Editing Catapult

{{Short description|Pre-gunpowder projectile-launching device}}
{{About|the projectile-launching artillery weapon|the handheld weapon|Slingshot|equipment to launch aircraft|Aircraft catapult}}
{{Other uses}}
{{pp-vandalism |small =yes}}
[[File:Mang2.png|thumb|Basic diagram of an [[Onager (weapon)|onager]], a type of catapult]]

A '''catapult''' is a [[ballistics|ballistic]] device used to launch a [[projectile]] at a great distance without the aid of [[gunpowder]] or other [[propellant]]s – particularly various types of ancient and medieval [[siege engine]]s.<ref>{{cite book|title= The art of the catapult: build Greek ballista, Roman onagers, English trebuchets, and more ancient artillery|last= Gurstelle|first= William|author-link= William Gurstelle|year= 2004|publisher= Chicago Review Press|location= Chicago|isbn= 978-1-55652-526-1|oclc= 54529037|url-access= registration|url= https://archive.org/details/artofcatapult00will}}</ref> A catapult uses the sudden release of stored [[potential energy]] to propel its payload. Most convert [[Tension (mechanics)|tension]] or [[Torsion (mechanics)|torsion]] energy that was more slowly and manually built up within the device before release, via springs, bows, twisted rope, elastic, or any of numerous other materials and mechanisms which allow the catapult to launch a projectile such as rocks, cannon balls, or debris.

During wars in the ancient times, the catapult was usually known to be the strongest heavy weaponry. In modern times the term can apply to devices ranging from a simple hand-held implement (also called a "[[slingshot]]") to a mechanism for [[Aircraft catapult|launching aircraft from a ship]].

The earliest catapults date to at least the 7th century BC, with King [[Uzziah]] of [[Kingdom of Judah| Judah]] recorded as equipping the walls of Jerusalem with machines that shot "great stones".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bible, King James Version|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/k/kjv/kjv-idx?type=DIV2&byte=1884604|access-date=2022-01-19|website=quod.lib.umich.edu}}</ref> Catapults are mentioned in [[Yajurveda]] under the name "Jyah" in chapter 30, verse 7.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/yajurveda029670mbp/yajurveda029670mbp_djvu.txt Full text of "The Yajur Veda"]</ref>{{failed verification |Reference to "Jyah" or catapults not found at this location or elsewhere in this text|date=June 2024}} In the 5th century BC the [[mangonel]] appeared in [[ancient China]], a type of traction [[trebuchet]] and catapult.<ref name= PaulCh1/><ref name= MEist>[http://www.medievalists.net/2013/01/13/the-trebuchet/ Chevedden et al. (1995)], abstract at medievalists.net, quote: "The trebuchet, invented in China between the fifth and third centuries B.C.E., reached the Mediterranean by the sixth century C.E."</ref> Early uses were also attributed to [[Ajatashatru]] of [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]] in his 5th century BC war against the [[Licchavi (kingdom)|Licchavis]].<ref name= Singh>{{cite book |author= Singh, U. |title= A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |date= 2008 |publisher= Pearson Education |page= 272 |isbn= 9788131711200 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC |access-date= October 5, 2014 |url-status= live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703065417/http://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC |archive-date=July 3, 2014}}</ref> Greek catapults were invented in the early 4th century BC, being attested by [[Diodorus Siculus]] as part of the equipment of a Greek army in 399 BC, and subsequently used at the [[siege of Motya]] in 397 BC.<ref name= DiSi1>Diod. Sic. 14.42.1.</ref><ref name= DunC3>
{{Harvnb |Campbell |2003 |p= 3}}.</ref>

