Superb page on making your own traditional Longbow.


http://www.student.utwente.nl/~sagi/artikel/faq/bowcnstr.shtml#section-3

Lest anyone wonders - I have been invited to a party this weekend which
requires mediaeval dress. I (probably) won't be making my own longbow.

The longbow was THE English secret anti-armour weapon of the middle ages. At
the battle of Agincourt (and two prior major battles) it gave them victory
against vastly superior numbers of French troops. Until then the mounted
armoured knight was the weapon system of note. The longbow, with firing
rates of up to 10 "rounds" per minute and armour piercing capability,
allowed the mounted knights to be destroyed at a distance of over 200
metres. At Agincourt an already depleted force of 6,000 English troops
fought and vanquished a French force of about 30,000. About 1,500 French
knights were killed. Allowing the battle to occur in a long narrow grassed
area with trees on either side after several days of rain was not the most
enlightened military decision ever made by the French.

Anyone interested should Google on:         Agincourt longbow
for an enlightening read.

Interestingly, the impolite traditional English two fingered "salute"
reportedly comes from this period. The French purposed to cut off the two
bow-string drawing fingers of any English bowman captured and the two
fingered salute was both an indication that the bowman was still capable and
a challenge to fight (or so they say).

In comparison with modern equivalent weapons systems, depleted-uranium
armour-piercing shells look tame.




                    Russell McMahon

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics
(like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics