Siege Warfare

Question 1

what did medieval siege warfare look like?

Answer 1

• often short sieges w/ simple equipment
• usually won by direct assult
• made use of materials at hand

Question 2

why was siege warfare so common?

Answer 2

• can’t gain control of a region unless you control all fortified sites
• strategic significance (borders, toll collection points, places of religious significance)
• attractive sources of loot & resources
• surprise attacks limit the loss of life

Question 3

what were typical siege conventions?

Answer 3

• announce intention
• opportunity to surrender (risk of treason accusations but persons & property not respected unless surrender is immediate)
• acceptable if lacking supplies or hope of relief (often planned around times of harvest)
• negotiation preferable (churches often acted as mediators)
• ritual of surrender (trumpets, public handing over of keys, etc.)

Question 4

what is the storm siege technique?

Answer 4

• storm = victory by assault
• killing, rape, & enslavement accepted as the victor’s right
• terms of conditional surrender unfavourable for defenders
• truce was sometimes temporary (hostages exhanged as guarantees)
• fortresses that fell by storm were given no mercy to whoever was left behind

Question 5

what did the beginning of a siege look like?

Answer 5

• firing of weapons means siege has begun
• blockades & counter defence
  - commonly laid waste to land so foragers would struggle to eat
  - water supplies often accessed through castle tunnels
  - water sometimes tained by besiegers
• expel non-combatants

Question 6

what were common siege strategies?

Answer 6

blockade

• attackers waiting until defenders ran out of food & water
• expensive & time consuming
• attacks risk running out of provisions

attack over, under, or through walls

• continuous attack throughout the day
• storms

ladders, spurs, ditches, & moats

• defenders would attempt to push down ladders, throw tones, stab, etc.

Question 7

what were different methods for defence during siege?

Answer 7

• push down ladders
• crossbows w/ arrow slits to aim from inside walls
• stones common as missles (women & kids could throw/drop rocks)
• moats & ditches filled w/ water and/or spikes
• siege towers
  - could be stationary or mounted on wheels
  - defenders could light them on fire or knock them down
  - archers & crossbows could be shot from inside

Question 8

how did besiegers break through castle walls?

Answer 8

wooden walls:

• fire (takes a long time)
• axes (besiegers exposed)

stone walls (common ca. 1100):

• hand tools (e.g. crowbars)
• battering rams (mounted on wheels & hung from chains, can take up to 60 men to operate)
• bores (wooden beam w/ metal pointed end) used to drill holes in wall

Question 9

what are the different types of stone throwers?

Answer 9

• torison
• traction trebuchet
• counterweight trebuchet

stonethrowers were ideal for injuring those behind castle walls or for knocking the walls down

Question 10

what is the torsion?

Answer 10

• anti-personnel devices meant to shoot people & other machines
• shot javelins or rocks
• complicated to fire & needed continual care

Question 11

what is the traction trebuchet?

Answer 11

• throwing arm & long tapered end
• on axel to pivot freely
• could be made larger or smaller as needed
• crews pull on ropes

Question 12

what is the counterweight trebuchet?

Answer 12

• developed end of late 12th to early 13th c.
• uses counterweight rather than ropes (box filled with sand, rocks, or dirt)
• swung on hinge to allow gravity to do the work
• used to take down walls & siege engines
• slow to fire (roughly once every 20 min)
• powerful enough to fling humans or dead horses

Question 13

what are siege engines?

Answer 13

• ballista or springvald (large crossbow firing arrows or bolts)
• primary targets for defenders
• hostages used as collateral for not attacking siege engines
• expensive & hard to built/transport

Question 14

what were ‘other’ siege techniques?

(aside from siege machines)

Answer 14

• artillery fortresses by end of 15th c. (placed outside towns & vulnerable places)
• incendiary devices used by attackers & defenders (flaming arrows covered in incendiary paste used to form smoke screens)
• mining under castle walls (could make walls collapse, hard for defenders to locate mining activities)

Question 15

how did psychological warfare function?

Answer 15

• demoralization of the enemy to humiliate them
• decapitated heads & dead bodies used as weapons & to spread disease
• hanging the dead to send a message
• death, imprisonment, & slavery
• goal was to kill as many enemies as possible