A possible summary is:
An expert on medieval siege warfare and fortifications reviews various battle scenes from movies and TV shows and rates them based on their historical accuracy and realism. He comments on the use of weapons, tactics, defenses, and fortifications in different scenarios and periods, and points out the anachronisms, errors, and exaggerations in some of the depictions. He also explains the role of women, religion, and leadership in siege situations.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
- The text is a transcript of a video where Dr. Michael Fulton, an expert at siege warfare and medieval fortifications, rates the realism of various siege scenes in movies and TV shows.
- The text covers six different siege scenes from the following movies and TV shows: Braveheart, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Vikings, Ironclad, Mulan, and Kingdom of Heaven.
- Some of the facts that Dr. Fulton mentions about siege warfare and medieval fortifications are:
- Throwing heads at each other was a real psychological warfare tactic used by both attackers and defenders in some sieges.
- Setting gates on fire was a legitimate tactic, but it largely predates the period of most of the scenes. Incendiaries would look more like tar than gasoline.
- Portcullis design with a lattice structure was coming into fashion around the 13th century. It was open so that defenders could stick stuff through it and it was metal to prevent fire.
- Siege towers were mainly used to elevate attackers rather than to get them to the top of a wall. A ladder would be a cheaper and more cost-effective way to do that.
- Lighting arrows on fire served no practical value unless trying to set a thatched roof cottage on fire.
- Undermining the wall by digging a big cavity underneath it and burning the wooden supports was the best way to go through a wall.
- Horses were not very useful in a siege because they needed to be fed and they produced waste. They were more important for mounted warriors in open battles.
- Penthouses were shelters used to get to the base of the walls and then try to dig a hole under them.
- Lobbing arrows at a distance was not an effective siege or counter-siege tactic. Archers would shoot arrows as fast as they could rather than holding them for volleys.
- There were machines that could hold something not friendly over the walls and then drop it on the attackers, such as a ring on fire, something heavy, or a log with spikes.