Page 50 - History of War - Issue 18-15

THE BOW THAT BUILT BRITAIN

THEAGEOFTHELONGBOW

ONEOFTHEMOSTREVOLUTIONARYWEAPONSOFITSAGE,THELONGBOWHELPEDTHEENGLISHCUTASWATHETHROUGHFRANCE
The longbow helped to shape what became the shot their arrows with such force and quickness arrows were best for piercing a soldier’s plate
Englishwayofwar:smallmobilearmiesmadeup that it seems as if it snowed.” armour. These pointed tips could stab deep
of knights, men-at-arms and, most importantly, English archers first made their name at into fl esh, and lacerated the victim’s tissue with
archers, who could march and fight at a moment’s the Battle of Falkirk, destroying the tightly their every movement. Broad-headed arrows,
notice. Throughout the Hundred Years’ War packed Scottish schiltrons. But the Battle of meanwhile, could create hideously painful
betweenFranceandEngland,thelongbowmen Bannockburn, in 1314, demonstrated how wounds and were diffi cult to remove even for
proved their worth. A skilled archer was able to vulnerable archers were to cavalry when Scottish trained surgeons.
looseuptoeightarrowsperminuteandstrike horses outflanked them. This became a pattern, Crucially for a war economy, the war bow was
anenemymorethan200metresaway.Inorder with archers often proving decisive when they cheap to make, lightweight and versatile. Even
to master the longbow and become an archer, were expertly deployed, as at Neville’s Cross as late as 1545, Henry VIII’s fl agship, the Mary
both strength and skill were required. Hours of in 1346 and Aljubarrota in 1385, or when they Rose, carried more than 200 longbows and
dailypracticeatthe‘butts’wereneeded,andby were well protected either by stakes as at thousands of arrows.
1369thecallfortrainedarchershadbecomeso Agincourtorbymen-at-armsas at Crecy. The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, in 1547, marked
important that Edward III decreed all sports were Their weaknesses were revealed, however, one of the last times the longbow was used in a
to be banned and all able-bodied men were to when they were caught in the open at Verneuil major battle, with both the English and Scottish
practise their archery instead. and Patay or were lured away from their armies fi elding several thousand archers.
Inbattle,anarcherwouldhavetofireasfast defensive positions. At Formigny, in 1450, While the archers did not play the pivotal role
andconsistentlyashecould,oftenwithhislife they were left vulnerable and were cut down that they had in earlier battles, they fought
dependingonit.AFrenchchronicleoftheBattle mercilesslybyenemycavalry. alongside Henry VIII’s most modern gunpowder
ofCrecyevenrecalledthat“theEnglisharchers… The typical 130 to 150-pound draw-weight weapons – cannons and arquebuses.
ofawarbowenabledittopenetrate a knight’s Despite the dawning of the gunpowder age,
“THROUGHOUTTHEHUNDRED plate armour at about 60 yards. Archers used archers continued to be part of English armies
during Elizabeth I’s reign, with longbowmen
a variety of arrows, from sharply pointed and
YEARS’WARBETWEENFRANCE hardened arrowheads to incendiary arrows and among the trained bands that prepared to meet
the Spanish Armada’s invasion force in 1588.
broad-headed swallowtail points, which were
ANDENGLAND,THELONGBOWMEN difficult to remove.
Long needle-like bodkins were the best
PROVEDTHEIRWORTH” arrowheads for attacking chainmail, textile Below: At Poitiers in 1356, English archers drive off
the initial French cavalry charge. The longbowmen used
armour and horses, while short spear-point
broad-headed swallowtail-tipped arrows

ENGLISH WAR BOW SOCIETY

Formed in 2008, the English War Bow Society is the only group in
the world dedicated to the Medieval/Tudor English Longbow and the
techniques of shooting the bow. For more information and for upcoming
events, visit: www.theenglishwarbowsociety.com.

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