It never ceases to amaze me that the most powerful trebuchet ever built was in off all places in Scotland a relative small player compared in Europe and that none of the other European superpowers in the continent esp in France and Germany ever attempted to construct soemthing ina similar scale to capture the most powerful fortress......
But having read about how the earliest giant canons (which were small compared to what the Ottomans would later use) from after the decline of the Mongol empire but before gunpowder reached Europe in the Chinese dynasty that followed the expulsion of Temujin's heir in China shot shells at 300 pounds of force which was roughly the same force War Wolf propelled stones at.........
How come nobody before Mehmed ever tried to recreate a replica of Warwolf in sieges at Constantinople or at least some pre-gunpowder mechanical siege equipment with similar size and firepower? Could Warwolf threaten Constantinople at least enough to be a gamechanger even if it couldn't damage the walls effectively enough to create a breach? If one Warwolf wasn't enough could a bunch of them say 20 have been able to allow capture of the city?
You'd think something like Warwolf would have been used first in the big leagues such as the Byzantium and France or the Holy Roman Empire in the DACH. But instead it was only built in an unimportant campaign in the backwaters of Europe! And never been replicated by major powers like the late Abassids and the Seljuks to besiege Constantinople. Why did no one attempt to built a ballista or onager or other siege weapon of similar scale before gunpowder whenever they tried to besiege the prized mighty city?
But having read about how the earliest giant canons (which were small compared to what the Ottomans would later use) from after the decline of the Mongol empire but before gunpowder reached Europe in the Chinese dynasty that followed the expulsion of Temujin's heir in China shot shells at 300 pounds of force which was roughly the same force War Wolf propelled stones at.........
How come nobody before Mehmed ever tried to recreate a replica of Warwolf in sieges at Constantinople or at least some pre-gunpowder mechanical siege equipment with similar size and firepower? Could Warwolf threaten Constantinople at least enough to be a gamechanger even if it couldn't damage the walls effectively enough to create a breach? If one Warwolf wasn't enough could a bunch of them say 20 have been able to allow capture of the city?
You'd think something like Warwolf would have been used first in the big leagues such as the Byzantium and France or the Holy Roman Empire in the DACH. But instead it was only built in an unimportant campaign in the backwaters of Europe! And never been replicated by major powers like the late Abassids and the Seljuks to besiege Constantinople. Why did no one attempt to built a ballista or onager or other siege weapon of similar scale before gunpowder whenever they tried to besiege the prized mighty city?
