Talk:Catapult

message: The term espringale redirects to this page, but the term espringale does not appear on this page.  Any chance of including it where it ought to be?  I encountered the term in an Ellis Peters novel set in the 12th century, in her Brother Cadfael series.  Prairieplant (talk) 15:07, 27 December 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Espringale

message: a reference article —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kowloonese (talk • contribs) 20 April 2006
====Missile launche.
Ok the way  i see it there are two possibilities, either the catapult was invented by yankee doodle or a monkey beacuse it does not work!!!! GBC 04:39, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  link 

message: Could somebody correctly revert that annoying vandalism? --Taraborn 21:40, 8 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  I screwed it up 

message: According to them, the fort of Raja Dahir was safe until the religious flag mounted on top of the fort was safe.
What exactly did they believe? That the fort was safe as long as the flag was safe? Or, as the sentence says, that the fort was safe up to the point where the flag mounted upon it was safe? In the latter case, why did they put the flag there in the first place? If someone knows of this, maybe they could clarify that sentence. --Quantum Omega 02:34, 16 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  nonsensical sentence 

message: In first sentence: 
A catapult is any one of a number of mechanical devices (used) to throw a projectile a great distance;
Missing used. 68.144.80.168 (talk) 23:59, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  grammatical error 

message: If possible, I would like to see a "construction of" section, as that is the reason I visited this site in the first place.  It is definitely relevent information. 68.144.80.168 (talk) 00:24, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  suggestion 

message: A possible even older catapult is described in the Bible. It was built by skilled workers during the reign of King Uzziah circa 800 B.C.. The King James Version in 2 Chronicles Chapter 26, verse 15 states, " And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. ..."  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.73.32.52 (talk) 01:01, 13 September 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: = Catapults before 700BC 

message: Are there any accounts in history of people using small to medium-sized catapults to cast nets over animals in a hunt?  For instance, were there any maharajas in India that went 'hunting' animals with nets, and medium-sized catapults mounted on the backs of elephants?    I think I read some cases in the English Reports where throwing/fixing nets over entire creeks was an improper way of capturing fish, short of having in place a license to do so, first, but that begs the question of whether  there was ever a practice of using catapults to throw very large nets over a herd in hopes of capturing a few of the animals migrating.  198.177.27.13 (talk) 21:53, 27 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Using catapults to cast nets over animals or fish to capture them 

message: The catapult type on the image I added, does that have a name? I think it's a classical type of catapult, but I can't find the name of it in any article. --Kri (talk) 01:00, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: If anyone finds out about the name of this catapult, it maybe would be good to put it in the article or in the image text. --Kri (talk) 12:47, 15 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Which type of catapult is this? 

message: I need instructions on how to build a small catapult for my sons 4th grade project.I have no clue how to do it.Can somebody please help me????Please!!!!It would be deeply appreciated...  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.21.134.237 (talk) 16:17, 7 March 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Please help me and my son to build a catapult 

message: The couillard link leads to trebuchet page, when there is a valid page for the former item.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Eligitine (talk • contribs) 15:53, 4 January 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Inproper Link 

message: Since arcuballistae weren't invented yet? I guess the paragraph may have been garbled, but it's unclear what else it could be claiming he used - perhaps gastraphetes? 173.66.211.53 (talk) 05:32, 31 January 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  How could Alexander use [[arcuballista]]e? 

message: And many modern sources identify the arcuballista with the torsion-coil cheiroballistra. 173.66.211.53 (talk) 05:32, 31 January 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: It's controversial whether the [[arcuballista]] was at all similar to the crossbow

message: I can't believe that the Biblical reference to catapults in 2 Chronicles 26 is not even mentioned as a possibility.  Present the evidence and let people decide for themselves.  You can even include the fact that most scholars believe that catapults were invented by the Greeks, but to leave out this clear reference smacks of religious hatred and censorship.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.95.178.121 (talk) 19:18, 7 September 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: (Comment)

message: This article now has multiple references in the bibliography, generously sprinkled throught the text. The text is organized better, more readable and well illustrated with photos and old artwork. As this is a protected article, can there be some review by the approved editors to update that general and very old critique?  --Prairieplant (talk) 09:53, 19 December 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Time to remove 2008 demand for references -- greatly improved 

message: 208.248.108.30 (talk) 17:25, 4 February 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 4 February 2014 

message: Couillard  is not linked in the list at the end and editing of the article seems to be blocked so I can't add it.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.227.15.253 (talk) 10:36, 25 March 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Couillard]]  

