Editing Trebuchet (section)

{{Short description|Siege engine using a long arm to throw projectiles}}
{{other uses}}
{{pp-pc}}
[[File:Trebuchet Castelnaud.jpg|thumb|300px|Replica counterweight trebuchets at [[Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle|Château de Castelnaud]]]]
[[File:MongolsBesiegingACityInTheMiddleEast13thCentury.jpg|thumb|300px|Counterweight trebuchet used in a siege from the ''[[Jami' al-tawarikh]]'', c. 1306-18{{sfn|Fulton|2018|p=425}}{{sfn|Needham|1994|p=236}}]]

A '''trebuchet'''{{refn|Pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|r|ɛ|b|ʊ|ʃ|eɪ}} {{respell|TREB|uu-shay}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|r|ɛ|b|ə|ʃ|ɛ|t}} {{respell|TREB|ə-shet}} or {{IPAc-en|ˌ|t|r|ɛ|b|j|ʊ|ˈ|ʃ|ɛ|t}} {{respell|TREB|yuu|SHET}};<ref>OED, Random House Unabridged Dictionary</ref> also spelled '''trebucket''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|r|iː|b|ʌ|k|ɪ|t}} {{respell|TREE|buk|it}} or {{IPAc-en|ˌ|t|r|ɛ|b|j|ʊ|ˈ|k|ɛ|t}} {{respell|TREB|yuu|KET}}<ref>Random House Unabridged Dictionary</ref>|group="nb"}} ({{langx|fr|trébuchet}}) is a type of [[catapult]]{{sfn|Janin|2014|p=41}} that uses a hinged arm with a sling attached to the tip to launch a projectile. It was a common powerful [[siege engine]] until the advent of [[gunpowder]]. The design of a trebuchet allows it to launch projectiles of greater weights and further distances than a traditional catapult.

There are two main types of trebuchet. The first is the ''traction trebuchet'', or [[mangonel]], which uses manpower to swing the arm. It first appeared in China by the 4th century BC. It spread westward, possibly via the [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]], and was adopted by the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]], [[Persians]], [[Arabs]], and other neighboring peoples by the sixth to seventh centuries AD.<ref name=PAUL/><ref>{{harvnb|Graff|2016|p=142}} "Another, more specifically Chinese contribution to military technology that may have been carried westward by the Avars is the traction trebuchet. In contrast to the counterweighted trebuchet..."</ref><ref name="purton 2009 33"/>

The later, and often larger and more powerful, '''counterweight trebuchet''', also known as the '''counterpoise trebuchet''', uses a [[counterweight]] to swing the arm. It appeared in both Christian and Muslim lands around the Mediterranean in the 12th century, and was carried back to China by the Mongols in the 13th century.<ref name="fulton 2016 4">{{harvnb|Fulton|2016|pp=4–5}} "Although this is strong evidence that this type of technology was known, and likely employed, in the Levant before the first known use of 'trebuchet', there is little consensus among scholars as to when and where the counterweight trebuchet was first developed. Al-Tarsusi's description and accompanying illustration are far from conclusive proof that this type of engine was developed in the Islamic world. At the siege of Acre in 1189-91, eyewitness sources provide no indication that the artillery employed by either the Muslim garrison or the crusaders was superior."</ref>