Discover the History of Medieval Siege Towers

Medieval Siege Towers: Mobile Giants of War

In the brutal chess game of medieval warfare, siege towers were among the most impressive and fearsome pieces. These towering wooden structures, wheeled into battle and bristling with armed soldiers, were designed to break through the strongest of castle defenses. Siege towers were the medieval answer to high walls and impregnable fortresses - mobile, towering platforms that turned the tide of countless battles.

What Were Siege Towers?

Siege towers, also known as belfries, were large, mobile wooden towers constructed to match or exceed the height of castle walls. Built on wheels or rollers, they could be moved up to the base of a fortification, allowing attacking soldiers to storm the walls while remaining protected from arrows, boiling oil, and rocks raining down from above.

These towers often had multiple levels:

The bottom floor housed soldiers, engineers, or sometimes a battering ram.

The middle levels allowed archers or crossbowmen to fire through openings.

The top level was a drawbridge-like platform that could be lowered onto the enemy walls, letting attackers pour in.

Design and Construction

Siege towers varied in size, design, and materials, depending on the era and region. Some towers were hastily built on-site using local wood, while others were pre-constructed and dismantled for transport.

Key features often included:

Thick wooden walls, sometimes covered with wet hides to resist fire.

Wheels or rollers for mobility.

Internal ladders or stairs for troop movement between levels.

Protective roofs to shield from projectiles and fire.

Building a siege tower was a massive engineering feat and required a skilled workforce, ample materials, and time, sometimes weeks under potentially dangerous conditions.

Tactics and Use in Battle

Siege towers were used in combination with other siege engines like battering rams, trebuchets, and catapults. Once the tower reached the enemy walls, the top level’s gangplank was dropped, and soldiers charged across it into close combat.

Some famous uses of siege towers include:

The Siege of Jerusalem (70 AD) by the Romans, where massive siege towers played a pivotal role.

Various Crusader sieges, such as the Siege of Acre (1191), where siege towers were used against well-defended Muslim fortresses.

Defenders, of course, had their countermeasures: they would attempt to burn siege towers, destroy them with catapults, or dig trenches to stop their advance.

Decline and Legacy

With the rise of gunpowder artillery in the late Middle Ages, siege towers began to fall out of favour. Cannons and bombards could breach walls from a distance, rendering the slow, cumbersome towers increasingly obsolete.

Despite this, siege towers left a lasting mark on the history of warfare. They represent the ingenuity and determination of medieval engineers and commanders to overcome even the most daunting fortifications.