message: Britannica 1911 describes a Bricole as "a military engine for casting heavy stones" along with some secondary meanings, I guess obsolete. Bricole simply redirects to Siege engine (which does not mention the term), but that must be wrong as it's apparently more of a catapult than a battering ram. Where would it fit in the list of Medieval Catapults in this article? Would it be better, at a minimum, to redirect Bricole to Catapult? David Brooks (talk) 18:10, 30 April 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: ETA - French Wikipedia says it is an intermediate development between the Pierrière and the Mangonel. I think for now I'll redirect it to Mangonel and maybe one day translate the French article. David Brooks (talk) 18:50, 30 April 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Nomenclature in catapults is a nightmare of confusion, because of terms being exported back and forth between different languages and across different eras.  Modern sources are all over the map about what almost any catapult name actually refers to.  I will say though that it is fairly safe to assume that "siege engine" in modern terms can refer to any engine that was used during a siege, not just battering rams and siege towers.  This of course would include catapults of all types. Battling McGook (talk) 19:13, 25 February 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bricole 

message: please let me edit this I would be very happy.
207.190.182.254 (talk) 19:52, 23 February 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 23 February 2015 

message: The Modern Use section here says "Ships also use them to launch torpedoes and deploy bombs against submarines".
I'm a bit dubious about this; I'm guessing the editor who put it there is thinking of the WWI “bomb-thrower”, or the later “depth-charge thrower”, but AFAIK both those used an explosive to give the propulsive effect. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Moonraker12 (talk) 12:47, 29 June 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dubious statement 

message: I gave the text on the history of the word its own section title, Etymology. This takes the topic out of the lead, and into the article. The lead should include the highlights of the article, and etymology probably is not one, but other items might yet be added to the lead. This article is full of interesting information.  --Prairieplant (talk) 04:37, 30 June 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Is given etymology correct? I mean, καταπέλτης - κατά+πέλτης, "against"+"shield" (see πελταστής) seems obvious. 87.117.189.244 (talk) 20:28, 16 January 2019 (UTC)

text: The etymology is sourced. Do you debate the sources? Do you have other sources?  --Prairieplant (talk) 03:15, 18 January 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Etymology 

message: This article says the Ballista used torsion.  The article for Springald says the Springald also used torsion.  Then this article says the Springald was similar to the Ballista, in that it used tension.  I think that should be torsion, instead of tension.  Although I'm not sure, so I'll let someone else change that. - 72.184.128.205 (talk) 19:10, 11 January 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Torsion vs Tension 

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replies: text: The link should this one: be https://web.archive.org/web/20160228044238/http://www.hellenicaworld.com:80/Greece/Technology/en/CatapultTypes.html which goes directly to the article on catapults. Link supplied goes to a page that requires one to click on the notice that the material is moved to the link I supplied. Do I just change it, or does this helpful Bot need to fix it? I will say need help=yes to learn what happens when I do that. Never did it before.  --Prairieplant (talk) 10:57, 26 July 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified 

message: The article says:
::Until recently, catapults were used by thrill-seekers to experience being catapulted through the air. The practice has been discontinued due to fatalities, when the participants failed to land onto the safety net.
This reads as if it applies worldwide, but the two cites provided each refer to the same occurrences at a single location.  If the article wasn't semi-protected I'd tag it  at least, but since it is, I'm just posting this here. --69.159.60.147 (talk) 08:23, 13 November 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: Good point. The text has been modified to feature the specific trebuchet in England, with an additional citation that tells the full story of the device's use and the fatality. It was discontinued.  --Prairieplant (talk) 17:52, 13 November 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dubious "has been discontinued" 

message: This wiki on catapults used to be a lot more balanced with the east asian catapults from 4th-5th century BC mentioned but I now noticed they have been completely removed.  There are descriptive passages on the building of catapults mentioned in Mohist texts, a translation of the full canon by Prof. Robin Yates.
You read this entire article on catapults and the omission is glaring.  
There are references to east asian catapults here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_engine
There are also records of the Pipil catapults used against the Spanish in central America or a mysterious reference to some rock throwing device used against vikings by North American indians.  The Japanese also had an indigeneous catapult called the Oyumi which is found in description only (no illustrations have survived or been found yet).  
The development of the hinged counterweight is very likely a middle eastern improvement over the traction catapults of east asia.  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trebuchet
— Preceding unsigned comment added by 2406:3003:2001:133A:3021:E4C1:A834:872F (talk) 05:50, 15 April 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  East Asian beginnings for catapults 

message: Stones sometimes set on fire? I assume this should refer to arrows, more likely these were sometimes set on fire? BobKilcoyne (talk) 03:50, 12 October 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: Greek and Roman catapults