Crossbows
Crossbows are a highly effective weapon for hunting and war even in today's standards. The first records of crossbows are from China in the 6th century BC. The knowledge then spreads slowly to the west into Europe during the time of the Roman Empire, the greatest empire of all times. The crossbow remained the favored weapon of war and hunting in Rome until the 15th century when gunpowder was also introduced from China.
Crossbows can vary a lot in design and construction. They range from 50 to 400 lbs. in draw weight. They can be very small hand held pistols or rifles, which can fire rapidly and accurately with pinpoint accuracy up to 60 yards and kill ranges up to 100 yards. The larger bows with 400lb. draw weights could have ranges of over 400 yards they could fire large arrows, rocks and other types of projectiles accurately while staying well out of range of most enemy fire. These bows were built of large beams and sat on wheels so that 2 men could change the position of the bow easily. These bows were very powerful but were also very slow in loading and firing. They had mechanical winches, which were hand cranked to draw the bowstring back. It took two men to run these bows called siege machines.
Crossbow men protected themselves with a small shield called the pavise. The shield would be slung on the soldiers back and propped up in front of him just before the battle began.
The favored bow was the small rifle, which had a lot of advantages over the larger ones. This bow could be carried while loaded and ready to fire. This was not possible with a longbow. The crossbow also required less skill and practice to use effectively while the longbow required constant practice and exercise so the soldiers could be strong enough to hold the string back. And even though the longbow was more work and required more skill the crossbow still had a lot more power and accuracy and worked more effectively than the longbow.
At Syracuse, the thought of projecting rocks and metal or wooden bolts over long distances, accurately became an obsession. The first siege weapons were tested on the young Roman navy by the Greeks. The Greeks led the Romans to believe that the gods were hurling rocks at them from the sky. The powerful Romans ran to say the least.
The Met museum said that the most popular used weapons were “spear, sword, axe, and the bow and arrow.” These weapons and tactics of fighting then became the backbone of weapons today, such as guns. Spears, bows and arrows allow knights to fight from a distance, such as hand grenades and guns used in today’s military.
Long distance weapons were essential to European combat. The main long distance weapons used by Europeans during that time were the longbow and the crossbow. Each form of weaponry had its unique advantages and their pejorative. The long bow (shown in figure 1) was the original form of distance weapons. The term ‘bow’ means to be made from wood, iron or steel. The Welsh, who inhabited England, were the first people to use longbows. Longbows were 6-7 feet long and had a range of 250 yards, and still had the ability to pierce a knight’s armor (Byam 12). A well trained archer could shot 10- 12 arrows in a single minute. Despite these pro’s the longbow had a lot of disadvantages as well. One draw back was only skilled archers, who were costly to train, could use a longbow. Another disadvantage was it didn’t have a ready loaded arrow (Edge 34). The crossbow (shown in figure 2) on the other had been emphatically different. The crossbow had a span of 2-3 feet and could kill a knight on horseback with one shot, because of good aim (Byam 30). Crossbows had ready loaded projectiles, while the longbow didn’t and the crossbow could be used by anyone since it didn’t require any skill. The crossbow did have a down side though, it had slow reloaded because of a crank and it was expensive. Crossbows were also used for other thi...
In relation to war, the most preferred weapon was the javelin, which could be used for both close combat and long range. The javelin was a highly effective weapon and it ensured that those using it were not easy to defeat. Furthermore, the javelin was often used alongside a shield, which was essential for not only blocking attacks, but also kept the enemy at bay while the javelin was used to strike. 'The horse' was also used but because of having to use both a shield and
* Throughout the next few tens of thousands of years, humans had PLENTY of time to refine their techniques. Fire-hardening arrow heads, fletching arrow shafts to improve their flight characteristics, "tillering" bows so that the upper and lower limbs had the same bend radius, etc. All of these improvements helped increase the efficiency and accuracy of the bow and arrow, and helped humans to survive and advance throughout the ages.
The earliest model was the trebuchet. It started by using a large weight on one end of a pivoting arm. The arm was pulled back the missile was placed and then let go. The weight went down, the arm went, and the missile launched. The later model gained its power from a tightly wound skein of rope, hair, and skin. the skeins were twisted incredibly tight and then had a wooden arm up to sixty feet long placed in between them. The arm was pulled back using pulleys and rope, the missile was placed in the wood cup and then the arm was released. The arm sprang to a 90 degree angle where it was stopped by a large padded piece of wood. The arm was then brought back down and fired again.
