1 Background information on battering rams Click here to move to the contents

2 Information to support research on battering rams Key materials needed Information 4 Information 5 Information 2 Information 6 Information 3 Picture Information 1

3 Key materials needed to build a battering ram large amounts of timber animal hides or skins (to cover the roof) large tree trunk metal to cap the trunk rope, chain or twine

4 Battering rams were made to try and break down the strong doors of the castle. These battering rams consisted of a very long, thick log that was rigged up on a mechanism with wheels. This allowed the attackers to push the battering ram along the ground and to hit the door of the castle, in the hope of smashing it in. Often the end of the battering ram would be covered in tar and set alight in the hope that this would do more damage to the castle's strong wooden doors. Source: History on the netHistory on the net

5 The thick stone walls of the stone keep castles were difficult for men to knock down. Although pickaxes could be used against castles with thinner walls, it would take a very long time to knock a hole through a castle with very thick walls. The battering ram was particularly useful since the weight of several men would be put behind it. This would make it a considerable force that could seriously weaken and possibly destroy doors or walls. Another favoured weapon employed during sieges was the battering ram. They were most often made from the trunk of a large tree and if time allowed, a mighty bronze head in the shape of a ram was added. Using chains and/or ropes, it was then suspended from a wooded framed with a roof, which was covered to protect against boiling oil and fire. Once ready, it would be wheeled to the gate of the castle and used to batter it down. Sometimes the defenders used hooks to try and catch the head of the ram or lower mattresses to cushion the blows. Source: History on the Net websiteHistory on the Net website (

6 Battering rams are devices used to break through fortification walls or doors. They have been in use since ancient time. The simplest form of a battering ram is a large heavy log carried by several attackers to hit the fortress or castle door or wall. The objective is to do enough damage to the wall or door to allow the attackers inside. A more efficient design of the battering ram was to use a wheeled frame to carry it. The battering ram was suspended by ropes or chains which allowed the ram to be much larger and be swung more easily. The sides and roofs of this improved type of battering ram were sometime covered with protective materials to keep them from being set on fire and to protect the attackers. Some battering rams were not suspended by ropes or chains but were placed on rollers instead. This would allow the ram to gain much higher speed and thus inflict much more damage. To defend themselves from a battering ram the defenders would drop obstacles in front of the battering ram or use grappling hooks to immobilize the ram or set the ram and/or its frame on fire. Another defense was to simply launch an attack on the ram as it approached them. Source: All_About_Renaissance_Faires.com websiteAll_About_Renaissance_Faires.com website (

7 Source: Medieval Warfare websiteMedieval Warfare website (

8 The battering ram is the oldest of the siege engines, used to attack the weakest part of a stone fort, the wooden gate. The men moving and operating the ram are protected by a sturdy wooden housing. There are a couple of designs for a battering ram. The first would be a huge log mounted on wheels, when at the target the ram would be pushed back and forth. The second and probably the easier one to operate would be the log suspended from a frame which swung freely, they would wheel the ram up to the target and then swing for victory. The castle defenders could burn the ram down with fire arrows or fire pots so the wooden housing would, like the siege tower, also be covered in the rawhides of mule or oxen. The castle defenders may also lower a mattress over the target area to absorb the impact. Another defence against the ram consisted of a metal hook which was lowered from the battlements underneath the ram. Then the hook would be raised and then the ram would be rendered useless. Source: Medieval Warfare websiteMedieval Warfare website (

9 Further information (continued) The battering ram was the siege engine used to break down a huge gatehouse door or even smash a castle wall. This was so that the army did not have to risk losing a large amount of soldiers using ladders, towers or by tunneling. The ram would be built close to the castle so that it did not have to be moved a long distance. Firstly, the carpenters would build a covered shed which could be moved on large wheels to make the soldiers as safe as possible from attack from above. Castle defenders tried to burn the shed down by firing flaming arrows or dropping burning materials onto it therefore the attackers covered the shed with damp animal skins or earth to make it fireproof. Once the shed was built a thick tree trunk would be hung on chains from the top of the structure, this allowed it to be swung backwards and forwards and smashed into the wall or door. Source: Medieval Warfare websiteMedieval Warfare website (

10 Carpenters tapered the trunk into a blunt point and capped it with iron to make it as hard as possible. The soldiers would send someone forward to find a suitable place on the castle to attack and the ram would be wheeled slowly into place. The slow forward movement as the battering ram was wheeled toward the castle wall earned it the nickname ‘tortoise’. The soldiers would concentrate the blows on one point hitting it again and again so that a weak point would be made. After a long period of striking the wall or door they would hope to break through. After this, the fighting would begin. Using the battering ram was a battle of time, the attackers needed to break through as quickly as possible whilst the soldiers defending the castle needed to repel the attackers before they were over-run. Source: Medieval Warfare websiteMedieval Warfare website (

11 Acknowledgements Slide 1: Photo of battering ram from Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. Subject to disclaimers. Slide 4 and 5: Text & battering ram illustration from © Copyright H Y Wheeler, Used with kind permission. Slide 6: Text from faires.com/Warfare/Siege_Tactics. © Copyright renaissance-faires.com. Used with kind permission. Slides 7-10:Text and Image of Roman battering ram taken from © Copyright medieval-weaponry.co.uk. Used with kind permission.