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The fortified Ponte di Torri aqueduct brought water to the citadel of Spoleto. 230 metres long and 80 metres high, it was built for Cardinal Albornoz in the mid-14th century. (Author’s photograph)

reload, most probably while anotlier rank stepped forward and shot. When facing English long-bowmen during the Hnndrcd Years War, Genoese crossbowmen fonnd that their fnwese sbields gave inadeqnate protection against showers of arrows falling at a steep angle. On the other band, the English reliance on a thicket of sharpened stakes for protection would have madę them vulnerable if the Genoese had been able to bring their weapons to bear. A ftirther disadvantage of the crossbow was tlie impossibility of quickly removing and replacing the bowstring to protect it front raili, sińce special equipment was reqtiired to restring the short, thick bow.

The aftermath of battle could be appalling. At the start of this period, crossbowmen were still seen as a threat to the proper order of society, and tltose captnred by Milan in 1246 were mutilated so that they could no longer shoot. Medical science may have been morę advanced in Italy than elsewhere in western Europę, but it was still rudi-mentary. Priests, it was said, stood in the carmccio. helping the injured and ministering to the dving. Wounds front arrows and crossbow bolts were already iniportant enongh for the famotis 12tlt-centurv physician Guido of Arezzo to include them in his book on Chirurgia (surgerv). This included advice on how to rentove an arrow from a ntan’s ltead. First, the doctor assessed the angle of penetration, tlten gently loosened the arrow: wltere possible a smali metal borer enlarged the entry hole. Removing arrows front other parts of the body involved the use of forceps to bend the barbs closer to the shaft, or placing a brass tubę or goose quill over the barbs to stop thent snagging on the edges of the wound. In sonie places sucli treatment, without anaesthetic of course, was provided free to men injured on campaign. Sintilarly their ransoms would be paid if their families could not afford to. In Siena, those in the senice of the comune wito were so badly wounded that they could no longer earn a living, were provided for in the public hospital of Santa Maria della Scala for life.

ARMS MANUFACTURE, TRADE AND PURCHASE

During the 12th and 13th centuries Italian arnts and armour were virtually identical to those of the rest of western Europę, a result largely of the widespread arms trade and the mobility of the military elite. From the late-13th century onwards western European armourers built upon existing traditions as well as Islamie and Mongoł influences to derelop new fornts of botlt protective armour and weaponry. A willingness to experiment witlt different materials was