Mangonel

Miniature model of a Chinese mangonel (traction trebuchet)

The mangonel, also called the traction trebuchet, was a type of trebuchet used in Ancient China starting from the Warring States period, and later across Eurasia by the 6th century AD. Unlike the later counterweight trebuchet, the mangonel operated on manpower-pulling cords attached to a lever and sling to launch projectiles.[1]

Although the mangonel required more men to function, it was also less complex and faster to reload than the torsion-powered onager which it replaced in early Medieval Europe. It was replaced as the primary siege weapon in the 12th and 13th centuries by the counterweight trebuchet.[2][3][4] A common misconception about the mangonel is that it was a torsion siege engine.[5]

  1. ^ Purton 2006, p. 79.
  2. ^ Purton 2009, p. 366.
  3. ^ Chevedden, Paul E.; et al. (July 1995). "The Trebuchet". Scientific American: 66–71. http://static.sewanee.edu/physics/PHYSICS103/trebuchet.pdf Archived 2015-06-15 at the Wayback Machine. Original version.
  4. ^ Graff 2016, p. 141.
  5. ^ Purton 2006, p. 80, 89.