Q 01/05

Which siege engine used a falling counterweight to sling boulders and rotting carcasses over castle walls?

A) Ballista

B) Trebuchet

C) Onager

D) Springald

Answer · why

B) Trebuchet

The trebuchet could throw almost anything, from debris to incendiaries, though a large stone was typical. Crews hoisted its box of stones, sand or lea...

Q 02/05

Which six-foot English weapon did Edward III order able-bodied men to practise with on holidays?

A) Quarterstaff

B) Boar spear

C) Longbow

D) Javelin

Answer · why

C) Longbow

The longbow took years to master, so a practised population made it far easier for the king to recruit archers. Skeletons of archers show the strain, ...

Q 03/05

Which weapon, usable with little training, did the Second Lateran Council forbid against Christians in 1139?

A) Crossbow

B) Throwing axe

C) Staff sling

D) War scythe

Answer · why

A) Crossbow

The crossbow was outlawed by Canon 29, which condemned ordinary bows in the same breath. A recruit could shoot one well after little practice, while o...

Q 04/05

Which Byzantine incendiary weapon, sprayed from ship-mounted tubes, had a recipe so secret that it is now lost?

A) Fire lance

B) Hellburner

C) Thunder crash bomb

D) Greek fire

Answer · why

D) Greek fire

Greek fire kept burning on water, which made it devastating against wooden fleets. Most modern scholars think it was petroleum mixed with resins, clos...

Q 05/05

Which weapon, adapted from a tool for threshing grain, joins a striking head to a handle by chain or hinge?

A) Scythe

B) Flail

C) Billhook

D) Pitchfork

Answer · why

B) Flail

The flail armed the Hussite peasant soldiers of the fifteenth century, who fought with two-handed farm versions. The ball-and-chain type beloved of fi...