even then on the ballista end up getting displaced a good deal by outsized arbalests because in an anti-personnel role a really big crossbow does the same job just as well but is simpler.
Matt, you left off shovels. More fortifications walls fell to mining operations than most of the others. Good video, thanks. Oops, an honorable mention. Hadn't watched it all yet, obviously.
He did include them in the honourable mentions
@@taylor_green_9 Yes, I see. Thanks.
8:25 where can I get a copy of the War Rabbits image ?
Wonderful video as always. Concerning the diggers/miners who would dig under the castle or fortress. Have you read or read about the Chinese philosopher from China's Warring States period Mo Tzu? He had a few ways to defend against them.
Asian weapons don’t get much love on this channel. Audience is too eurocentric.