page_title: Mangonel
section_title: Etymology and terminology
hierarchical_section_title: Mangonel / Etymology and terminology
caption_attribution_description: English: Military Museum: Ancient Weapons
context_page_description: The mangonel, also called the traction trebuchet, was a type of trebuchet or siege engine used in Ancient China starting from the Warring States period, and later across Eurasia in the 6th century AD. Unlike the earlier torsion engines and later counterweight trebuchet, the mangonel operated on manpower pulling cords attached to a lever and sling to launch projectiles. Although the mangonel required more men to function, it was also less complex and faster to reload than the torsion-powered ballista and onager which it replaced in early Medieval Europe. It was replaced as the primary siege weapon in the 12th and 13th centuries by the counterweight trebuchet.
context_section_description: Mangonel is probably derived from the Greek mágganon or mangonon, meaning "engine of war". It could also be derived from mangon, a French hard stone found in the south of France. In Latin it is called a manganum, in French a manganeau, and in English a mangonel.
  The mangonel is called al-manjanīq in Arabic. In China the mangonel was called the pào (砲).
caption: Reconstruction of a whirlwind traction trebuchet
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