The GRAVITY - COUNTERWEIGHT TREBUCHET was the most powerful and efficient non-explosive mechanical weapon ever developed by man and was literally the heavy siege artillery of the Middle Ages during the 14th (1300's) into the 16th (1500's) Centuries. It is thought that a small type of trebuchet may have been developed in China as early as 300BC. The concept of the larger "gravity" powered trebuchet originated in China in the 1100's and came to Europe in the 1200's. Machines up to 50 feet tall at rest, with counterweights of many tons are known to have been deployed in various sieges. Modern full-size recreations have been used to throw 400 pound upright pianos, and even a Volkswagen Beetle automobile. They could be very accurate and were capable of impacting the same place on a wall time after time, after being adjusted or "tuned" to cast projectiles of a certain weight over a specific distance. The term Trebuchet comes from the Old French word "Trabucher, meaning "to overturn" or "to fall-over". In the English of its day, it was known as a "trip-gate" or a "trap-gate". A stone from it was "trapped" at the target from which we get our modern sport of "trap" shooting at an object thrown by a machine.