Illustration from Chronica Majora by Matthew Paris Matthaei Paris Chronica Maiora I Siege of Damietta Siege of Damietta. Chronica Maiora II, Saint Albans, England, ca. 1240–53. Folio 59v, MS 16II, Parker Library, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Figure 173, p273 The Art of Matthew Paris in the Chronica Majora by Suzanne Lewis, 1987. Previous: Battle of Damietta      Next: A Knight Spares His Father's Murderer, 1232 Back to Chronica Majora by Matthew Paris

Source: p.190, God's Warriors, Knights Templar, Saracens and the Battle for Jerusalem by Helen Nicholson & David Nicolle:
A depiction of the siege of Damietta during the Fifth Crusade: attacking the city from boats on the river. Note the different weapons being used by the attackers: staff slings, bows and an iron flail. Water-borne assaults were as dangerous for the attacker as for the attacked: the Templars were involved in one such assault in which their ship ran aground and all aboard were drowned. From Matthew Paris's Chronica majora.

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Referenced on p.77, Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350, Western Europe and the Crusader States by David Nicolle
196A E Historia Anglorum by Matthew Paris, England, c.1255
(British Library, Ms Roy. 14.c.VII, London, England)
Here a naval attack on a coastal castle shows two short bows (B and C), two staff slings (D and E) and a kind of war-flail (A). The latter may be for knocking down the defences.