Wow Chris,
 
Cool picture! Look at the size of that stone! I guess he is thowing it down from a wall so he has gravity to help but-- wow, that would make for a bad day at the office!
 

It's a print you can order.  It's about the size of a piece of paper.  
 
Chris

Now I have to go get some wood to make some staff slings. (I'm not going to sacrifice my trusty Jo for this experement). The more I mull it over the better the "man portable seige engine" sounds.

  It is a good picture, but I have always been taught to analyse source providence.  I very much doubt the engraver was at a battle somehow, and may have embellished.  However, it is a good picture, quite convincing, and evidence does seem to suggest knowledge of such weapons.  Anyways, I prefer the staff sling to the sling in some respects, particularly consistency of cast, amongst othe things.
   I am sure the sling was used in Europe during that time, certainly in the balearics, where it never died out, and hasn't yet.  It is probable that peasants and poachers would have used the sling for birds, because poaching was illegal, and owning a bow is quite conspicuous.  Also, a sling is easier to make.  I cannot really see the gentry using the sling, on account of the fact that it is not (let's be honest here) a very noble weapon.  I recall someone on this forum saying something about sling use in medieval battles, something about the battle of Najera.  That was in the fourteenth century, I believe.  So there is some use of the sling in battle in late medieval Europe, but it seems to be in Spain, or Spanish territory, and the Spanish seem to be closely connected to the sling.  Anyways, there must have been some use, but I guess it is like a .22 now; people use them for sport, but you would never use one in battle unless you had to, and they aren't much mentioned in many texts.

Beautiful engraving of romantic style with the tipical artistic allowances of its gender, like that big stone, greater than a human head and that must weigh around  20 Kg., really unmanageable even with a staff-sling. Also that cord that looks like the release thong of a sling and that does not correspond to a staff-sling. But well, the artist does not try to describe exactly the weapon but to make an impression to a general public, and this scene is full of strength and get it.
 
There are a lot of literary references of the use of the sling in Midle Age and many engravings too, someone so beautiful like this in the Chronicles by Froissart, refered to the Najera batle in Spain, XIV century (you have good memory, english), in which appear some english long bows facing a slinger. I mentioned it in other thread.
 

Yes, he has a short sling in the right arm and a small shield with an arrow nailed in it in the left arm. Now I remember that I mention this engraving when we spoke about  slingers using shields or not.

Ulrica
Looks like a bell tower to me.
Johnny