During the advance of Cortés on Tlatelolco, his conquistadors constructed one of these weapons that apparently only managed to throw a stone back into itself. For 10 points each:
[10e] Name these long-armed siege engines, which were usually powered by hinged or hanging counterweights in the late medieval era.
ANSWER: trebuchets [accept counterweight trebuchets, traction trebuchets, or mangonels; prompt on catapults or stone-thrower]
[10m] Napoleon III is among those who have questioned theories that this phenomenon powered some medieval mangonels. The Roman onager used this phenomenon, which replaced tension designs during Macedon’s conquests.
ANSWER: torsion [accept torsion springs or torsion engines]
[10h] This largest recorded trebuchet required thirty wagons to carry and three months to build. Edward I was so proud of this trebuchet that he refused to let the defenders of Stirling Castle surrender until he had a chance to use it.
ANSWER: Warwolf [or Ludgar or Loup de Guerre]
<Henry Atkins, European History>