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. 

============================================================================
Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.



More information about the Elfsea mailing list