Published
cat
vr.tr.cat-q2961480 · thing-q2961480
Let an agent describe the siege cat historically from sources, including terminology and museum reconstructions, without operational detail, and separate the animal sense.
Thing Registry Physical world and living systems PHY.OBJ
Bundle → Layer → Finding → QuestionsClassifiersWhat it isWhy it existsDistinguishing featuresWhat robots and AI may and may not doMoral aspectsOwnersLinks to other meta-modelsIdentity and identifiersDirect propertiesRecognitionCapabilities and actionsHazards and failure modesStandards and interfacesContext of useSources
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
History Sources.
Description
What it was.
Description
Historical description.
- How do medieval chronicles describe the siege cat? provenance
- Which sieges mention it? provenance
Terms
Names.
Terms
Terminology.
- Which regional names were used, such as sow? provenance
- Why was it called a cat? provenance
Context Siege warfare.
Related
Other engines.
Related
Related devices.
- How did it relate to rams and siege towers, in general terms? definition
- Which historians discuss them? provenance
Period
When used.
Period
Period.
- In which periods and regions is it attested? provenance
- How reliable are the sources? boundary
Heritage Museums.
Reconstructions
Museums.
Reconstructions
Reconstructions.
- Where can reconstructions be seen? provenance
- How accurate are they? boundary
Images
Manuscripts.
Images
Manuscript images.
- Which manuscripts depict it? provenance
- Are digitised images available? provenance
Senses Disambiguation.
Animal
Domestic cat.
Animal
Animal sense.
- Is the domestic cat or another felid meant? boundary
- Which entry fits? action
Other
Other uses.
Other
Other senses.
- Is a cat-o-nine-tails, catamaran or CAT scan meant? boundary
- Which entry fits? action
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Physical world and living systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- PHY
- Domain
- PHY.OBJ
What it is Filled
A medieval siege device, also called a sow, consisting of a movable roofed shed that protected soldiers approaching fortifications; described here as an object of military history and reconstruction only.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent describe the siege cat historically from sources, including terminology and museum reconstructions, without operational detail, and separate the animal sense.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Protective movable shelter
- Medieval siege context
- Known from texts and images
- Many regional names
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Present conjecture about siege engines as documented history.
- Let visitors work or climb on a reconstruction without supervision and safety checks.
- Damage historic sites or remains while reconstructing or demonstrating it.
Only with a human decision
- Opening a reconstruction to public use or demonstration.
May
- Describe the medieval siege cat and its use from historical sources.
- Help plan a reconstruction or display that follows the venue's safety rules.
Moral aspects Filled
- Reconstructions are heavy and can injure visitors and volunteers.
- Siege warfare caused great suffering, which presentations should not glamorise.
Who is affected
- Visitors and volunteers
- Historians and students
- Heritage sites
Owners Filled
Steward
The museum, society or person who keeps a reconstruction; no originals are known to survive.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q655697 - registry parent class
related
- siege engine - category
- castle and fortification - target
- medieval chronicles - sources
- cat (animal) - another sense
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.cat-q2961480
- Wikidata: Q2961480 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2961480)
Direct properties required Filled
- Overall length: m - Length is measured along the longest horizontal extent of a surviving reconstruction or derived from a documented historical representation.
- Overall width: m - Width is measured across the widest part of a specified reconstruction, with projecting components identified.
- Overall height: m - Height is measured from the supporting surface to the highest roof component of a specified reconstruction.
- Total mass: kg - Mass is determined by weighing a reconstruction or estimating its documented components, with uncertainty stated.
Recognition required Filled
- Covered movable shed
- Terms such as cat, sow, testudo
- The domestic cat is a different sense
- A timber shed on wheels with a sloping roof, as shown in manuscripts and reconstructions.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- explain what a siege cat was from historical sources
- find depictions in manuscripts and reconstructions
- relate it to other siege engines
- separate other senses of cat
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Romanticised or unsourced claims
- Confusing senses
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Heritage and museum standards for reconstructions
Context of use required Filled
- A subject of medieval military history and heritage.
- cats and sows
- Roman testudo (related)
- siege towers (related)
- rams (related)
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q2961480: cat - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia (de): Katze (Belagerungsgerät) - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should siege engines be grouped?
- How should manuscript sources be linked?
- How should the animal sense be split off?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q2961480/spec.json