ES - Medieval Siege on PBS
Paul Mitchell
pmitchel at flash.net
Thu Jan 20 16:54:08 PST 2000
The following is posted courtesy of HL Crandall...
- Galen
_____________________________________________________
Gal. 1:8
Thought you might like to know... Feb 1st Nova on PBS 8pm ET
will be broadcasting an episode of "Medieval Siege". Where
they will be making siege weapons the old way. Also I beleive
it's being hosted by Steve Thomas and the master carpenter
Norm Abram of the "This Old House" crew...Well when I saw it
advertize it was with them.. so wont know until it's on.
SECRETS OF LOST EMPIRES: A "NOVA" SPECIAL PRESENTATION
follows teams of living, breathing, passionate,
inquisitive people as they struggle to duplicate the
technological feats of ancient civilizations, using the
tools and materials available in antiquity. The
programs air on PBS Tuesdays, February 1-29, 2000,
8:00 p.m. ET (check local listings).
"Medieval Siege" (Feb/1) The image of
warfare in the Middle Ages - bold knights,
gleaming armor and the clash of steel - is
at odds with reality: battles were the
exception and long drawn-out 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, a fearsome,
gravity-powered catapult that flung stone
missiles with great speed, accuracy and
destructive power. The first large-scale
mechanized weapon, it transformed
warfare. 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. Were these crude
contraptions of a type that any
mischievous adolescent might concoct? Or
did the need for high-power, precise
artillery give birth to a genuine science of
trebuchet design? NOVA gives two teams
of timber framers, engineers and
historians the challenge of building
replicas of this 13th-century deterrent.
Armed only with traditional tools, the
teams begin work in a swampy field
beside Loch Ness in northern Scotland.
The moment of truth arrives as the giant
wooden catapults stand poised to fling
250 pound stones into the air. In thrilling
footage of these risky experiments, NOVA
recaptures the suspense, violence and
ingenuity that characterized the medieval
siege.
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