The Medieval English Longbow.docx

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