Mangan

Fr. This word is sometimes written MANGON, (See Gun ). A warlike machine which was formerly used. The term itself, indeed, was generally adopted to signify any species of warlike machine. But it more particularly meant the largest and most powerful machine that could be used for warlike purposes; whether it was practised to throw enormous stones against besieged places, or to cast javelins, . It was likewise called balista, from the Greek; tormentum from the Latin à torquendo; and sometimes petraria, because stones weighing upwards of three hundred and sixty pounds, were thrown from it. This machine answered the double purpose of defending or attacking fortified places, and it was sometimes used at sea. According to a French writer, one of these machines may still be seen at Basle.