WEBVTT - The Artifact: Boiling Tar and Murder Holes

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of

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<v Speaker 1>My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and

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<v Speaker 1>this is the Artifact. A short form series from Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on particular objects, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>and moments in time. There's nothing quite like a good

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<v Speaker 1>siege sequence in a fantasy or historic motion picture. As

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<v Speaker 1>those within a castle or walled city defend themselves against

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<v Speaker 1>incursion from the army encamped just beyond their fortifications, each

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<v Speaker 1>side employs various tactics, clever and cruel, to turn the

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<v Speaker 1>tide of battle. These include the use of fantastic siege

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<v Speaker 1>engines and siege towers on the part of the besiegers,

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<v Speaker 1>while the besieged have the benefit of their existing fortification.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the key advantages of the besieged is that

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<v Speaker 1>you wouldn't have to waste arrows on enemy soldiers trying

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<v Speaker 1>to batter down the door. You wouldn't even need to

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<v Speaker 1>mess with burning oil, as military historian Dr bred C.

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<v Speaker 1>Devereaux points out in his excellent blog A Collection of

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<v Speaker 1>Unmitigated Pedantry in a critique of the Siege of Gondor.

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<v Speaker 1>In two thousand threes, film adaptation of the Return of

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<v Speaker 1>the King. Burning oil was used historically, but boiled water

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<v Speaker 1>and sand were cheaper choices, and nothing lands quite as

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<v Speaker 1>well as a rock turned via gravity into a murderous weapon.

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<v Speaker 1>Fortresses were even designed with special apertures through which to

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<v Speaker 1>drop such objects on the enemy. The mertry air or

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<v Speaker 1>murder hole was found in the ceiling of a fortress's

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<v Speaker 1>gateway or passageway. He created a psychological threat to any

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<v Speaker 1>enemy that might pass underneath it, as well as a

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<v Speaker 1>very real means of dropping things on the enemy. Fortress

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<v Speaker 1>walls featured similar apertures. Maticulations looked roughly like stone cabinets

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<v Speaker 1>affixed to the outside of a fortress, and they gave

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<v Speaker 1>defenders a protected place from which to drop all manner

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<v Speaker 1>of terrifying and deadly things on the besiegers. For attackers,

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<v Speaker 1>these holes were quite difficult to fire arrows into, but

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<v Speaker 1>as renaer ats Back points out in the legend of

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<v Speaker 1>hot tar or pitch as a defensive weapon, the use

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<v Speaker 1>of both sorts of murder hole declined during the fifteenth

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<v Speaker 1>and sixteenth century parallel to the spread of hand firearms.

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<v Speaker 1>It simply became all too easy for the besiegers to

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<v Speaker 1>swiftly and more accurately fire back up. The whole Xbox

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<v Speaker 1>chiefly discusses the use of boiling tar, however, and concludes

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<v Speaker 1>the high temperature and the production of non porable pitch

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<v Speaker 1>in the heating process would have made its use quite difficult,

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<v Speaker 1>and they conclude that the rise of tar and feathering

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<v Speaker 1>as a means of public torture and punishment may have

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<v Speaker 1>fostered the legend of its use as a widespread defensive weapon.

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<v Speaker 1>Far better and simpler to simply drop rocks through your

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<v Speaker 1>murder hole. Again, gravity is generally on the side of

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<v Speaker 1>whoever holds the high ground in a siege, a situation

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<v Speaker 1>quite similar to the idea of orbital superiority in interplanetary war.

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<v Speaker 1>If one were to besiege an entire planet, the gravity

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<v Speaker 1>advantage would be reversed. An orbital attacker wouldn't have to

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<v Speaker 1>rain nuclear weapons down on the enemy planet. All they

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<v Speaker 1>need is mass telephone pole size tungsten rods, captured asteroids,

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<v Speaker 1>or even spare ship parts could be dropped in a

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<v Speaker 1>kinetic bombardment. Such tactics would create nuclear weapons style impacts.

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<v Speaker 1>Without nuclear weapons style fallout, high ground may be difficult

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<v Speaker 1>to overcome, but as Devereaux points out sieges were ultimately

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<v Speaker 1>a contest of collective will quote. Far more cities and

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<v Speaker 1>castles were taken by surrender or else by betrayal than

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<v Speaker 1>were ever taken by storm. Tune into additional editions of

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<v Speaker 1>the artifact each week. As always, you can email us

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<v Speaker 1>at contact it's stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a production of I

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<v Speaker 1>heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit

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