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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture My response is bare bones: I heard or read somewhere that oil was much too precious a commodity to waste on attackers. And taking the time to boil water (not to mention the waste of the material used to light the fire) doesn't seem very logical to me. That said, machicolation existed for a reason and I suspect that any nasty stuff one could lay one's hands on was used to pour down the splayed-out walls of a fortress or fortified castle. The dictionary definition mentions projectiles or "missiles," not liquids or rotten goo of any sort: "an opening between the corbels of a projecting parapet or in the floor of a gallery or roof of a portal for discharging missiles upon assailants below" If you google or dogpile "machicolation" or even try Wikipedia, you might get some better results. MG _____________________________________________________________ Click to become a designer and quit your boring job. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2111/fc/Ioyw6iieWt19HG9IBXdTEoIKh2rNFdmvIzrqL60qUbvfFUVQyd5ICP/ ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html