A point about siege ladders

In the movies, climbing a ladder to attack a castle is shown a suicidally dangerous. Was it? How did they actually use ladders in assaults on fortified places?

Credits:
Walls of Rome image

Krak des Chevaliers image

Walls of Byzantium image
By en:User:Bigdaddy1204 - Photograph taken in June 2006 in Istanbul by en:User:Bigdaddy1204. All credits go

Apollodorus of Damascus image

Trajan's column image
By Attributed to Apollodorus of Damascus - Conrad Cichorius: "Die Reliefs der Traianssäule",
Zweiter Tafelband: "Die Reliefs des Zweiten Dakischen Krieges", Tafeln 58–113, Verlag von Georg

Chinese scaling ladder image
By cncs - 摄于陕西西安长乐门城楼 photographed at City wall of Xi'an by Cncs, CC BY-SA 4.0,

Merlons image

Chimera image

Opening title music by David Gildas

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Lindybeige: a channel of archaeology, ancient and medieval warfare, rants, swing dance, travelogues, evolution, and whatever else occurs to me to make.

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[whyyousobudu]

At school "oh no, not another boring 45 minute history lesson"

Later that day- "oh boy! 52 minutes on the history of ladders! What a treat!"

Difference - the teacher

[BenjaminEmm]

“A point about siege ladders”... 52 Minutes... Is it Christmas already?

[Sapphire-Light]

Shad: Do you want to be in my short film?
Lloyd: Sure, I'm free. By the way, you've been mispronouncing machicolations.
Shad: I've rewritten your part. You're now French.

[barrisonplayz]

Now I can't stop thinking about specifically bred anti-siege attack bees, whose existence depends on a very bored guard

[shadiversity]

I was summoned here by machicolations and feel more French for some reason. This video is peak Lindybeige and I love it!

[JohnDoe-nynq]

Almost an hour on ladders, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

[ShieldAre]

Spartans: *Build a double wall during a siege*

Julius Caesar: Write that down, write that down!

[bradeki]

"My memory's not perfectly reliable." -guy who can rattle on for an hour with correct dates, pronunciations, facts, and figures.

Yeah, I wish my memory was that unreliable.

[spudicous]

"Ladders"
52 minutes
Never change Loyd

[cengiztaner]

Lindybeige is probably the only person I'd listen to who talks about ladders for an hour

[dazhibernian]

Ladders are ok. They've got their ups & downs.

[bodkinrappallum]

Lindy is my favorite scholar on youtube. He can literally ramble for an hour about one topic, complain about his unreliable memory while also quoting and crediting specific chapters of a book and properly remembering dates, the exact details of things, and all the while still delivering an informative and gripping lecture. Freakin awesome, love your work! Please never stop!

[banesnoN]

"Hot sand could be really irritating ..." Anakin Skywalker approves.

[ItsShooty]

Seriously, I'm not saying anything new here but I will reiterate: Lloyd is the only person who can get me interested in ladders enough to listen to him speak about them for almost an hour.

[Puleczech]

43:20 The fact he scoured all his harddrives first and THEN the internet, clearly reveals that he has direct access to an offline medieval 𝖂𝖎𝖈𝖍𝖎𝖕𝖆𝖊𝖉𝖎𝖆.

[jacobdonnely]

"I think it's far more compelling showing large number of people's trying not to die, and contending in a rational way." I think this is part of what makes 1964's Zulu such a fantastic film.

[SamGlaze]

Only Lindy could make “a point” last more than 50 minutes, and that’s why we’re subscribed

[VictorianTimeTraveler]

Boiling water: no big deal
Hot sand: whatever
Lyme: Eeerr I'll just keep my eyes shut
Beehive: *No Not the Bees! Not the Bees!*

[EtzEchad]

"I'm warning you that it does make you sound a little bit French."
Important safety tip.

[ronjones-]

He reminds me of my favorite history teacher. She could talk for hours and you'd just be enraptured. I didn't always retain all the facts, but it made me WANT to learn more about the subject. Mission accomplished. Good teachers are rare jewels.