==Etymology==
The word 'catapult' comes from the [[Latin]] 'catapulta', which in turn comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] {{Langx|grc|καταπέλτης}}<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Catapult}}</ref> (''katapeltēs''), itself from κατά (''kata''), "downwards"<ref>
{{citation |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dkata%2F1 |contribution=κατά |publisher=Tufts |first1=Henry George |last1=Liddell |first2=Robert |last2=Scott |title=A Greek-English Lexicon |type=definition |series=Perseus |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513155555/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dkata%2F1 |archive-date=2012-05-13 }}</ref> and πάλλω (''pallō''), "to toss, to hurl".<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dpa%2Fllw |contribution=πάλλω |first1=Henry George |last1=Liddell |first2=Robert |last2=Scott |title=A Greek-English Lexicon |publisher=Tufts |series=Perseus |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111192039/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dpa%2Fllw |archive-date=2013-11-11 }}.</ref><ref>{{citation |url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/catapult |contribution=catapult |publisher=Oxford |title=Dictionaries |type=definition |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702092148/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/catapult |archive-date=2012-07-02 }}</ref> Catapults were invented by the [[ancient Greeks]]<ref>{{cite journal |last=Schellenberg |first=Hans Michael |year=2006 |url=http://s145739614.online.de/fera/ausgabe3/Schellenberg.pdf |title=Diodor von Sizilien 14,42,1 und die Erfindung der Artillerie im Mittelmeerraum |journal=Frankfurter Elektronische Rundschau zur Altertumskunde |volume=3 |pages=14–23 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103073739/http://s145739614.online.de/fera/ausgabe3/Schellenberg.pdf |archive-date=2013-11-03 }}</ref>{{Sfn | Marsden | 1969 | pp = 48–64}} and in [[ancient India]] where they were used by the [[Haryanka dynasty|Magadhan King]] [[Ajatashatru]] around the early to mid 5th century BC.<ref name= Singh/>

== Greek and Roman catapults ==
{{Main article|Greek and Roman artillery}}
[[File:Hero of Alexandria, Belopoiika, Paris, Graec. 2442.jpg|thumb|Illustration of a large catapult from a medieval copy of [[Hero of Alexandria]]'s ''Belopoiika'']]
[[File:047 Conrad Cichorius, Die Reliefs der Traianssäule, Tafel XLVII (Ausschnitt 02).jpg|thumb|Roman "catapult-nest" in the [[Trajan's Dacian Wars]]]]
The catapult and [[crossbow]] in Greece are closely intertwined. Primitive catapults were essentially "the product of relatively straightforward attempts to increase the range and penetrating power of missiles by strengthening the bow which propelled them".<ref name= BCH/> The historian [[Diodorus Siculus]] (fl. 1st century BC), described the invention of a mechanical arrow-firing catapult (''katapeltikon'') by a Greek task force in 399&nbsp;BC.<ref name= DiSi1/><ref name= DunC3/> The weapon was soon after employed against [[Sicilian Wars#The Second Sicilian War (410&nbsp;BC–340&nbsp;BC)|Motya]] (397&nbsp;BC), a key [[Ancient Carthage|Carthaginian]] stronghold in [[Sicily]].<ref>Diod. Sic. 14.50.4</ref><ref name= DunC8>{{Harvnb |Campbell |2003 |p= 8}}.</ref> Diodorus is assumed to have drawn his description from the highly rated{{Sfn | Marsden | 1969 | pp = 48f}} history of [[Philistus]], a contemporary of the events then. The introduction of crossbows however, can be dated further back: according to the inventor [[Hero of Alexandria]] (fl. 1st century AD), who referred to the now lost works of the 3rd-century BC engineer [[Ctesibius]], this weapon was inspired by an earlier foot-held crossbow, called the ''[[gastraphetes]]'', which could store more energy than the Greek bows. A detailed description of the ''gastraphetes'', or the "belly-bow",<ref name= Cuomo>
{{Citation
 | last = Cuomo
 | first = Serafina
 | jstor = 3836219
 | title = The Sinews of War: Ancient Catapults
| journal = Science
 | year = 2004
 | volume = 303
 | issue = 5659
 | pages = 771–772
 | doi = 10.1126/science.1091066
 | pmid = 14764855
 | s2cid = 140749845
 | url = https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/644/1/Binder1.pdf
 }}.</ref>{{Page needed | date = December 2013}} along with a watercolor drawing, is found in Heron's technical treatise ''Belopoeica''.<ref name= DunC4>
{{Harvnb
 | Campbell
 | 2003
 | p = 4
}}.</ref><ref>
{{Citation
 | first1 = Stanley M
 | last1 = Burstein
 | first2 = Walter
 | last2 = Donlan
 | first3 = Sarah B
 | last3 = Pomeroy
 | author-link = Sarah B. Pomeroy
 | first4 = Jennifer Tolbert
 | last4 = Roberts
 | year = 1999
 | title = Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History
 | publisher = Oxford University Press
 | isbn = 0-19-509742-4
 | page = [https://archive.org/details/ancientgreecepol00sara/page/366 366]
 | url = https://archive.org/details/ancientgreecepol00sara/page/366
 }}.</ref>

