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A sketch from Leonardo da Vinci’s
notebook illustrating a fixed counterweight trebuchet
for long range fortress defense.
 Alone,
this single trebuchet would have an extremely limited field of fire. Although
the range could be varied by changes in counterweight mass, sling
length and release angle , the
fixed orientation of the main axle and beam provides only a single line
of fire.
da Vinci probably envisioned a system of
trebuchets, placed at varying angles about the defensive perimeter, creating
an overlapping field of fire within a natural or manufactured approach.
This would inhibit the enemy from establishing their own artillery emplacements,
forcing them to attempt more dangerous and costly sapping, scaling
, or ramming operations.
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