After many years of stubborn and unsuccessful battles, the English king Edward I finally achieved the conquest of Scotland. Despite the crushing defeat of the bulk of William Wallace's rebel forces at Falkirk in 1298, resistance continued throughout the countryside. It took years to wipe out the remaining Scots, and by 1304 there was only one major hostile stronghold to oppose English rule - Stirling Castle.
This castle was and still remains a formidable structure that guards the crossing of the Fort River. Without him, Edward could not have claimed to have completely conquered the Scots. With a large army and a dozen siege engines, the English army laid siege to the castle.
Edward had a new secret weapon at his disposal that gave him confidence that the castle would fall quickly. Edward was going to take the castle with the help of the so-called "Wolf of War".
Wolf of War
The Wolf of War was the largest trebuchet ever built. It was designed specifically for assaults on heavily fortified castles such as Stirling Castle.
Other smaller siege engines could not quickly penetrate heavily fortified walls, resulting in months of sieges, giving the defenders an advantage. Edward wanted to show that he has a weapon that can quickly break through the defenses of any castle.
The War Wolf was transported in thirty wagons and required thousands of kilograms of counterweights to ensure it didn't collapse. During its manufacture near Sterling Castle, Edward demanded that all lead and other similar metals be removed from the surrounding churches. All this metal was needed to create counterweights for the "wolf".
Such extreme measures were necessary because the "wolf" was said to have measured over 100 meters in height and could throw stones weighing up to 150 kilograms.
It was a modern marvel in terms of military technology at the time, and overshadowed all the standard siege engines of the era.
Siege of the castle
The siege of Stirling Castle began in April 1304 when Edward's army surrounded the fortress. The king asked the garrison to surrender peacefully to avoid a lengthy siege, but the garrison refused.
The wolf took three months to make. Dozens of workers labored to make sure the trebuchet was functional. All this time the Scots watched from the ramparts as the "monster" takes shape.
After it became clear that the "wolf" is a huge trebuchet and that Edward intends to destroy the castle defenses, the garrison tried to surrender. However, the offer of surrender was rejected. Edward was not going to pass up an excellent opportunity to test his weapon.
In July, the "wolf" roared to life. He threw massive stones at walls, destroying them completely in just a few throws. The weapon was a great success. The castle was taken on 24 July.
Model
As far as we know, only one "wolf" took part in the siege. But while it was the largest and possibly the most destructive siege machine of the era, it was impractical.
It took weeks or even months to make it. A team of expensive engineers and workers was required to install and maintain the machine. It took thousands of kilograms of stones and counterweights to fire. This is probably why this device became a weapon that has never been duplicated.
Today you can see a scale model of a Scotland wolf outside of Carlaverock Castle. It is truly gigantic.
