<b>Missile Weapons<b>

Bows of one type or another played an important role in battle throughout the Mi
ddle Ages. They were used as direct fire weapons against individual targets on b
attlefields and during sieges. In some cases they were used as area fire weapons
.
Missile fire allowed men to cause casualties at range. Archers were used as ligh
t troops to cause casualties and weaken enemy morale due to losses before mêlée
combat. If the enemy force could be weakened or shaken, the chances of winning t
he mêlée were enhanced.
<i>Bows<i>
Bows used during the Middle Ages were of various types, including the short bow,
the composite bow, and the longbow. The short bow was 3 to 4 feet long and rath
er easy to make and use. It was employed widely and the most common bow encounte
red. It had medium range, power, and accuracy and required substantial experienc
e and training for effective use.
The composite bow was of Asiatic origin. It was made from a composite of wood or
bone strips bonded together. The lamination created a more powerful bow, but on
e that required more strength and training than the common bow. This relatively
short bow was the preferred weapon of horse archers, especially the Mongols and
other horse peoples from Asia. A variant of the composite bow was curved forward
at the tips during manufacture (by steaming and bending the laminate). This rec
urved bow generated more power and required a high degree of strength and skill.
The longbow originated in Wales and spread to England. It was a 6-foot bow made
from a single piece of wood, usually from the yew tree. The longbow shot a 3-foo
t arrow (cloth yard). These were fitted with broad tips for use against infantry
(for piercing leather armor and causing lacerations) and narrow tips for use ag
ainst armored men (to pierce mail or plate armor). Shooting the longbow required
extensive training and practice; men experienced with the weapon could get off
six well-aimed shots in a minute. Longbows had a long range and were quite power
ful. Large contingents of experienced longbowmen were a devastating force on man
y battlefields of the Middle Ages. They could fire individually aimed shots or r
ain down a barrage of arrows into an area.
The English encouraged the use of the longbow by sponsoring archery tournaments
throughout the land. All other sports were banned on Sundays. This created a lar
ge pool of experienced bowmen from which they could recruit. Each English shire
was required by law to provide a number of bowmen each year. There was usually n
o shortage of applicants because the pay of soldiers was so good relative to oth
er work.
<i>Crossbows<i>
The crossbow was known in ancient China but seems to have been reinvented in Eur
ope around 900. It had good range and was more powerful than most bows, but it t
ook much more time to load. An average crossbowman fired 2 shots per minute.
The bow of the crossbow was held horizontally and fired with a trigger that rele
ased the taut bowstring. To load, the front of the weapon was pointed to the gro
und and held in place by foot. The bowstring was pulled up and back with both ha
nds or with the help of cranks. The crossbow fired a quarrel, or bolt, which was
much shorter than a typical arrow. The quarrel did have flights (feathers) for
stabilization in flight and had a sharpened metal point.
Crossbowmen often carried a pavise shield into battle to provide cover while the
y loaded. This was a tall shield with wooden braces attached. A force of crossbo
wmen set up a wall of such shields and bent down behind the wall to load. When t
hey shot, only the crossbows and their helmeted heads appeared over the wall of
shields. If forced to fight in the open against a comparable force of longbowmen
, they were usually forced to withdraw.
The crossbow was a deadly weapon and was very popular for the simple reason that
it took little training to operate. Relatively raw soldiers could become profic
ient with a crossbow very quickly, and a well-aimed shot could kill a knight in
armor who had spent a lifetime in combat training. The crossbow was considered u
nfair in some circles (those of the knights, primarily) because it took so littl
e skill. Richard I of England, the Lionheart, was wounded twice by crossbow bolt
s. The second proved fatal. The idea of such great men being killed easily by co
mmon soldiers or worse was appalling to the nobility. In the twelfth century a p
ope tried to get the crossbow banned for being inhumane.