A third Greek author, [[Biton (writer)|Biton]] (fl. 2nd century BC), whose reliability has been positively reevaluated by recent scholarship,<ref name= DunC3/>{{Sfn | Lewis | 1999}} described two advanced forms of the ''gastraphetes'', which he credits to [[Zopyrus of Tarentum|Zopyros]], an engineer from [[Taranto|southern Italy]]. Zopyrus has been plausibly equated with a [[Pythagoreanism|Pythagorean]] of that name who seems to have flourished in the late 5th century BC.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pythagoreanism/ | first = Peter | last = Kingsley | title = Ancient Philosophy, Mystery and Magic | publisher = Clarendon | place = Oxford | year = 1995 | pages = 150ff}}.</ref>{{Efn | Lewis established a lower date of no later than the mid-4th century.{{Sfn | Lewis | 1999 | p = 160}}  So did de Camp.<ref>{{Citation | first = L Sprague | last = de Camp | title = Master Gunner Apollonios | journal = [[Technology and Culture]] | volume = 2 | number = 3 | year = 1961 | pages = 240–4 (241) | doi=10.2307/3101024| jstor = 3101024 | s2cid = 111523345 }}.</ref>}}  He probably designed his bow-machines on the occasion of the sieges of [[Cumae]] and [[Milet]] between 421&nbsp;BC and 401&nbsp;BC.<ref>Biton 65.1–67.4, 61.12–65.1.</ref><ref name= DunC5>{{Harvnb |Campbell |2003 |p= 5}}.</ref> The bows of these machines already featured a winched pull back system and could apparently throw two missiles at once.<ref name= DunC8/>

[[Philo of Byzantium]] provides probably the most detailed account on the establishment of a theory of belopoietics (''belos'' = "projectile"; ''poietike'' = "(art) of making") circa 200&nbsp;BC. The central principle to this theory was that "all parts of a catapult, including the weight or length of the projectile, were proportional to the size of the torsion springs". This kind of innovation is indicative of the increasing rate at which geometry and physics were being assimilated into military enterprises.<ref name= Cuomo/>{{Page needed | date = December 2013}}