The arrows used in shooting the longbow were the long and short bodkins. The long bodkin was about four inches tall and three inches wide. These were used for piercing through mail. The long bodkins were not used often because they were expensive to make at around four American dollars to make. Soldiers carried around about 8 of these arrows. The short bodkins were about two inches tall and an inch wide. These arrows were used all the time and were used for piercing through plate armor. These were far less expensive at around four American ce...
One of the first rifles was the Kentucky Riflemen on May 12 1700. It was used by the
head which was wrapped in buckskin on a wooden handle. They also used the common bow and
The bow and arrow dates back to thousands of years ago, it is estimated that they were found anywhere from 18,000BC to 25,000BC. They were used all over the world but the first arrowhead was discovered in Africa. There are many kinds of bows, the most common are the longbow and the recurve, there were many different styles created by several cultures during different times in history. In the Stone Ages, drawings discovered in caves illustrated many simple segment bows with many different shapes; flat, paddle-shaped bows were shot by Andaman Islanders. Some bows were made with wood like elm and yew, while others were made with many different materials like animal bones, horns and tendons; this was called the composite bow. The composite bow could either be made of wood and other materials or be made completely from different materials. In China, composite bows were comprised of newly harvested and dried bamboo. Scientists suggest that the bow originated from spear throwers and in between 18,000BC and 25,000BC fire was used to make stone arrowheads harder and feathers were added to make them more accurate.
Even though cannons and gunpowder came into the Hundred Years War, it was not that helpful during the war, but it did improve greatly. During the war, cannons were developed and used, but they were very hard to use due to their size and weight. These crude cannons could only launch rocks, and semi-round objects. Eventually, this lead to the "hand-held cannon," which was much smaller, and easily used. Also, these were not too helpful during the war because they were extremely unreliable, and inaccurate. The aim on the larger cannons was much better, but they were risky because after a shot was fired the cannon was "pushed" backward by the force of the blow, which could easily crush a man.
Prior to their debut, traditional warfare was fought on foot like that of the Romans. The Huns on the other hand fought on horseback which was revolutionary at that time gave them the upper hand in the majority of scenarios where they had increased manoeuvrability and lethality of blows against opposing forces. The bow was the weapon of choice for the Huns (Maenchen-Helfen 1973, p.221). They were unrivalled in terms of accuracy and speed. A century later, after the East Romans had adopted tactics and weapons from the barbarians like the Huns.
When explaining how the warfare of the Middle Ages shaped and changed the way we looked at war and weapons, we must first start in the early Middle Ages. In The Art of Warfare in the Middle Ages, A.D. 378-1515, written by Charles Oman and John Beeler, he states, “between the middle of the fourth and the end of the sixth century lies a period of transition in military history…in war as in all else, the institutions of the ancient world are seen to pass away, and a new order of things develops itself” . As you can see, the warfare of the ancient Romans was passing and the new modernized technology was coming to the forefront.
Bow and arrow improved this long-distance effect, have mechanized it and made it more efficient. Now, the extended arm could reach farther and the distance to the target became larger and more secure. From the beginning, man has used this weapon not only for hunting, but also for armed conflict, murder and raids.
The earliest catapults were used under the rule of King Uzziah of Jerusalem. “In Jerusalem he made machines designed by skillful men for use on the towers and on the corner defenses to shoot arrows and hurl large stones.” 2 Chronicles 26:15. Catapults were also used by the people in Nimrud (now known as Iraq) in the 9th century B.C. Many people think that Greeks and Romans were the first people to build and use catapults, but as i told you before they were used first by the people of
First, the bows shape has changed greatly throughout the years. When the bow was first thought of the shape of the bow was a solid piece of wood with a string attached to it. These bows would not shoot too far. These were made from almost all types of wood. They were whittled down with knives in early egypt. These bows were called self bows and they were almost completely straight until they were strung. The longbow was also a big bow that helped along with the shape of the bow. It was just like its medieval ancestors. Now bows are made of Aluminum carbon and carbon. some are made of just aluminum also. These bows are super light and very easy to create, but they are also very expensive...