A Springald is a late 12th century or early 13th century mechanical

Machine

A machine manages power to accomplish a task, examples include, a mechanical system, a computing system, an electronic system, and a molecular machine. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work...

 artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

 device for throwing large bolts and less commonly stones or Greek fire

Greek fire

Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines typically used it in naval battles to great effect as it could continue burning while floating on water....

, based around the design of a contemporary crossbow

Crossbow

A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...

 and a Greek

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

 ballista

Ballista

The ballista , plural ballistae, was an ancient missile weapon which launched a large projectile at a distant target....

, but with inward swinging arms.

Examples have been drawn by Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...

, but at a time when he was also drawing powder

Gunpowder

Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...

-propelled weapons. There are no known archaeological finds of parts for these machines but it is highly likely that due to the nature of the materials used then it is probable that some material recycling took place at the time of their demise.

Reconstructions

Several reconstructed examples can be found, Jean Leibell produced a 12" model for his researches into "Springalds and Great Crossbows" which was commissioned by the Royal Armouries

Royal Armouries

The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's National Museum of Arms and Armour. It is the United Kingdom's oldest museum, and one of the oldest museums in the world. It is also one of the largest collections of arms and armour in the world, comprising the UK's National Collection of Arms and...

 Museum and a larger model can be seen at the Tower of London

Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

. The only known full size example is in the Royal Armouries Museum at Fort Nelson, Portsmouth

Fort Nelson, Portsmouth

Fort Nelson, in the civil parish of Boarhunt in the English county of Hampshire, is one of five defensive forts built on the summit of Portsdown Hill in the 1860s, overlooking the important naval base of Portsmouth. It is now part of the Royal Armouries, housing their collection of...

at around 8 feet long and capable of hurling a 2.4 kg Bolt over 55 metres (in excess of its expected range) and a 1.5 kg bolt over 77 metres.

Size

Although Leibell describes this size of machine as a "Great Springald”, it is more likely to be the standard size. If the evidence is investigated, such as the size of the figures in “The Romance of Alexander”, where they are at about the height of the top horns, there is no evidence to suggest that they are dwarves. Although the length of the bolt to be fired may be a little on the long side.