From the mid-4th century BC onwards, evidence of the Greek use of arrow-shooting machines becomes more dense and varied: arrow firing machines (''katapaltai'') are briefly mentioned by [[Aeneas Tacticus]] in his treatise on siegecraft written around 350&nbsp;BC.<ref name= DunC8/> An extant inscription from the [[Athens|Athenian]] arsenal, dated between 338 and 326&nbsp;BC, lists a number of stored catapults with shooting bolts of varying size and springs of sinews.<ref name= Marsden57>{{Harvnb | Marsden | 1969 | p = 57}}.</ref>  The later entry is particularly noteworthy as it constitutes the first clear evidence for the switch to [[torsion (mechanics)|torsion]] catapults, which are more powerful than the more-flexible crossbows and which came to dominate Greek and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] artillery design thereafter.<ref name= DunC8f>{{Harvnb |Campbell |2003 |pp= 8ff}}.</ref> This move to torsion springs was likely spurred by the engineers of Philip II of Macedonia.<ref name= Cuomo/>{{Page needed | date = December 2013}} Another Athenian inventory from 330 to 329&nbsp;BC includes catapult bolts with heads and flights.<ref name = Marsden57/> As the use of catapults became more commonplace, so did the training required to operate them. Many Greek children were instructed in catapult usage, as evidenced by "a 3rd Century B.C. inscription from the island of Ceos in the Cyclades [regulating] catapult shooting competitions for the young".<ref name= Cuomo/> Arrow firing machines in action are reported from [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]]'s siege of [[Perinth]] ([[Thrace]]) in 340&nbsp;BC.<ref name= Marsden60>{{Harvnb | Marsden | 1969 | p = 60}}.</ref>  At the same time, Greek fortifications began to feature high towers with shuttered windows in the top, which could have been used to house anti-personnel arrow shooters, as in [[Aigosthena]].<ref>{{Citation |first= Josiah |last= Ober |title= Early Artillery Towers: Messenia, Boiotia, Attica, Megarid |journal= American Journal of Archaeology |volume= 91 |number= 4 |year= 1987 |pages= 569–604 (569) |doi=10.2307/505291 |jstor= 505291 |s2cid= 191377778}}.</ref> Projectiles included both arrows and (later) stones that were sometimes lit on fire.{{clarify|stones lit on fire?|date=October 2022}} [[Onomarchus]] of Phocis first used catapults on the battlefield against [[Philip II of Macedon]].{{Sfn | Ashley | 1998 | pp = 50, 446}}  Philip's son, [[Alexander the Great]], was the next commander in recorded history to make such use of catapults on the battlefield{{Sfn | Ashley | 1998 | p = 50}} as well as to use them during sieges.<ref>{{Citation | last1 = Skelton | first1 = Debra | first2 = Pamela | last2 = Dell | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=O8TDQG6jiG4C&pg=PA21 | title = Empire of Alexander the Great | place = New York | publisher = Facts on File | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-0-8160-5564-7 | access-date = January 31, 2013 | pages = 21, 26, 29 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171223060540/https://books.google.com/books?id=O8TDQG6jiG4C&pg=PA21 | archive-date = December 23, 2017 }}.</ref>

The Romans started to use catapults as arms for their wars against [[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]], Macedon, Sparta and Aetolia (3rd and 2nd centuries BC). The Roman machine known as an [[arcuballista]] was similar to a large crossbow.<ref>{{Citation | contribution = Arcuballista | place = [[France|FR]] | url = http://dagr.univ-tlse2.fr/sdx/dagr/feuilleter.xsp?tome=1&partie=1&numPage=400&filtre=arbal%C3%A8te%20&nomEntree=ARCUBALLISTA | language = fr | title = Dictionnaire des antiquités grecques et romaines | trans-title = Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities | publisher = Univ TLSE II | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081005121645/http://dagr.univ-tlse2.fr/sdx/dagr/feuilleter.xsp?tome=1&partie=1&numPage=400&filtre=arbal%C3%A8te%20&nomEntree=ARCUBALLISTA | archive-date = 2008-10-05 }}.</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Bachrach | first = Bernard S | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Is2WQyLMKV4C&pg=PA112 | title = Early Carolingian Warfare: Prelude to Empire | place = Philadelphia | publisher = University of Pennsylvania Press | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-0-8122-3533-3 | access-date = January 31, 2013 | pages = 110–12 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171223060540/https://books.google.com/books?id=Is2WQyLMKV4C&pg=PA112 | archive-date = December 23, 2017 }}.</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Payne-Gallwey | first = Ralph | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xCDK0twV82MC&pg=PA43 | title = The Crossbow: Its Military and Sporting History, Construction and Use | place = New York | publisher = Skyhorse | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60239-010-2 | access-date = January 31, 2013 | pages = 43–44 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171223060540/https://books.google.com/books?id=xCDK0twV82MC&pg=PA43 | archive-date = December 23, 2017 }}.</ref> Later the Romans used [[ballista]] catapults on their warships.

