Learn about medieval weapons


Longbow overview

A longbow is a type of bow that is tallquiet shooting bows than shorter recurves and
(roughly equal to or greater than the heightcrossbows.
of a person), is not recurved and has
relatively narrow limbs, that are circular orDesign  and  construction
D-shaped in cross section. The traditional
English longbow is made so that its thicknessBecause the longbow can be made from a single
is at least 5/8 of its width. If thepiece of wood, it can be crafted relatively
thickness is less than 5/8 of its width theneasily and quickly. Amateur bowyers today can
the bow would be considered a flatbow.craft a longbow in about ten to twenty hours,
Typically a longbow is widest at the handle.while highly skilled bowyers, such as those
Longbows have been used for hunting andwho produced medieval English Longbows, can
warfare, by many cultures around the world, acraft  wooden  longbows  in just a few hours.
famous example being the English longbow,
during  the  Middle  Ages.One of the simpler longbow designs is known
as the selfbow. By definition, a selfbow is
Historymade from a single piece of wood. Truly
traditional English longbows are selfbows,
Traditional longbows are made entirely frommade from yew wood. The bowstave is cut from
wood and have been used for hundreds orthe radius of the tree so that the sapwood
thousands of years, for hunting and warfare(on the outside of the tree) becomes the back
by, among others, the ancient Nubians, Nativeand the heartwood becomes the belly. Yew
American tribes such as the Cherokee, Southsapwood is good only in tension, while the
American tribes like the Bari, African tribesheartwood is good in compression. However,
such as the Bassa, Neolithic Europeans, andone must make compromises when making a yew
medieval Europeans. As a hunting weapon,longbow, as it is difficult to find perfect
longbows are simple, reliable and capable ofunblemished  yew.
taking game as large as African elephants. As
a weapon of war the longbow has beenLongbows, because of their narrow limbs and
instrumental to several cultures. World widerounded cross-section (which does not spread
the average power for bows of all designs isout stress within the wood as evenly as a
about 50 pounds (220 newtons) at 28 inchesflatbow’s rectangular cross section),
(70 cm) of draw which is suitable for mostneed to be either less powerful, longer or of
hunting applications. Bows for warfare tendmore elastic wood than an equivalent flatbow.
to be much more powerful, with the mostIn Europe the latter approach was used, with
powerful bows being the English longbow andyew being the wood of choice, because of its
the African elephant bow, both of whichhigh compressive strength, light weight and
topped the 200-pound (900 N) mark. It mayelasticity.
seem unlikely that, compared with modern day
poundage bows shot in archery, so many men inHard woods, like elm, oak, ash or maple are
medieval warfare were capable of shootinggood for flatbows but yew is the only common
bows from 150-200 pounds (670–900 N).European wood that will make good self
However, these men would train often weeklylongbows. A narrow longbow with high
from a very young age and over time would bedraw-weight can be made from these woods, but
able to shoot such strong bows. There areit is likely to take a permanent bend (known
modern day examples of men who are quiteas "set" or "following the string") and would
capable of shooting these bows so we know itlikely be outshot by an equivalent made of
is possible. Mark Stretton currently holdsyew.
the world record for shooting a 200 pound
(900  N)  longbow.Wooden composite longbows can be made by
gluing together two or more different pieces
In ancient Japan, very distinctive bamboo andof wood. Usually this is done to take
wood composite longbows, known as Yumi,advantage of the inherent properties of
became important to mounted samurai warfare.different woods: some woods can better
Modern Japanese archery (called kyudo orwithstand compression while others are better
kyujutsu) still uses this style of longbow.at withstanding tension. Examples include
Modern yumi can be made of fiberglass orhickory and lemonwood or bamboo and yew
carbon-fiber, as well as of the traditionallongbows: hickory or bamboo is used on the
wood/bamboo laminate. Yumi are recurved bows,back of the bow (the part facing away from
and have the unique characteristic of beingthe archer when shooting) and so is in
off-center. That is, the lower arm of the bowtension, while the belly (the part facing the
is shorter than the upper arm; this is usefularcher when shooting) is made of lemonwood or
when the bow is used from horseback, so thatyew and undergoes compression (see bending
the archer can turn without the bottom of thefor a further explanation of stresses in a
bow  hitting  the  horse.bending beam). Traditionally made Japanese
Yumi are also composite longbows, made from
In the Middle Ages the English were famouslaminated strips of wood: the core of the bow
for their very heavy, long-ranged Englishis bamboo, the back and belly are bamboo or
longbows, used to great effect against thehardwood and hardwood strips are laminated to
French in the Hundred Years' War (notably atthe  bows  sides  to  prevent  twisting.
the battles of Crécy (1346), Poitiers
(1356)  and  Agincourt  (1415)).Today, good composite longbows may be made of
wood or can be purchased commercially. Any
Although firearms supplanted bows in warfare,wooden bow must have gentle treatment and be
wooden or fiberglass composite longbowsprotected from excessive damp or dryness.
continue to be used by traditional archersWooden bows may shoot as well as fiberglass,
and some tribal societies, for recreation andbut they are more easily dented or broken by
hunting. Longbows are much more stable andabuse.



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