Arbalest: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article

Arbalest

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	Arbalest
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	Topics Arbalest Topic Home The arbalest (also arblast) was a late variation of the medievalMiddle Ages The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three "ages": the clas... EuropeanEurope Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth.... crossbowCrossbow A crossbow is a weapon. consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that fires projectiles.... . A larger weaponWeapon A weapon is a tool which is intended to or is used to injure, kill, or a person, damage or destroy property, or to otherwis... , the arbalest had a steelSteel Steel is a metal alloy whose major component is iron, with carbon content between 0.02% and 1.7% by weight.... prod ("bow"). Since an arbalest was much larger than earlier crossbowCrossbow A crossbow is a weapon. consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that fires projectiles.... s, and because of the greater tensile strengthTensile strength Tensile strength measures the force required to pull something such as rope, wire, or a structural beam to the point where i... of steelSteel Steel is a metal alloy whose major component is iron, with carbon content between 0.02% and 1.7% by weight.... , it had a greater force. The strongest windlassWindlass A windlass is an apparatus for moving a heavy weight.... -pulled arbalests could have up to 22 kNNewton The newton is the SI unit of force.... (5000 lbfPound-force A pound-force is a unit of force. One pound-force is the force equivalent to that exerted on a mass of one avoirdupois pound... ) strength and be accurate up to 500 m. A skilled arbalestier (arblaster) could shoot two boltQuarrel ----A quarrel is the technical term for the most common head of a crossbow bolt, so called on account of its square shape .... s per minute. Arbalests were sometimes considered inhumane or unfair weapons, since an inexperienced arbalestier could use one to kill a knightKnight Knight is the English term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages.... who had a lifetime of training. This led to their ban by PopePope The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, and, as Successor of Saint Peter, is the head of the Catholic Church.... Innocent II, in whose name Canon 29 of the Second Lateran Council (1139, as translated in Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, ed. Norman P. Tanner) states "We prohibit under anathemaAnathema Anathema in Greek Anathema meaning originally something lifted up as an offering to the gods; later, with evolving meanings... that murderous art of crossbowmen and archers, which is hateful to God, to be employed against Christians and Catholics from now on." ." In context, this proscription was probably a very late part of a wider, millennial attempt by the Roman Catholic ChurchRoman Catholic Church The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church is the Christian Church in full communion with the Pope, the Bishop of Ro... to limit warfare, known as the Peace of God movement. This movement eventually failed and medieval crossbowmen and archers still existed, and did continue to kill knights. There was nothing done to these people, because the Church could not possibly round up every single person who used a bow, crossbow, or arbalest. The term is sometimes used interchangeably with . 'Arbalest' is Medieval French corruption from the Roman name arcuballista for crossbow; Modern French uses the word arbalète, which is linguistically one step further from the stem (disappearance of the s phoneme in the last syllable before t). The word applies for both crossbow and arbalest (the latter may be referred to as heavy crossbow, but an actual heavy crossbow may not be the same as an arbalest). In some cases, the word has been used to refer to the people who actually used the weapon.