Engineering in the Middle Ages
By Rachel Louise Allen III
Engineering
During the Middle Ages, Europe went through radical changed due to many technological advancments
Military
New technologies like trebuchets, gunpowder weapons adn newly designed armor helped the military
Agricultural
Things like horseshores, horse collars and heavy ploughs made farming easier
Mills
- Became popular in Europe at the beginning of the Middle Ages
- Mostly water mills but wind wills were also used
- Used to grind corn, crush olives, tan leather, make paper, etc
- More uses were found later on
- Mills took over servent's jobs
- Towards the end of the Middle Ages, there were about 6,500 mills in England
- 1500s(ish) Romans started to find better ways to use mills
- Still use mills today but have found better technology
Trebuchet
- Simple deisgn
- Updated the design from traction to counterweight
- Counterweight trebuchets started to show up in Christian and Muslim territories around the 12th century
- Not really used for defense anymore
- Still used for pumpkin chuckin' and other things mostly used for entertainment purposes
Engineers
Guido da Vigevano
- Physican and engineer
- Drew lots oh sketches of armored chariots, wind-propelled carriages and siege engines
- Created a vehicle that used windmills to power it
Villard de Honnecourt
- Experient in many arts and sciences
- Drew over 250 sketches of mostly architectural designs and mechnial devices
- Designed perpetual-motion machine, a water-driven saw, a number of automata, lifting devices, war engines
- Compared to Da Vinci