Murder hole
Videos
A murder hole or meurtrière is a hole in the ceiling of a gateway or passageway in a fortification through which the defenders could shoot, throw or pour harmful substances or objects such as rocks, a
Murder holes at Bodiam Castle
Early thermal weapons
Videos
Early thermal weapons, which used heat or burning action to destroy or damage enemy personnel, fortifications or territories, were employed in warfare during the ancient and post-classical periods.
Murder hole
…through which the defenders could shoot, throw or pour harmful substances or objects such as rocks, arrows, scalding water, hot sand, quicklime, or hot oil (rarely used because of its cost), down on attackers. Similar holes, called machicolations, were often located in the curtain walls of castles, fortified…
The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans Under the Command of Titus, A.D. 70, by David Roberts (1850), shows the city burning
Normans use torches to fire the wooden keep on a motte at Dinan, 1064, Bayeux Tapestry
Chinese fire ships from the Wujing Zongyao military manuscript, 1044, Song dynasty
Two fire arrows (crossbow bolts). Southern Germany, ca. 15th century, with preserved incendiary mixture of saltpeter, charcoal, sulphur and textile on the shaft.