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~Colete, Trimaris


Tune in tomorrow (Tuesday)
Sprint is pleased to provide the broadcast dates of the quality
programs offered through NOVA, a critically acclaimed science TV
series on PBS. We proudly sponsor the NOVA series.

On Ju1y 16, NOVA will present "Secrets of Lost Empires: Medieval
Siege," showing viewers the reality of battles in the Middle
Ages.Visit http://www.pbs.org/nova for the broadcast time in
your area. Here's an overview of the show:

Our image of warfare in the Middle Ages is of bold knights,
gleaming armor, and the clash of steel. In reality, battles were
the exception and long drawn-out, withering sieges were the
rule. The only sure route to conquest was to starve the
defenders of a castle into submission - until the advent of the
trebuchet. The trebuchet was a fearsome, gravity-powered
catapult that flung stone missiles with great speed, accuracy
and destructive power. It was the first large-scale mechanized
weapon, and it transformed warfare 300 years before the age of
gunpowder. If ammunition ran low, trebuchets could serve as
instruments of terror. Among the projectiles mentioned in
medieval chronicles are wagonloads of manure, hives of angry
bees, spurned ambassadors, plague-infected corpses and an early
form of napalm known as Greek Fire. All these were hurled at
high speed over castle walls at the luckless defenders. NOVA set
two teams of timber framers, engineers, and historians the
challenge of building precise replicas of this ultimate
thirteenth century deterrent. Armed only with traditional tools,
the teams began work in a swampy field beside Loch Ness in
northern Scotland, beset by constant drizzle. Finally, the
moment of truth arrived as the giant wooden catapults stood
poised to fling 250 pound stones high into the air. In thrilling
footage of these risky firing experiments, NOVA recaptures all
the suspense, violence, and ingenuity that characterized the
medieval siege.



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