A couple of new pieces for the Crusades

[olicana]

I thought you might like to see these.



more shots and the game for tonight here:

http://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/new-pieces-for-crusades.html

We haven't had this stuff out of the cabinet for a game for 18 months. It doesn't seem that long ago.

[skip]

very colourful, the woodwork is really effective

[Calimero]

Amazing work as usual! 

[Marine0846]

Super looking.
Love them.

[olicana]

Can anyone provide contemporary sources - either written or pictorial - for siege engines such as these for the years 600AD to 1100AD?

EDIT - I really should add that they are wonderfully painted! Top effort.

Mangonels (the Romans and presumably the Byzantines called them onagers) were very old technology that had been forgotten in the west. They arrived arrived in France in about 1200 (England 1216).

However, in the east where the technology was had been very much in use without a break since Roman times, such machines were common place in the 11th / 12th centuries. They were probably readily re-adopted by the Franks, like a lot of other things that had been previously lost with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.

It kinda reminds me of that old Python sketch:

"Been shopping?"
"Yeh, been shopping.
"What did you buy?"
"A piston engine"
"What did you buy a piston engine for?"
"Twas a bargain."
"How do you cook it?"

The only real source I have is in David Nicolle's book. Crusader Warfare Vol 1. There are several references including:

"At the Crusader siege of Lisbon in 1147, teams of fifty men operated two such weapons..." (p. 128, from source Bennett, M 2001 p.81)

"Again during the siege of Jerusalem by the first Crusade, the Fatimid defenders had to move their counter-bombardment artillery from the tops of the walls and towers inside the defences. This was because of the intensity and effectiveness of the Crusaders' mangonels, and resulted in the defenders having to rely on less accurate shooting with the aid of spotters on the wall." (p.126, from source Rogers, R p.59).

[olicana]

I'm pretty sure that lots of things were lost, or at least misplaced. The Western European inteligencia of the so called Dark Ages did not read and once the knowledge of a generation was lost it was pretty much lost for a long time.

The classic example of a 'simple' technology loss, in Britain, is that of the pottery wheel in the 5th century - domestically produced wheel made pottery didn't re-appear in Britain for about 200 years; most people ate off wooden / leather plates, the rich off metal. Likewise, Roman medicine was largely lost until Roman books, usually translated back from amended Arabic, were re-discovered following post Crusade contact.

Your point about need is a good one. The lack of need is why one generation did not pass on the information to the next but, the information, not being written down and widely distributed in a readable form, was lost. From my scant knowledge of such things, most Roman manuals only survived in Byzantium / the East. Certainly the Mangonel only re-appeared in Europe because of contact with the east. Like a lot of things we take as being wholly 'western' these days, lots of things came out of the east following post Crusade contact - like medieval heraldry.
 

[MGH]

Wonderful siege weaponry, your painting is just superb. I have always followed your blog and I think the Crusades is my favorite period there.

[redzed]

On Saturday afternoon, .. I got them out and quickly slapped on some paint. By wine-o'clock they were pretty much done. I finished and based them on Sunday morning.

demon painter 

[aircav]

very nice. I like those 

[Phil Portway]

Lovely work. On my shopping list 

[Captain Blood]

Beautifully done, especially the graining on the timbers of the engines. Very classy brushwork 

[Byblos]

Hi ! Superb work as usual 

But i can't find this siege machine in the GB webSite : could you indicate me where i could find it !?

[Breazer]

They look great. Also the armies on your blog look beautiful. great stuff!

[hallmarkFPS]

great looking engines sir

[fluffy05]

Absolutely stunning!

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