One of the most important weapons of the Middle Ages was the Welsh/English longbow. This weapon was the decisive factor in English victories over French forces during the Hundred Years War.
What is a longbow?
A longbow is any bow which is nearly the size of a man. Bows over 5 feet in length are considered longbows.
The medieval Welsh or English longbow was made from a single piece of strong but flexible Yew wood. It was about 6 feet, 6 inches long, making it at least a foot longer than the average archer of the day.
War arrows for the English longbow weighed up to 3 ounces and were 3 feet long. They had chisel-shaped bodkin arrowheads, which were aerodynamic and allowed increased range. The bodkin’s narrow shape concentrated the arrow’s energy at the point of impact, increasing the ability to punch through armor.
Evolution of the longbow
Longbows developed independently in many parts of the world. Originally developed for hunting big game such as deer, they quickly developed into weapons of war. In ancient and early medieval Europe, longbows were used primarily in Germany and Scandinavia. Notably, they were not used by the Angles or Saxons who invaded Britain.
The first documented use of longbows in Britain dates to 633. The Welsh used them against English forces from Northumbria at the Battle of Hefenfelth.
The Welsh longbow becomes English
England’s King Edward I conquered Wales in 1284. Impressed by the Welsh archers, Edward introduced the longbow into the English army. The first contingents were actually formed by Welshmen, but free Englishmen (yeomen) were soon required by law to master the longbow.
To ensure a steady stream of bowmen for his army, Edward I banned all sports except archery on Sundays. Shooting ranges were set up on or near church property so parishioners would follow worship services with archery practice.
Firing the longbow
Firing the longbow required strength, skill, and practice.
The medieval English longbow had a draw-weight of 100-120 pounds and a practical range of around 250 yards.
Because of the heavy draw-weight, the longbow fired arrows with great velocity. With its bodkin arrowhead, a longbow’s arrow could penetrate chain mail and even some plate armor. Relatively few knights could afford the heavier plate armor that could withstand the longbow.
A master archer could fire 20 arrows per minute. While yeomen honed their accuracy on targets, the longbow’s true impact came through massed fire raining down on massed enemy formations.
Deployment of archers
Medieval armies were combined-arms forces including light and heavy infantry and cavalry.
English armies also deployed thousands of longbowmen who served as long-range artillery. Firing rapid volleys of massed arrows, longbowmen cut down enemy formations wholesale. Enemy formations not destroyed outright were broken up, making them easier targets for a British cavalry or infantry charge.
In battle, longbow formations fired 10-12 volleys per minute. Each archer was provided 60-72 arrows. A force of 4,000 longbowmen could loose 240,000 arrows within the space of five minutes.
Longbows in the Hundred Years War
During the 100 Years War (1337-1453) between England and France, longbowmen were the backbone of England’s army. Between sixty and eighty percent of British combatants at the major battles were archers. France, by contrast, relied on heavily armored knights and men-at-arms, supported by crossbow-archers and archers with shorter conventional bows. The slow-firing French crossbow-archers were no match for the rapid fire, long range English archers.
The English won almost every field battle as longbowmen systematically cut down the heavily armored French. Even Knights with heavy armor fell as their horses were shot.
(Of course there were times when the longbow could only take part of the credit. At the 1415 Battle of Agincourt, for example, the armies line up on a freshly plowed field after a heavy rain. As the heavy French forces charged they quickly bogged down, becoming easy prey for the English light infantry.)
Archers phased out
New military technology finally doomed the longbow. The French introduced cannons at the Battle of Formigny (1450). Concentrating their fire, the cannons killed 4,000 English archers.
The longbow was phased out over the next 200 years in favor of firearms. The transition was less a question of effectiveness than of efficiency. Longbows were at least as accurate as early firearms, and had a much higher rate of fire. On the down side, they took great strength and years of constant practice to master. Guns were much easier to use. In the long run, it was simply cheaper to transition to firearms.
Legacy of the longbow
The English longbowmen were freemen, not serfs. For 100 years they were the indispensable core of the nation’s army. Yeomen, not knights, carried the day at Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt. English freemen felled French knights and nobles by the thousand. The self-confidence the archers won on the battlefield translated into political self-confidence at home. From the late Middle Ages on, English commoners became increasingly assertive.
France declined to field its own longbowmen during the Hundred Years War precisely because the Kings feared their own commoners would become too powerful.
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