Royal Armouries Leeds - Artillery History

The ballista was developed by the Ancient Greek and Romans.  It was a large crossbow capable of shooting a large bolt. The 14th century example uses a crew to wind back a slider, the claw at the back pulling back the cord, so drawing the bow. The ballista was essentially an anti-personnel weapon, its bolts capable of piercing shields or indeed impaling more than one victim.

14th century Ballista

The mangon was a catapult consisting which worked by the torsion of sinew. A wooden arm was thrust into the skein and twisted to force the arm against a crossbar. The arm would be released, flying back against the cross bar, this launching the projectile.

Mangon

 
The trebuchet came into to use in Western Europe in 12th century. An arm was pulled down, the long end with a sling containing the projectile, the short end a counter weight. It could fling projectiles weighing up to 350 pounds (160 kg) at or into enemy fortifications. When released the counterweight would cause the arm to rotate rapidly, sending the projectile to the target. 

Its use continued into the 15th century, well after the introduction of gunpowder. It was obsolete by the beginning of the 16th century with the development of cannon.



12 century Trebuchet 

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or explosive-based propellants to launch a projectile. 

They were invented in China, the first recorded use being a long barrelled bamboo apparatus in 1132.  The first cannons in Europe were probably used in Iberia in the 11th and 12th centuries. They tended to be large cumbersome weapons used for defence, or in sieges. During the Middle Ages cannon became standardized, and more effective in both the anti-infantry and siege roles. After the Middle Ages most large cannon were abandoned in favour of greater numbers of lighter, more manoeuvrable pieces.

16th century bronze wheeled cannon