m1440

Soldiers looting and pillaging, i^th century. Such cxcesscs were by no mcans limitcd to enemy territory, and resulted from troops being expected to provide for themselves. (Private collection)

necessary to make the most of this weapon. The typical Continental longbow was usually shorter than its English counterpart ofsix feet or morę. The best bows were madę of yew from the south of France or Madeira, whose wood was superior to that of any other country, but elm and ash were used and were quite serviceable. The English war bow probably drew between 80 and i6olbs tension, and, to judgc from among the earlipst specimens to _e have sur.vived (from the wreck of the Mary Rosę in . ¹545), was a simple stave of D-sećtion. The Mary Rosę bows had nocks cut directly in the wood to take the bowstring, but thcse were probably ‘issue’ bows, and smarter or custom-made weapons had horn caps on the ends. In 1387 the accounts of the Receiver of the Artillery in Burgundy mention painted yew-wood bows.

Longbow arrows were usually madę from ash or willow, but the latter wood was lighter and its effect cónsequently less destructive. By the end ofthe 13th century the great broadhead arrow was relegated to hunting, as it did not have the penetrating capabilities necessary to pierce ever-improving armour. The most usual head ofour period was the bodkin type, with a three- or four-sided point, weighing between |oz. and i£oz. Instances have been found ofbarbed heads very loosely fixed to the shaft, so that the head would stay in the wound. Modern tests have shown that these arrows were quite capable of piercing contemporary piąte armour when shot at a direct angle from fairly short rangę. However, as the ‘angle of attack’ inereases the penetration decreases, until at around 6o° from a ‘straight’ shot the head either fracturcs or ricochets off. Nevertheless, a hail of arrows even at long rangę would have kept armoured men in a defetisive position with their heads down, present-ing no chink in their armour, and would certainly have maddened any unprotected horses.

The rangę of a longbow varies with the weight of the arrow shot, but it is probable that distances of 300 yards were attained with the smaller-headed arrows. The greatest adyantage of the longbow is the ratę of shooting, and to judge from modern been within the capabilities of even a mediocre archer. Accounts mentioning the number of arrows issued to archers are rare, but any figurę between 18 and 30 may be found.

The crossbow nceds little or no training, but because of its mechanical loading has a shooting ratę far inlerior to that ofthe longbow. Until the 15th century crossbows were usually of composite construction, madę of layers ofsinew and wood, but earły examples are known to have been of solid wood, probably yew. There were sevcral methods of drawing, the earliest being to stand on the bow, catch the string in a hopk on the belt, and straighten there_cwere'goat’s-foot leyers and complicated •ilangements ofsfringś and pulleys, nonę oFwhich were eonduci\e to rapicl shooting. A 1 ph-eentury solid yew specimen found at Berkhamstead Castle is estimated to have a tension ofsome i5olbs and it is thought that a composite bow loaded with a belt hook had a rangę of about 200 yards. However, early in the 15th century progress in metallurgy allowed the first Steel crossbows to be madę; and in 1446 we find a ducal purchase order for 500 Steel crossbows, probably still a rarity then. These new bows, although they had a propensity to break in cold weather, could take a far greater tension than composite bows, and required an all-steel rack and pinion mechanism ćalled a crannequin to load them—although illustrations still show the cord and pulley mechanism, far cheaper to make, in use for a long time after. Sir Ralph Payne-Gallway owned a

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