The Warwolf, also known as the Loup-de-Guerre or Ludgar,[1] is believed to have been the largest trebuchet ever made.[2] It was created in Scotland by order of Edward I of England, during the siege of Stirling Castle in 1304, as part of the Wars of Scottish Independence. A contemporary chronicle refers to it as une engine orrible.[3]
Warwolf at Stirling
When disassembled, the weapon would fill 30 wagons in parts.[citation needed] It reportedly took five master carpenters and forty-nine other labourers at least three months to complete.[4]
The Flores Historiarum claims that the Warwolf sent a single stone through two of the castle's walls in the course of the siege, "like an arrow flying through cloth".[5] Other sources, however, report that the weapon was only finished after the Scots had surrendered.[4] Edward decided to use it anyway, refusing to let anyone enter or leave the castle until it had been tested.[6]
In the original records
Some of the original parchment rolls of the accounts of King Edward survive. Two references to the Warwolf in Latin read:
Another payment refers to a watchman; Reginald the Janitor was paid wages for guarding the Warwolf's beams for forty nights in June and July 1304.[7]
References
- ^ "Ludgar". Anglo-Norman Dictionary. Aberystwyth University. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
- ^ "Largest wooden trebuchet". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
- ^ Wright, Thomas (ed.) (1868). The Chronicle of Pierre de Langtoft. Vol. 2. London: Longmans, Green, Reader & Dyer. p. 356.
- ^ Prestwich, Michael (1997). Edward I. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. p. 502. ISBN 0-300-07209-0.
- ^ Luard, Henry (ed.) (1890). Flores Historiarum. Vol. 3. London: HM Stationery Office. p. 319.
- ^ Bain, Joseph (ed.) (1884). Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland. Vol. 2. Edinburgh: HM General Register House. p. 405.
- ^ Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland. Vol. 5. Scottish Record Office. n.d. p. 201.