Molten lead to defens castles?

[ChiefScott]

As we’ve all learned, it was a common practice to boil up oil in the parapets of fortresses so it could be poured upon attackers attempting to scale the walls during an assault. Kind of the 15th Century’s napalm.

I’ve heard that molten lead was used for this purpose, too. I kinda doubt this for two reasons:

1. Where would they get enough lead to make it an effective defensive scheme?

2. If they did pour molten lead, wouldn’t there be masses of lead at the bases of the fortresses which utilized this technique?

Is it true that molten lead was used to defend castles and the like?

[Triskadecamus]

Well, let’s look at the for sure knowable facts.

Lead was available to defenders of castles in many cases, since it was a construction material, and the phenomenon of castle was as much an ongoing process as a structure, during the militarily important history of castles. So, with rude strangers at the walls, and a supply of hot lead at hand, you have to figure that the obvious was obvious to the minds of soldiers somewhere, sometime.

However, the folks who paid for castles would have screamed their lungs out if they noticed it, because lead was expensive. Plus, if you used oil, you could wait for the next wave to get to the bottom of the wall among their former friends dead bodies, and drop torches on them and set them on fire. That won’t work with lead. You just don’t get enough bang for the ducat, using all that expensive lead.

So, it probably did happen. It probably didn’t happen much, and the guys who pitched the Baron’s lead over the wall probably had to spend a while chipping it up off the walls after the battle was over.

[Fear_Itself]

I suspect that the molten lead pouring was a product of Hollywood, and didn’t exist before Charles Laughton did in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” in 1939.

[Jet_Jaguar]

From what I understand, boiling oil wasn’t very common either. Oil was expensive, usually they used boiling water or burning hot sand (which could be made much hotter than oil or water and has a nasty way of working it’s way into armour). I have this in a book at home, give me a day and I can quote a proper cite.

[Spoke]

Molten lead was used to defend the city of Jerusalem against attack by the forces of Muslim leader Saladin (according to contemporary accounts). Here’s a site describing the battle. From that site:

When Salah al-Din’s forces breached the wall, the defenders tried to drive them “away with stones
and molten lead, as well as with arrows and spears,” but they failed.

I understand that hot pitch was frequently used in Medieval warfare as well. Cheaper than lead, I suppose.

[Spoke]

Here’s a site on castles, which includes a description of the methods used for attacking and defending them. From that site:

Defenses Against Siege Weapons

To protect the castle from these various siege weapons, those in the castle would use many different kinds of defences. They would often throw objects down onto the attackers. These usually consisted of rocks, boiling water, red hot irons, boiling pitch, or quicklime. They would also shower them with arrows from the regular bow or crossbow. To guard against mining, they would sometimes use pots or pans of water to set on the ground, watching the surface of the water to see if there were any vibrations coming from the ground in which case they would know if there was a miner trying to collapse the castle wall.

(my emphasis)

No mention of lead. Perhaps lead was too precious to be used except as a last resort.

[Alessan]

Pouring boling liquids was more effective than you’d think. European fortresses of later design often had an interesting little design feature - the bottom yard or two of outer wall would jut out at a 45 degree angle. This served two purposes: first of all, it fortified the base of the wall; second of all, it caused boiling water or oil, when poured dowmn, to splatter out on attacking forces. Cruel, but effective.

[Spoke]

According to this site, contemporary sources again confirm the use of molten lead in castle defense. From the site:

[Molten lead] was used, according to the Flateyan M S., in the defence of Bute Castle in 1231

[Xgemina]

WAG alert
I admit this is a WAG and perhaps out of place here in GQ, however, perhaps the reason you do not see the lead deposits is due to the expensive nature of lead. After all what is to prevent the winning side of the seige from collecting up the lead after its use?

While you would undoubtably lose some in the use of it and would have to purify it to use it in any other task; I would think you’ld be able to go and collect enough afterwards to make it a feasible venture. Basically a renewable defense (almost)…as long as you’ve got time between seiges…
WAG alert

[Doc_Nickel]

From what little I recall of the old Hunchback movie, the lead was up there not for defense- it was a church in a city, after all- but for building and construction.

I can only guess at the purposes, but plumbing pipes were frequently made of lead at the time, it was used to “solder” copper roofing sheets, used to line raingutters (presumably the gargoyle downspouts at the church, yes?) and as a general all-purpose crack-filler/spackle (there was a distinct shortage of silicone caulking in those days.)

One assumes that the uses of defensive lead came about from similar circumstances. After all, lead takes a long time and a LOT of heat to melt- it’s melting point is low but consider the huge thermal mass to bring up to temperature, unless the defenders were tossing it out only a cupful at a time.

One fair-sized cauldron could easily hold a ton of lead- one assumes the defenders would have most of a day and a LOT of wood in order to get the stuff melted and ready.