Trebuchet

Timeline

1. 1351–1360Northern France and Flanders · NorthIn the 1350s, both English and French forces continuously used counterweight trebuchets and traction mangonels in Hundred Years' War sieges. Trebuchets took weeks to assemble, consisting of a timber frame, counterweight box, and long throwing arm, capable of hurling stone projectiles of over a hundred kilograms. After Edward III's siege of Calais (1346–1347), the trebuchet became standard English siege equipment, posing a persistent threat to brick and stone walls.
2. 1355–1360Western Asia and northern China · Middle EastIn the mid-14th century, Middle Eastern polities such as the Ilkhanate and Mamluks continued the Islamic tradition of stone-throwing engines in fortress warfare. Meanwhile, during the late Yuan dynastic wars in China, defenders combined wall barbicans with stone-throwing engines; the 'Huihui pao' (Hui-style trebuchet) technology used earlier at the siege of Xiangyang had already reached the Central Plains. Though differing in form, both ends of Eurasia achieved long-range stone strikes through the lever-throwing principle.