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The longbow was used in the Middle Ages both for hunting and as a weapon
of war and reached its zenith of perfection as a weapon in the hands of
English and Welsh archers.
The longbow was first recorded as being used by the Welsh in 633 C.E.,
when Offrid, the son of Edwin, king of Northumbria, was killed by an arrow
shot from a Welsh longbow during a battle between the Welsh and the Mercians
-- more than five centuries before any record of its military use in England.
Longbows were difficult to master because the draw-weight often exceeded
50kg. Considerable practice was required to produce the swift and effective
fire combat required. Skeletons of longbow archers are recognizably deformed,
with enlarged left arms, and often bone spurs on left wrists, left shoulders
and right fingers.
The longbow decided a number of medieval battles fought by the English,
the most significant of which being the Battle of Crecy and later the
Battle of Agincourt during the Hundred Years' War. A variant (bow-staves)
was used by 14th century mercenary troops of Sir John Hawkwood. Longbows
were used until around the 16th century, when gunpowder began to be used,
and such units as arquebusiers and grenadiers began appearing.
Because a longbow is a long-range weapon, the bowmen were rather defenseless
at close ranges (where units such as knights were more effective). So,
they usually put physical barricades, such as stakes and poles driven
in the ground, to attempt to mire the enemy forces (namely, cavalry and
infantry), so they could systematically destroy them. Also, because they
had an advantage over the slower-shooting, closer-ranged crossbowmen and
traditional archers, they were generally the main core of the long-range
infantry troops of any military force that used them.
The main formation used was generally this:
* Light Infantry (such as swordsmen) were in the center forward, in rank
formation.
* Heavy Infantry (such as pikemen) were in the center middle, in rank
or square formation.
* Traditional Archers and Crossbowmen were in the center back, in rank
formation.
* Cavalry were either on the flanks (to protect against attacks), or deployed
in the center to counter any breakthroughs and such.
* The longbowmen were usually on the side, in an enfilade formation, rather
like this: \ ___ / , with the middle being occupied by melee troops.A
skillful general would alternate flights of arrows with cavalry charges,
sometimes alternating flank attacks to induce shock and fear in the enemy.
The arrows were used as mass bombardment, not as sniper weapons until
the enemy got quite close.
To penetrate light armor, war arrows had "chisel" (or bodkin)
heads, not hunting broad-heads. In peace-time, in some regions, carrying
chisel points was a hanging offense, because it was thought to threaten
noblemen, or they were taken as evidence that one was a highwayman.
The importance of the longbow in medieval English culture can be seen
in the legends of Robin Hood and in the "Song of the Bow," a
poem from The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
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The Middle Ages
The Black Plague
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