Bows
had been used for thousands of years, but the first record of the
longbows being employed in warfare was in South Wales during the late
12th century. In 1188 William de Braose, an English knight fighting
the Welsh, reported that an arrow had penetrated his chain
mail and clothing, passed through his thigh and saddle and finally
entered his horse. The English now realised that even mail-clad knights
were not safe from the power of the longbow.
The longbow was soon adopted by the English army. Unlike previous
bows, the longbow was longer than the man who used it. Depending on
the size of the archer, the longbow could be over 1.85 metres (6 feet)
long. Another feature of the longbow was that the string was pulled
back to the ear rather than to the front of the chest. This increased
both the range and power of the arrow. As well as penetrating armour,
the longbow arrow cold hit a target 320 metres (350 yards) away. Archers
could therefore kill enemy soldiers before they were in a position
to attack.
When the longbowmen entered the battlefield, they usually carried
several sheaths holding 24 arrows. The arrowheads were made of iron
and were about 5 centimetres (2 inches) long. The sheath would contain
a variety of arrows of different lengths, weights and feathers. The
arrow selected by the archer depended on the weather conditions and
the distance of the intended victim. If longbowmen were captured,
the opponents would cut off their thumbs and the first two fingers
on the right hand to ensure that they never used a longbow again.
In an attempt to make the English the best longbowmen in the world,
a law was passed ordering all men earning less than 100 pence a year
to own a longbow. Every village had to arrange for a space to be set
aside for men to practice using their longbows.
It was especially important for boys to take up archery at a young
age. It was believed that to obtain the necessary rhythm of "laying
the body into the bow" the body needed to be young and flexible.
It was said that when a young man could hit a squirrel at 100 paces
he was ready to join the king's army.
In 1314, Edward II became concerned
by reports that young people were more interested in playing a new
game called football than practising
archery. King Edward's answer to this problem was to ban football
in England.
Longbowmen practising at the
butts (Geoffrey Luttrell Psalter,
1325)
Available from Amazon Books
(order below)
