The word “Trebuchet” is derived from the Old French word 'Trebucher' meaning to throw over, and the siege machine of the same name has a history dating back to antiquity. Its first incarnataion was thought to be the traction trebuchet, which was invented in China in 300BCE and may have developed from the stave sling. In the traction trebuchet, human power was used by having a large troop of men pull down on ropes to propel the missile. Similar weapon systems of this type may have been described by Leo the Wise's Tactica and it is now believed that by the torsion trebuchet was invented either in the Roman Empire or the Muslim Middle East. The Trebuchet is thought to have reached Western Europe in the High Middle Ages, and proved to be a highly effective weapon in besieging the new stone cas