The Medieval English Longbow.docx
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The Medieval English Longbow.docx
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TheMedievalEnglishLongbow
TheMedievalEnglishLongbow
byRobertE.Kaiser,M.A.
Fromthethirteenthuntilthesixteenthcentury,thenationalweaponofthe
Englisharmywasthelongbow.ItwasthisweaponwhichconqueredWalesand
Scotland,gavetheEnglishtheirvictoriesintheHundredYearsWar,and
permittedEnglandtoreplaceFranceastheforemostmilitarypowerin
MedievalEurope.ThelongbowwasthemachinegunoftheMiddleAges:
accurate,deadly,possessedofalong-rangeandrapidrateoffire,the
flightofitsmissilieswaslikentoastorm.1Cheapandsimpleenoughfor
theyeomantoownandmaster,itmadehimsuperiortoaknightonthefield
ofbattle.2Yet,importantasthisweaponwas,mostofourpresentday
beliefsconcerningitarebaseduponmyth.
Therearemanystatisticsavailableonthelongbow,butfewagree.Theterm
longbowimpliesaweaponofgreaterlengththanthe4footbowusedonthe
continent.GeoffreyTrease,authorofTheCondottieri,maintainsthe
longbowusedbythe14thcenturymercenarytroopsofSirJohnHawkwood"was
astallasthemselvesorafractiontaller".3Thiswouldmakethebow
approximatelyfivefeetlong,sincetheaverageheightofthemedieval
yeomansoldierwasfivefeettofivefeettwoinches.4TheRoyal
AntiquariesSocietyofGreatBritainmaintainstheweaponwas"offiveor
sixfeet"inlength.5MajorRichardG.Bartelot,AssistantHistorical
SecretaryoftheRoyalArtilleryInstitutionsays"thebowwasofyew,six
feetlong,withathreefootarrow".6
Finally,GastonFoebus,CountofFoix,wrotein1388,thatalongbowshould
be"ofyeworboxwood,seventyinchesbetweenthepointsofattachmentfor
thecord..."7Thesequotesdemonstratethattheweaponwasconsiderably
longerthanitscontinentalcounterpart,butstillleavesthelengthin
question.
AnotherchracteristicoftheEnglishweaponwasitssuperiorstrength.An
early14thcenturyEnglishinquiryintothemurderofSimondeSkeltington
recordstheinstrumentofdeathasanarrowshotfromafivefootseven
inchbow."Thewoundmeasuredthreeincheslongbytwoincheswideandsix
inchesdeep".8ThiswasthepowerfulweaponusedbyEdwardIIIandhisson,
theBlackPrince,intheHundredYearsWar.
Thetwocurrentauthoritiesbothagreetheweaponwasmuchstrongerthan
ourpresentdaybows.CountM.MildmayStayner,RecorderoftheBritish
LongBowSociety,estimatesthebowsoftheMedievalperioddrewbetween90
and110pounds,maximum.9Mr.W.F.Paterson,ChairmanoftheSocietyof
Archer-Antiquaries,believestheweaponhadasupremedrawweightofonly
80to90pounds.10
AbowofthestrengthdescribedbyStaynerandPatersonwouldprojectawar
arrowalongdistance.Buthereagain,nooneissurehowfar:
Stayner
believesthewararrowhadaneffectiverangeof180yards;11Paterson
maintainsaslightlyfurtherdistanceof200yards;12andBartelot
estimatesausefulrangeof249yards.13CaptainGeorgeBurnet,Secretary
totheRoyalScottishArchers,notesthatthemembersoftheQueen'sBody
GuardforScotland,whostillshoot,usesixfootlongselfyewbowsof55
to60poundsdrawweight.Therangeofthesemodernbowsis180-200yards
shootinglighttargetshafts.14
Thelongbow,becauseofitsrapidityoffire,wasamedievalmachinegun.
IthasbeencalculatedthatabowmanoftheHundredYearsWarperiod,when
militaryarcherywasatitszenith,couldshoot10to12arrowsaminute.15
Theclosestweaponinrangeandstrengthtothelongbowwasthecrossbow.
But,asthebattleofCrecy(1346)showed,eventhesuperiorGenoese
compositecrossbow-madeofwood,horn,sinewandglue-wasnomatchfor
theEnglishweapon.16
Afterfirearmswereintroducedintocontinentalwarfare,SirJohnSmythe,
soldieroffortune,andQueenElizabeth'sambassadortotheSpanishCourt
ofPhilipII,notedthat"archersareabletodischargefourorfivearrows
apiecebeforetheharquebusiesshallbereadytodischargeonebullet.17
Thereasonforpresentdayconfusionandcontroversyoverthelongbowis
thelimitednumberofsurvivingartifacts.Therearenolongbowsin
existencefromtheEarlyMiddleAges.Thereare,however,fivesurviving
Renaisanceweapons.
