Siege weapon question

[Bruce N H]

Hi all,

Over in MOCs I posted about these:
http://www.ozbricks.com/bricktales/misc ... isc07.html
but I had a question for our resident medievalists. I called the little portable walls to protect attackers "mantlets" but was not quite sure if that was right. Pictures of mantlets I saw on-line were all of wheeled versions. Is this a proper name? Also, could you shed light on the whole catapult vs onager thing? Is one of these with a sling and the other with a bucket, or are the names interchangable (or does this all depend on era and locale)?

Bruce

[doctorsparkles]

Hi all,

Over in MOCs I posted about these:
http://www.ozbricks.com/bricktales/misc ... isc07.html
but I had a question for our resident medievalists. I called the little portable walls to protect attackers "mantlets" but was not quite sure if that was right. Pictures of mantlets I saw on-line were all of wheeled versions. Is this a proper name? Also, could you shed light on the whole catapult vs onager thing? Is one of these with a sling and the other with a bucket, or are the names interchangable (or does this all depend on era and locale)?

Bruce

According to Merriam-Webster, a mantlet is "a movable shelter formerly used by besiegers as a protection when attacking." There's no mention of wheels.
I believe that 'catapult' is a more generic term used to describe a number of siege machines. An onager (or mangonel; onager means 'wild Megablocks.') should have a sling rather than a spoon or bucket. An interesting note: while almost every artist depicts an onager with wheels, wheels were only used to transport the machine. They were then removed, as they would negatively affect the throwing range.

[Bruce N H]

Is there a name for the type of catapult that has a bucket? Or are these even authentic?

Bruce

[doctorsparkles]

Is there a name for the type of catapult that has a bucket? Or are these even authentic?

Bruce

That, unfortunately, is a question that I can't answer.

[Robin Hood]

Is there a name for the type of catapult that has a bucket? Or are these even authentic?

Bruce

I think it is just a catapult.

[JPinoy]

That name would be.... Mangonel. Another name was Onager, but that was Roman.

[doctorsparkles]

And now that you've got conflicting responses, you're probably just as confused as ever.
Maybe some links will help you decide for yourself. Here's one where you can buy miniature catapult kits. Notice that none of them have a bucket/spoon/whatever: http://www.catapultkits.com/

A page about the onager specifically. If you look around a bit, you'll find info about some other weapons: http://members.lycos.nl/onager/

This link is self-explanatory: http://www.siege-engine.com/