Is there such a thing as a medieval hand catapult and if so ,what did they look like?? :eek: thanx mack

In the old days they used slings, im not sure when the catapult was invented. I know one thing for sure a sling is far more powerful than a hand held catapult. :)

Well there is the Fustibal which is a sling on a long pole. There were also the smaller types of trébuchet using people pulling on a rope instead of a counterweight to power it: Some very small ones manned by one person or a small number or persons up to medium sized ones with more people on the pulling ropes.

Hand catapult ? depends also on how one would define it ? A prod or stone throwing crossbow could be called a hand catapult.

The Romans used hand portable ones throwing small bolts like a crossbow but using torsion like the siege weapons instead of a bow: At a much smaller scale though.

I have moved this topic to the Historic Arms Talk forum.

Please note the description for this forum:

"Discussions of reproduction and authentic historical arms and armour from various cultures and time periods"

Thank you.

I have not read the book yet, which I bought about six weeks ago at a Borders Bookstore near me in Oakbrook, IL. which is popular for it's large history section. The title of the book is: "The Catapult A History" by Tracey Rihll
Westholme Publishing www.westholmepublishing.com Which is in Yardley, PA. First Edition hardback Feb 2007
Printed in USA

ISBN 10: 1 - 59416-035-X

ISBN 13: 978-1-59416-035-6

Back fly leaf says that Tracey Rihll is lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Wales, Swansea. She is author of Greek Science and numerous articles on ancient technology and science.

Small print, 295 pages then has a section "Notes to pages" , Bibliography, Index of course.

My copy is a hardback but I have as yet to read it. This was one of those books where I saw it on the shelf and decided if I do not grab this now, I might forget the title and or it may never be in the store again, so I better grab it now deals. :lol:

Looks pretty thorough though. It was $29.95 at Borders for the hardback.

Hope this helps!

Bob