== Other ancient catapults ==
In chronological order:
* 19th century BC, Egypt, walls of the fortress of [[Buhen]] appear to contain platforms for siege weapons.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Lewis|first1=Leo Richard|title=The Compendium of Weapons, Armor & Castles|last2=Tenney|first2=Charles R.|publisher=Nabu Press|year=2010|isbn=978-1146066846|pages=139}}</ref>
* c.750 BC, Judah, King [[Uzziah]] is documented as having overseen the construction of machines to "shoot great stones".<ref>{{bibleverse-lb|2|Chronicles|26:15|HE}}</ref>
* between 484 and 468 BC, India, [[Ajatashatru]] is recorded in Jaina texts as having used catapults in his campaign against the [[Licchavi (tribe)|Licchavis]].<ref name= Singh/>
* between 500 and 300 BC, China, recorded use of [[mangonel]]s.<ref name= PaulCh1>Chevedden, Paul E.; Eigenbrod, Les; Foley, Vernard; Soedel, Werner. (July 1995). "The Trebuchet". [[Scientific American]], pp. 66–71. Original version.</ref><ref name= MEist/><ref name= PaulCh2>Paul E. Chevedden, [http://www.doaks.org/resources/publications/dumbarton-oaks-papers/dop54/dp54ch4.pdf The Invention of the Counterweight Trebuchet: A Study in Cultural Diffusion] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140610032737/http://www.doaks.org/resources/publications/dumbarton-oaks-papers/dop54/dp54ch4.pdf |date=2014-06-10 }}, p.71, p.74, See citation:"The traction trebuchet, invented by the Chinese sometime before the fourth century B.C." in page 74</ref> They were probably used by the [[Mohist]]s as early as the 4th century BC, descriptions of which can be found in the [[Mozi|''Mojing'']] (compiled in the 4th century BC).<ref name= MEist/><ref name= PaulCh2/> In Chapter 14 of the ''Mojing'', the mangonel is described hurling hollowed out logs filled with burning charcoal at enemy troops.{{sfn|Liang|2006}} The mangonel was carried westward by the [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]] and appeared next in the eastern Mediterranean by the late 6th century AD, where it replaced torsion powered siege engines such as the ballista and onager due to its simpler design and faster rate of fire.{{sfn|Purton|2009|p=366}}<ref name= PaulCh1/>{{sfn|Graff|2016|p=141}} The Byzantines adopted the mangonel possibly as early as 587, the Persians in the early 7th century, and the Arabs in the second half of the 7th century.{{sfn|Graff|2016|p=86}} The [[Franks]] and [[Saxons]] adopted the weapon in the 8th century.{{sfn|Purton|2009|p=367}}

== Medieval catapults ==
[[File:Replica catapult.jpg|right|thumb|Replica of a Petraria Arcatinus]]
[[File:Front of medieval catapult 2 in Mercato San Severino, Italy.JPG|thumb|Petraria Arcatinus catapult in Mercato San Severino, Italy]]
[[File:Catapult 1 Mercato San Severino.jpg|thumb|Catapult 1 Mercato San Severino]]
[[Castle]]s and fortified [[walled cities]] were common during this period and catapults were used as [[siege weapon]]s against them. As well as their use in attempts to breach walls, [[Early thermal weapons|incendiary missiles]], or diseased carcasses or garbage could be catapulted over the walls.

Defensive techniques in the Middle Ages progressed to a point that rendered catapults largely ineffective. The [[Siege of Paris (885–886)|Viking siege of Paris]] (AD 885–6) "saw the employment by both sides of virtually every instrument of siege craft known to the classical world, including a variety of catapults", to little effect, resulting in failure.<ref name= BCH>{{Citation | last = Hacker | first = Barton C | jstor = 3102042 | title = Greek Catapults and Catapult Technology: Science, Technology, and War in Ancient World| journal = Technology and Culture | year = 1968 | volume = 9 | issue = 1 | pages = 34–50 | doi = 10.2307/3102042 | s2cid = 112617914 }}.</ref>

The most widely used catapults throughout the Middle Ages were as follows:<ref name= MAge>{{Citation  |title= Catapults |website= middle-ages.org.uk |url=http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/catapults.htm |url-status= live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100924235615/http://middle-ages.org.uk/catapults.htm |archive-date= 2010-09-24}}. {{access denied|date= June 2024}}</ref>

