springald
A springald, or espringal, was a torsion siege engine device for throwing bolts in medieval times. It is depicted in a diagram in an 11th-century Byzantine manuscript, but in Western Europe is more evident in the late 12th century and early 13th century. It was constructed on the same principles as an Ancient Greek or Roman ballista, but had inward swinging arms and threw bolts instead of stones.
Also recorded as espringal
springald
Mario Sánchez Prada · File:London Tower Springald and Perrier.jpg originally posted to Flickr as Tower of London: siege weapons · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Field
- torsion siege engine · tension artillery
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wikidata · Q1261384 · wikipedia · Springald
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History
History
It was also known as a 'skein-bow', and was a torsion device using twisted skeins of silk or sinew to power two bow-arms. • Illustration — Torsion springald in Roberto Valturio's De Re Militari (1472)
The springald was a defensive bolt thrower based on the torsion mechanism of ancient ballistas, with two arms held in a skein of twisted sinew or hair. Unlike the ballista, it seems to have been housed in a rectangular box-like wooden structure and shot bolts instead of stones. According to digital models and projections, a springald could throw a bolt around 180 meters if mounted on a tower at an elevation of 15 degrees. It appears to have spread across Europe rapidly during the 13th century. According to J Liebel, its appearance may be connected to the invention of the spinning wheel in Europe around 1250, which made the winding of skeins easier. The earliest reference to the springald appears in France in 1249 and its presence is attested to in the arsenal at Reims in 1258. In England, an order of horsehair was made for springalds in 1266. Springalds were commonly used to defend gates from atop towers, where their skeins were safe from wet weather and their bolts could be shot a greater distance. Springalds were expensive to produce: Liebel's calculation for the cost of machines built for the pope at Avignon puts them at six months' wages for an unskilled laborer. By 1382, springalds were being phased out in favor of crossbows or firearms. In some parts of Germany and Switzerland, the springald survived until the early 15th century.
In popular culture
In popular culture
• An espringal was mentioned in the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones. • The Redwall book Loamhedge has a mouse named "Springald" (presumably after the contraption). • Springalds appear in the video game Age of Empires IV.
Reconstructions
• Illustration — Modern reconstruction of a torsion springald, the twisted skeins powering the inward projecting bow arms can be seen. Displayed at the Tower of London Several reconstructed examples can be found, Jean Leibell produced a 12 in model for his researches into "Springalds and Great Crossbows" which was commissioned by the Royal Armouries Museum, and a larger model can be seen at the Tower of London. The only known full-size example is in the Royal Armouries Museum at Fort Nelson, Portsmouth, at around 8 ft long and capable of hurling a 2.4 kg bolt over 55 m (in excess of its expected range) and a 1.5 kg bolt over 77 m. This example was removed by the manufacturer, the Tenghesvisie Mechanical Artillery Society, for further research into the winding mechanism and firing tests. The machine was to be returned to the museum in the spring of 2013 for a public demonstration of mechanical artillery at Fort Nelson. There also exists or existed a huge springald at Trebuchet Park, Albarracín, Spain.
References ==== Bibliography
References ==== Bibliography
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Literature
Literature
Literature
GPU-Accelerated Window-Based Aggregates Over Out-of-Order Data Streams, IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, 2024
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Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Springald, revision 1360011010 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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Notes from the source article
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- 1.Nicolle, pp. 173–174, the espringal is depicted, in the form of a fairly detailed diagram, in an 11th-century Byzantine manuscript
- 2.Screenshot from the episode
Bibliography printed in the source article · 2
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1- torsion siege engineTerminology
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Springald is connected to 1 other published record in the VALÉORINE Encyclopedia.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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