Allofthesebowsaresimilar.Theyarenearlysixfeetlong;madeofwood;
shapedinordertouseboththecentreandsapwood;aresymmetrically
tapered;andappeartohaveaverystiffdrawweight.Whatismore,all
fiveweaponsareselfbows.Thismeansthattheyaremadefromasingle
staveofwood.HoraceFord,ChampionArcherofEnglandfrom1850to1859,
andanauthorityonEnglisharchery,maintained:
"TheselfbowofasinglestaveistherealoldEnglishweapon-theone
withwhichthemightydeedsthatrenderedthiscountryrenouncedinby-gone
timeswereperformed."18
Thefirstofthefivesurvivingbows,bytradition,datesfromtheBattle
ofFlodden(1513).Burnetverifiesthattheartifacthangsonthewallof
ArchersHall,headquartersofRoyalScottishArchers,inEdinburgh.19
Abouttheturnofthetwentiethcentury,ColonelFergussonofHuntlyBurn
presentedittoMr.PeterMuiroftheRoyalScottishArchers.Fergusson
claimedtheartifactfromtheraftersofahousenearFloddenFieldwhere
ithadbeenforgenerations.20
TheFloddenBowisaselfyewweapon,'probablyofEnglishyew",
approximatelysixfeetlong,and"ratherroughlymade".Theestimated
strengthoftheweaponisbetween80and90pounds.21Burnet'sdecription
canbedeceiving.Theroughappearanceoftheweapondoesnotimplyitwas
poorlymade.
Mostyew,eventhekindthatmakesthefinestbows,isquiteirregularin
appearance.Thesapwoodofthestave,followingthelongitudinallineofthe
trunk,risesandfallsandtiltsupwardsordowninplaces.Ithas'pins'
(tinyblackknots)too,asarule."22
Itisironicthataweaponshouldsurvivefromthisbattle."Floddenisa
landmarkinthehistoryofarchery,asthelastbattleonEnglishsoilto
befoughtwiththelongbowastheprincipleweapon..."23Modernauthors
maintainthatthevictoryofFloddenwasduetoarchery.IndeedLongmanand
Walrondintheirbook,Archery,maintainthata1515statuteendorsingthe
useof,andpracticewiththebowwasaresultofthevictory.24These
authoritiesareprobablycorrect,butnotforthereasonstheybelieve.The
solecontemporaryaccountofthebattlenotes"thatafewofthaim(the
Scots)werslainewitharrows,howbeitthebilles(spearswithhookson
thehead)didbeatandhewthaimdowne..."25Itisapparentthatthelaw
waspassedbecauseofthepoorshowingofthearchers.
ThemostinterestingandleastknownRenaissancelongbowcomesfromthe
armouryofthechurchinthevillageofMendleshaminSuffolk,England.
RecordsshowitwasthereinthereignofQueenElizabeth;however,
PatersonbelievesitmaydatebacktothetimeofHenryVIII.26
Unfortunately,theMendleshamBowisbroken.Itisaselfbowof53inches
length.Patersonbelieves:
"Assumingthatthemid-pointofthebowisabout
oneinchabovethecentreofthegrip,thiswouldsuggestabowlengthof
about68-69inches-iftheremnantisanupperlimb-orabout71inches
ifitisthelowerlimb.Iaminclinedtosuggesttheformerasthemore
likelychoice."27
Thesurvivinglimbtipisshapedtotakeahornnockforthebowstring
loop.Thatwouldmakethetotallengthofthebowalittleoversixfeet
tall.Measurementssuggestadraw-weightof80poundsat28inches.28
TheMendleshamBow,atypicallongbow,isalsouniquefortworeasons.
First,althoughitisshapedtousethepropertiesoftheyewcentreand
sapwood;thebow's"cross-sectionapproximatedmorecloselytoarectangle
withthecornersrounded,thanthereputedtraditional'D'-form"foundin
theotherfourartifacts.Second,thelongitudinaltaperofthebowlimbis
notstraightbutwhipended.Thiswouldbetterdistributethestressasthe
bowisdrawnandforceittobendinanelipseinsteadofanarc.29
Likethetwopreviousartifacts,theHedgeleyMoorBowisalsosomethingof
amystery.ItisreputedtohavebeenusedattheBattleofHedgeleyMoor
(1464),duringtheWaroftheRoses.TheweaponwaspresentedtoAlnwick
CastlebyJohnWilkinson,whosefamilylivedontheCastleestatefromthe
timeofthebattle.
"Itis65.5inchesinchesinlength,3.5inchesatitsgreatestgirth,with
greatestwidthof1.5inches.Thewoodisprobablyyew..."30
Therearenonocks,buttheendshavebeennotchedtotakeastring."At
mid-pointwherethehandleis,therearetwodeepcutswhichlookremakably
oftheshapeofabodkinhead(sic)wouldmakeifitwereoverdrawn."Draw
weightisestimatedat50pounds.29
TheremainingtwoRenaissancelongbows,liketheMendleshamartifact,come
fromthereignofHenryVIII.UnliketheFloddenandHedgeleyMoorBows,we
aresureoftheageanduseoftheseartifacts.Theywererecoveredin1836
byJohnDeanefromH.M.S.MaryRose.32TheMaryRose,flagshipofthe
Britishfleet,sankoffPortsmouthwhileengaginganinvadingFrench
squadrononSunday,19thJuly,1545.33
ThesetwobowsareondisplayintheArmouriesintheTowerofLondon.
Inventoryrecordsshowthattheyaremadeofyewwood,"ofroundedsection,
taperedattipstotakethenocks,nowmissing".34Thelargestofthebows
is75incheslong.Thesmallerstaveis72.75incheslong.Bothbowsare4.5
inchesat"greatestgirth"andweigh1pound,10ounces.35Theyare
symmetricalweapons,utilisingthesame'D'-shapeastheFloddernBow.
Bothweaponsareunfinishedlooking,butaspointedoutpreviously,thisis
acharacteristicofyewwood.Ford,inhisstudyoftheMaryRosebows,
notesthattheyareselfbows,made
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