Château de Castelnaud

War engines

The Museum of Medieval Warfare reconstructs for the first time in 500 years the war engines which attacked castle fortresses.

The giant crossbow whose bow spans three meters could send destructive arrows 300 meters.

The trebuchet is a 12 ton engine, today in working condition. It can hurl 50 kilogram stone balls more than 180 meters. Other projectile machines are on display in different places in the castle: the pierriere and the bricole were used for attack as well as for defense. They can fling weights of between 10 to 50 kilograms up to 40 meters.

Powder artillery is represented by a bombard capable of throwing 100-kilogram balls several hundred meters.