English Longbow

[Wexbow]

#2726

Thought some of you might like this. A piece about the English longbow as used at Crecy in 1346. Nice recreation study including the building of a historic R/D longbow.

English Longbow

[Ralph]

#12332

Cool to watch Neil. Did they let Irishmen use them? 😆

[David Petersen]

#12478

Thanks for posting, Wex. I just watched it and always love when the French and English are slaughtering one another! 😛 I’ve seen another in this series, the sword, and it was equally well done. This guy really gets into his topics and seems really good with all primitive weapons, horsemanship, etc. What I hadn’t known before was that many English longbows at the time of Crece were what the film called reflexed at the tips, though the reproduction bow the host was using looked like what we’d call a static recurve. Easily worth the time to watch for any archer with a sense of history … or for any of the former victims of the voracious French and English empires. Ten thousand Frenchmen dead in one day, many of them royalty. And all, apparently, simply to satisfy the greed and ego of opposing kings. How I wish all wars still were fought with bows, and that the “royalty” still lead the charges. 😈

[Raymond Coffman]

#14279

Thanks Wexbow –very informative

what was most interesting to me is the possibility that my fave R/D longbow/s have been around longer than originally thought–

I, to this day, am amazed the French fell for this three times {Crecy, Poitiers, Agincourt} Arrogance ?

Scout

[James Harvey]

#14499

Scout, I think the French fell into the time honoured trap of honouring tradition even when it means falling into a trap. Their experience to date was that FAC (Fat Assed Cavalry) dominated the battlefield. They had even more success with EFAC and thought their UEFAC would be invincible in the field. In the War of Acronyms (a term yet to be recognised by mainstream academia) FOC won.

Jim.

[Raymond Coffman]

#14586

ausjim-

yes, I agree– arrogance–

however, these 3 battles occur over a long period of time–

as the video shows the arrows could only penetrate {knights-read expensive -best} armor [of the time at close range*]so the archers shot the horses, and hit the Knights in more exposed portions of their anatomy–

an old Cavalry saying –” the best way to stop a horseman is to stop his horse”. The English Armies were superior “IN DEPTH” the archers were important/decisive! but not by themselves [imho] – as you know from your milexperience. From the video- I did not realize that the English had mounted archers-which makes absolute sense when you realize this was after the experience of the crusades—-

I very much enjoy your posts, and wish I could have visited your Continent — maybe someday–

Scout

* as time goes on it is more difficult–

[James Harvey]

#15096

Scout,

I had no idea they had mounted archers either. You’re spot on about combined arms. When men set out to kill each other one thing consistently shown is that nothing is perfect and everything has staggering weaknesses.

There’s a lot to see here, but boy it’s a long and expensive flight. Make sure you come with a lot of time to travel around 😉

Jim

[Stephen Graf]

#15154

I was waiting for some more information on the difference between the straight limbed and recurved longbows. He made a big deal about having that special one built, and then we never heard just how much better it was. maybe it wasn’t.

[Raymond Coffman]

#15327

Ausjim –

I would love to come visit and hunt there. If I ever become “Flush” again haha

Check out some of Dr Ashby & Don Thomas writings for Buffalo Hunting in OZ.

Steve-

I too was Hoping for better Info on the more intriquing issues [like R/D Longbows] I also would have liked to see more with the English Archery Society. Still interesting and a fun video, for me.

Scout

[Mark Turton]

#15396

For me this is a fascinating subject but there is little hard evidence regarding the archers, most were illiterate and the heralds only recorded the bare minimum.

The archers almost certainly would have engaged at extreme range with barbed broadheads to debilitate the horses and disrupt the line, dropping these onto the knights and their horses would have been the signal to charge, its said that they rode knee to knee making an even better target individually they were vulnerable and could not penetrate the line and would almost certainly be pulled down taken prisoner for ransom or killed.

The program only touched on the ‘forest of arrows’, imagine as a foot solider being crammed into the line and marched through a thicket of arrows standing 3′ tall pushed from behind, broken arrow tips sticking into feet arrows falling from above but if you raised a shield, assuming you had one, being shot in the legs and groin.

Then once on the floor having some snotty kid doing his best to finish you off with a rusty knife, dull axe or hammer, child soldiers are nothing new. And to add insult he’s going to strip you naked and steel everything, not much has changed.

Bit of a historic jump but last year I visited Omaha beach in Normandy, by luck the tide was out so I walked down to the tideline to look up the beach to where the emplacements would have been, jeez that is a long way with no cover its a miracle anybody survived, made me pause for thought.

Mark.

[Ralph]

#15430

Times there are to be better lucky than good it seems to me.

[Author]

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