Uploaded May 2012 | Updated September 2026, 6 hours ago
This film documents the NOVA team's successful attempt to build and shoot a giant trebuchet, the most destructive war machine that ever laid siege to a medieval castle. The theory behind this was to aim to recreate 'Warwolf', king Henry I's trebuchet that destroyed Stirling castle in around 1280.
The Warwolf, or War Wolf or Ludgar (Loup de Guerre), is believed to be the largest Trebuchet ever made. It was created in Scotland by order of King Edward Longshanks of England, during the siege of Stirling Castle in 1304, as part of the Scottish Wars of Independence. When disassembled, the weapon would fill 30 wagons. It took five master carpenters and forty-nine other labourers at least three months to complete.
The NOVA team built a replica of a section of the castle wall and successfully destroying it, proving the capability of one of the most frightening of the weapons early European warriors employed in siege warfare.
This film documents the NOVA team's successful attempt to build and shoot a giant trebuchet, the most destructive war machine that ever laid siege to a medieval castle. The theory behind this was to aim to recreate 'Warwolf', king Henry I's trebuchet that destroyed Stirling castle in around 1280.
The Warwolf, or War Wolf or Ludgar (Loup de Guerre), is believed to be the largest Trebuchet ever made. It was created in Scotland by order of King Edward Longshanks of England, during the siege of Stirling Castle in 1304, as part of the Scottish Wars of Independence. When disassembled, the weapon would fill 30 wagons. It took five master carpenters and forty-nine other labourers at least three months to complete.
The NOVA team built a replica of a section of the castle wall and successfully destroying it, proving the capability of one of the most frightening of the weapons early European warriors employed in siege warfare.