; [[Ballista]]: Ballistae were similar to giant crossbows and were designed to work through torsion. The projectiles were large arrows or darts made from wood with an iron tip. These arrows were then shot "along a flat trajectory" at a target. Ballistae were accurate, but lacked firepower compared with that of a mangonel or trebuchet. Because of their immobility, most ballistae were constructed on site following a siege assessment by the commanding military officer.<ref name= MAge/>
:
; [[Springald]]: The springald's design resembles that of the ballista, being a crossbow powered by tension. The springald's frame was more compact, allowing for use inside tighter confines, such as the inside of a castle or tower, but compromising its power.<ref name= MAge/>
:
; [[Mangonel]]: This machine was designed to throw heavy projectiles from a "bowl-shaped bucket at the end of its arm". Mangonels were mostly used for “firing various missiles at fortresses, castles, and cities,” with a range of up to {{convert|1,300|ft|abbr=on}}. These missiles included anything from stones to excrement to rotting carcasses. Mangonels were relatively simple to construct, and eventually wheels were added to increase mobility.<ref name= MAge/>
:
; [[Onager (siege weapon)|Onager]]: Mangonels are also sometimes referred to as Onagers. Onager catapults initially launched projectiles from a sling, which was later changed to a "bowl-shaped bucket". The word ''Onager'' is derived from the Greek word ''onagros'' for "wild ass", referring to the "kicking motion and force"<ref name= MAge/> that were recreated in the Mangonel's design. Historical records regarding onagers are scarce. The most detailed account of Mangonel use is from "Eric Marsden's translation of a text written by Ammianus Marcellius in the 4th Century AD" describing its construction and combat usage.<ref name= info>{{Citation|url=http://www.catapults.info/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020601094938/http://www.catapults.info/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2002-06-01 |title=Catapults info }}.</ref>
:
; [[Trebuchet]]: [[File:MongolsBesiegingACityInTheMiddleEast13thCentury.jpg|thumb|left|Ghaznavid warriors using trebuchet to besiege a city]] Trebuchets were probably the most powerful catapult employed in the Middle Ages. The most commonly used ammunition were stones, but "darts and sharp wooden poles" could be substituted if necessary. The most effective kind of ammunition though involved fire, such as "firebrands, and deadly [[Greek Fire]]". Trebuchets came in two different designs: Traction, which were powered by people, or Counterpoise, where the people were replaced with "a weight on the short end".<ref name= MAge/>  The most famous historical account of trebuchet use dates back to the siege of [[Stirling Castle]] in 1304, when the army of Edward I constructed a giant trebuchet known as [[Warwolf]], which then proceeded to "level a section of [castle] wall, successfully concluding the siege".<ref name= info/>
:
; [[Trebuchet|Couillard]]: A simplified trebuchet, where the trebuchet's single counterweight is split, swinging on either side of a central support post.
:
; Leonardo da Vinci's catapult: [[Leonardo da Vinci]] sought to improve the efficiency and range of earlier designs. His design incorporated a large wooden [[leaf spring]] as an [[:wikt:accumulator|accumulator]] to power the catapult.{{citation needed |date=February 2011}} Both ends of the bow are connected by a rope, similar to the design of a [[bow and arrow]]. The leaf spring was not used to pull the catapult armature directly, rather the rope was wound around a drum. The catapult armature was attached to this drum which would be turned until enough potential energy was stored in the deformation of the spring. The drum would then be disengaged from the winding mechanism, and the catapult arm would snap around.{{citation needed | date = February 2011}} Though no records exist of this design being built during Leonardo's lifetime, contemporary enthusiasts have reconstructed it.{{citation needed|date=February 2011}}

== Modern use ==

=== Military ===
[[File:French grenade catapult.jpg|left|thumb|200px|French troops using a catapult to throw [[hand grenade]]s and other explosives during [[World War I]]]]

The last large scale military use of catapults was during the [[trench warfare]] of [[World War I]]. During the early stages of the war, catapults were used to throw [[hand grenade]]s across [[no man's land]] into enemy trenches. They were eventually replaced by small [[Mortar (weapon)|mortars]].

