Build Your Own Catapult: The History of Medieval Siege Warfare

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Build Your Own Catapult: The History of Medieval Siege Warfare

Kyra Zapf

Average rating:5.0Number of reviews:(2)

In this one-time course students will use everyday objects to build their own miniature catapults, outline different defensive strategies used by great warriors of old, and discuss the history of medieval weaponry.

Class Experience

In this class we shall begin by covering a brief history of engines of war including the invention of gunpowder, a 15th ce bouncing cannon, and the mystery of Greek fire. Next, we shall begin to construct our torsion-catapults, ending with individual demonstrations and discussion of a video displaying a larger model of a catapult and why we might not be able to scale our models.
I prefer to be hands-on in my teaching methods (as much a possible in this virtual environs) and I promise my...

Students will come away with a (safe) small catapult built out of household items, some new information about the physics of medieval warfare, and some neat historical tidbits.

As one of Puget Sound's Interdisciplinary Medieval Scholars, I have been studying classics and medieval for many years and have published on the topic. I currently teach several arts and design virtual classes with thehandworkstudio and have been for most of this summer. It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to combine my two passions in this course: creativity and history. I look forward to meeting you!

Homework Offered
Assessments Offered
Grades Offered

01) at least 2 rubber bands (hair-ties would suffice)
2) a cardboard shoe box (or box of similar size and thickness-top not needed)
3) a plastic spoon
4) two tooth picks, pencils, q-tips, or popsicle sticks
5) tinfoil or masking tape
6) tape or glue, scissors
7) a keen sense for adventure

Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.

While violent images involving injured people are kept to a minimum, the aim of this course is to illustrate the capacity of medieval weaponry and battles, so violent themes apply.

The final battle part 4: chronicles of Narnia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55x6274eKEQ
Information on the oldest English cannonball: https://www.livescience.com/49797-oldest-english-cannonball-discovered.html
Greek fire: https://allthatsinteresting.com/greek-fire
(We shall be covering all this and more in this class session)

Meet the teacher

Kyra Zapf

Average rating:5.0Number of reviews:(2)

Salutations! I am Princess Kyra from 16th century England. I enjoy teaching several craft classes in areas such as english, fiber arts, costuming, and beadwork. I also teach historical perspective classes where I focus on films, literature, and...