Digital Commons Network^™

Hybrid Or Counterpoise? A Study Of Transitional Trebuchets, Michael J. Basista

Masters Theses

This study investigates the engineering and use of a proposed type of trebuchet in the Middle Ages. A study by a prominent historian has suggested the existence of a type of siege weapon that made use of both human and gravitational forces to fire its projectile. My research will investigate this claim by examining select sources, reviewing the engineering principles involved, and determining the viability of such a machine.

After dealing with this theory I will offer my own new interpretation made from the sources. This interpretation will center on the application of ancient technology to make trebuchets more efficient. …

Castles In The Crusader Kingdom Of Valencia, 1257-1276, Marius Nielsen

Masters Theses

For my thesis I proposed to study the registered charters of James I (1208-1276), King of Aragon, to examine how castles were distributed and utilized in the Crusader Kingdom of Valencia for the period 1257-1276. A little over two thousand register charters were issued for Valencia during this period. Around 250 of the two thousand charters mention castles indicating the importance of castles in the administration of the Crusader Kingdom of Valencia. Although there are many works on Western European castles the majority focus on castles in France, Britain and the Crusader States in the Middle East and rely on …

Tinners And The Stannaries: Law, Life, And Labor In Fourteenth-Century Cornwall, Michael Kurt Deen

Masters Theses

Based on extensive archival research, this thesis analyzes the socio-economic position occupied by fourteenth-century tinners in Cornwall, England. The tinners represented a privileged group of laborers in the later Middle Ages, and the records of their stannary courts provide a unique glimpse into their lives. the evidence from these records show that the stannaries of Cornwall experienced a transformation of the structure of labor after the Black Death out of tin production and into agriculture. The result was a shift from a system overwhelmingly dominated by independent prospectors, dependant on credit for survival, to one which included large-scale operations owned …

Cultural Encounters: The Peruvian Artifacts Collected By Cristobal Vaca De Castro, Genoveva Garcia-Gallardo Carcedo

Masters Theses

This project examines the collecting activities of Cristobal Vaca de Castro through a comparative analysis of official and private letters, inventories of items he collected, trial records, his judicial review (an appraisal of his activities in office taken after his term ended, known as residencia), and secondary sources. Vaca de Castro was originally sent to Peru to act as a judge to ensure that Francisco Pizarro carried out the royal orders and instructions he had been sent and to establish peace in a Peru struggling with civil wars. The assassination of Francisco Pizarro on the eve of Vaca de …