The SPBG (Silent Projector of Bottles and Grenades) was a Soviet proposal for an anti-tank weapon that launched grenades from a spring-loaded shuttle up to {{convert|100|m|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tankarchives.ca/2016/08/russian-piat.html | title=Russian PIAT }}</ref>

Special variants called [[aircraft catapult]]s are used to launch planes from land bases and sea carriers when the takeoff runway is too short for a powered takeoff or simply impractical to extend.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Dictionary of Aviation |first=David W. |last=Wragg |isbn=9780850451634 |edition=first |publisher=Osprey |year=1973 |page=87}}</ref> Ships also use them to launch torpedoes and deploy bombs against submarines.{{dubious|date=June 2016}}

In 2024, during the [[Gaza war]], a trebuchet created by private initiative of an [[Israel Defence Forces |IDF]] reserve unit was used to throw firebrands over the border into Lebanon, in order to set on fire the undergrowth which offered camouflage to [[Hezbollah]] fighters.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/14/middleeast/israel-catapult-trebuchet-lebanon-intl/index.html Israeli troops catapult fireball into Lebanon using weapon rarely used since 16th century], Benjamin Brown, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Paul Murphy and Christian Edwards for [[CNN]], posted & accessed June 14, 2024.</ref>

===Toys, sports, entertainment===
In the 1840s, the invention of [[vulcanized]] [[natural rubber|rubber]] allowed the making of small hand-held catapults, either improvised from Y-shaped sticks or manufactured for sale; both were popular with children and teenagers. These devices were also known as [[slingshots]] in the United States.

Small catapults, referred to as "traps", are still widely used to launch [[clay target]]s into the air in the sport of [[clay pigeon shooting]].

In the 1990s and early 2000s, a powerful catapult, a trebuchet, was used by thrill-seekers first on private property and in 2001–2002 at Middlemoor Water Park, Somerset, England, to experience being catapulted through the air for {{convert|100|ft|m|sp=us}}. The practice has been discontinued due to a fatality at the Water Park. There had been an injury when the trebuchet was in use on private property. Injury and death occurred when those two participants failed to land onto the safety net.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2004/02/oxford-university-dangerous-sports-club |title=Scandal: Extreme Oxford Sports |last=Martin |first=Brett |date=August 5, 2013 |magazine=Vanity Fair |access-date=November 13, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531102033/http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2004/02/oxford-university-dangerous-sports-club |archive-date=May 31, 2017 }}</ref> The operators of the trebuchet were tried, but found not guilty of manslaughter, though the jury noted that the fatality might have been avoided had the operators "imposed stricter safety measures."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/oct/31/highereducation.uk4 |title=Inquest told of student catapult death |newspaper=The Guardian |date=October 31, 2005 |access-date=December 8, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150114133709/http://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/oct/31/highereducation.uk4 |archive-date=January 14, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/oxfordshire/4401024.stm |title=BBC NEWS UK England Oxfordshire - Safety doubts over catapult death |date=November 2, 2005 |access-date=December 8, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211151741/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/oxfordshire/4401024.stm |archive-date=December 11, 2014 }}</ref> [[Human cannonball]] [[circus]] acts use a catapult launch mechanism, rather than gunpowder, and are risky ventures for the human cannonballs.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_069.html|title=The Straight Dope: How do "human cannonballs" survive?|last=Adams|first=Cecil|date=1991-06-21|website=Straight Dope|publisher=Chicago Reader|access-date=November 13, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106071839/http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_069.html|archive-date=January 6, 2009}}</ref>

Early [[launched roller coaster]]s used a catapult system powered by a diesel engine or a dropped weight to acquire their momentum,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OzZHAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA49|title=Coasters 101: An Engineer's Guide to Roller Coaster Design|last=Weisenberger|first=Nick|year=2013|isbn=9781468013559|pages=49–50|publisher=Nick Weisenberger |oclc=927712635|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223060540/https://books.google.com/books?id=OzZHAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA49|archive-date=2017-12-23}}</ref> such as [[Shuttle Loop]] installations between 1977 and 1978. The catapult system for roller coasters has been replaced by [[flywheel]]s and later [[linear motor]]s.

''[[Pumpkin chunking]]'' is another widely popularized use, in which people compete to see who can launch a pumpkin the farthest by mechanical means (although the world record is held by a pneumatic air cannon).

