Military engineers or ingeniators were often drawn from those responsible for the construction and repair of castles. Masons were employed to cut stone for the stone throwing machines. Carpenters were used to construct the massive siege engines. Such engineers unfortunately enjoyed an inglorious and un-chivalric reputation. Mining operations, which could become very complex, required a tunnel to be excavated under the moat and walls, supported by timber props. The end of the tunnel would be packed with combustible material (pig carcasses were often used for the high fat content) which was then set alight at the required moment causing the tunnel to collapse. By the end of the medieval era sophisticated anti-mining methods were in use - these included reservoirs of water used to flood mines, the use of bells secured to the walls which would ring if mining works approached, or bowls of water which would similarly show ripples.
Offensive fortifications
Various structures were used by the besiegers to protect their forces:
Belfry
A mobile wooden siege tower for attacking fortifications. Also known as beffroi, berfriez, or château de bois.
Penthouse and ram
A mobile shed used to protect the men operating a battering ram. The ram, typically a large heavy object like a tree trunk, was usually swung against the gate from within the protective structure and suspended on ropes or chains. Alternatively, bores and picks (with pointed ends) could be used to slowly demolish stonework.
Wagonburg
Field fortification mad from wagons and carts.
Mantlet
A large shield or portable defensive hoarding used in the field. Also known as pavise and setzscild.
Hurdle
A protective screen or bretasche set out around the besieged fortification.
Sow
A mobile protective 'shed' used to gain access to the base of a wall or a moat to allow mining operations. Name is believed to come form a comparison between a sow suckling her piglets and the miners hiding beneath the shed. These structures were called by several other names including belette, cat (from the way a cat was said to creep up to a wall), mouse, and weasel (protection for miners or bores/picks who gnawed away at the structure).
Chat château (cat castle)
A special form of cat with an attached wooden 'castle' used to protect the entrance to a siege-mine from attack by men-at-arms.
Miscellaneous weapons and structures
Fire was a common way to reduce a castle - the buildings surrounding the fortifications would be set alight before any siege engines were brought forward. Almost every castle would have enough combustible material inside its walls to make an incendiary attack attractive. Various recipes for Greek fire are documented, these liquids were often catapulted into the enclosure in earthenware pots. The defenders would also use Greek fire against the various forms of protective sow used by the attackers.
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