===Smuggling===
In January 2011, a homemade catapult was discovered that was used to [[Smuggling|smuggle]] [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] into the United States from Mexico. The machine was found {{convert|20|ft|abbr=on}} from the border fence with {{convert|4.4|lb}} bales of cannabis ready to launch.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2011-01/mexican-authorities-seize-homemade-marijuana-hurling-catapult-border | newspaper = Pop Sci | date = Jan 2011 | title = Mexican authorities seize homemade marijuana hurling catapult at border | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110130043830/http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2011-01/mexican-authorities-seize-homemade-marijuana-hurling-catapult-border | archive-date = 2011-01-30 }}.</ref>

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=23em}}
* [[Aircraft catapult]]
* [[Centrifugal gun]]
* [[List of siege engines]]
* [[Mangonel]]
* [[Mass driver]]
* [[National Catapult Contest]]
* [[Sling (weapon)]]
* [[SPBG]]
* [[Trebuchet]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|32em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{Citation | last = Ashley | first = James R | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=nTmXOFX-wioC&pg=PA50 | title = The Macedonian Empire: The Era of Warfare Under Philip II and Alexander the Great, 359–323 BC | place = Jefferson, NC | publisher = McFarland & Co | year = 1998 | isbn = 978-0-7864-1918-0 | access-date = January 31, 2013}}.
* {{Citation | first = Duncan | last = Campbell | title = Greek and Roman Artillery 399 BC – AD 363 | publisher = Osprey | place = Oxford | year = 2003 | isbn = 1-84176-634-8}}.
* {{Citation |last=Graff |first=David A. |title=The Eurasian Way of War Military Practice in Seventh-Century China and Byzantium |year=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415460347}}.
* {{Citation | first = MJT | last = Lewis | title = When was Biton? |journal = [[Mnemosyne (journal)|Mnemosyne]] | volume = 52 | number = 2 | year = 1999 | pages = 159–68 | doi=10.1163/1568525991528860}}.
* {{Citation |last=Liang |first=Jieming |title=Chinese Siege Warfare: Mechanical Artillery & Siege Weapons of Antiquity – An Illustrated History |year=2006 |publisher=Leong Kit Meng |isbn=978-9810553807}}.
* {{Citation | first = Eric William | last = Marsden | title = Greek and Roman Artillery: Historical Development | publisher = Clarendon | place = Oxford | year = 1969 | isbn = 978-0-19-814268-3}}.
* {{Citation |last=Purton |first=Peter |year=2009 |title=A History of the Early Medieval Siege c.450-1200 |publisher=The Boydell Press |isbn=978-1843834489}}.

== External links ==
{{Commons category |Catapults|Catapult}}
{{Wiktionary |catapult}}
* {{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Catapult |volume=5 |short=x}}
* {{Citation | url = http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/war/CatapultTypes.htm | contribution = Types | title = Ancient Greek Artillery Technology | publisher = Mlahanas | place = [[Germany|DE]] | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160112160714/http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/war/CatapultTypes.htm | archive-date = 2016-01-12 }}.
* {{Citation | url = http://www.redstoneprojects.com/trebuchetstore/build_a_catapult.html | title = Trebuchet store | contribution = Catapult Plans and Design | publisher = Red stone projects}}.
* {{Citation | url = http://www.redstoneprojects.com/trebuchetstore/catapultanimation.html | title = Trebuchet store | contribution = Animated Catapults | publisher = Red stone projects}}.
* {{Citation | url = http://www.medieval-castle-siege-weapons.com/medieval-catapults.html | title = Medieval castle siege weapons | contribution = Medieval Catapult Articles | access-date = 2005-08-20 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051027191657/http://www.medieval-castle-siege-weapons.com/medieval-catapults.html | archive-date = 2005-10-27 | url-status = dead }}.
* {{Citation | url = http://www.fvc3.com/trebuchet | title = A Modern Spring Loaded Catapult in Action | publisher = FVC3 | access-date = 2009-10-10 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100428232239/http://www.fvc3.com/trebuchet | archive-date = 2010-04-28 | url-status = usurped }}.

{{Ancient mechanical artillery and hand-held missile weapons|state =collapsed}}
{{Medieval mechanical artillery and hand-held missile weapons|state =collapsed}}
{{Ancient seafaring}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Projectile weapons]]
[[Category:Siege engines]]
[[Category:Obsolete technologies]]