Encyclopedia
A
crossbow is a
weapon. consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that fires projectiles. A mechanism in the stock holds the bow in its fully-drawn position until it is fired by releasing a trigger. Crossbows played a significant role in the
warfare of
Europe during the
Middle Ages, and in
China throughout much of its history. Crossbows are used today primarily for
target shooting and
sport hunting.
History and technology of crossbows
Many scholars believe the crossbow first appeared in
China, probably by the 6th century BC, with some archeological evidence indicating it was developed as early as 2000 BC. Other sources agree to East Asia as origin of the crossbow, but question whether it first appeared in China. A version of the crossbow, known as a
ballista was used around the Mediterranean by the
Roman Empire and others during the Hellenistic Period. This weapon varied size from one-man field versions to heavy siege engines. "Ballista" is still the
root word for crossbow in
Romance languages such as Spanish and Italian .
The bow of early crossbows were made of a single piece of wood, usually
ash or
yew. During the
Crusades, Europeans were exposed to Saracen composite bows, made from layers of different material--often wood, horn and sinew--glued together and bound with animal tendon. These composite bows could be much more powerful than wooden bows, and were adopted for crossbow prods across Europe. As steel became more widely available around the 14th century, spring steel prods came into use. The crossbow prod is very short compared to ordinary bows, resulting in a short draw length. This makes crossbows less efficient at releasing energy, and to compensate they must have very heavy draw weights. Although some crossbows are drawn using only the unassisted arm strength of the archer, more powerful crossbows required some sort of mechanical device to draw the string. These drawing mechanisms were of many different forms, using levers, ratchets and pulleys in various ways. The use of these devices allowed soldiers to use and fire weapons with a draw force far in excess of what they could have handled with a bow. In the later years of the crossbow it had enough kinetic energy to penetrate any chainmail and most plate armor hit squarely: some reached a draw force of nearly 350 lbf , compared to the 60-180lbf draw force for a longbow. Moreover, crossbows could be kept cocked and ready to shoot for some time with little effort, allowing crossbowmen to aim better and lessen the reaction time to fire compared to a bowman. Because archers could not keep their powerful bows pulled for long periods of time they aimed by pulling their bows a bit to put the bow in a strung stance, and they pulled the bow to the full pull length just right before they wanted to release the arrow.
The arrow-like projectiles of a crossbow are called "bolts." These are much shorter than arrows but several times heavier. There is an optimum weight for bolts to achieve maximum kinetic energy, which varies depending on the strength and characteristics of the crossbow. Modern bolts are stamped with a proof mark to ensure their consistent weight. In order to accommodate the groove that the bolt rests in, bolts typically have only two fletches, rather than the three fletches commonly seen on arrows. Crossbow bolts can be fitted with a variety of heads, but the most common is a four-sided point called a quarrel. Some crossbows were made to fire stones or lead bullets. Primarily used for hunting wildfowl, these had a double string with a pouch between the strings to hold the projectile.
The mechanism that holds the drawn bowstring, called a nut, was usually made of bone, ivory or metal, and the trigger mechanism of metal. Bronze triggers with safety notches are known to have been used on crossbows from at least 200 BC in China. Complicated iron triggers are known in Europe from the early 1400s.
Leonardo da Vinci designed many trigger mechanisms for crossbows, ultimately producing a "hair trigger" that could be released with very little finger strength.
The prod was often lashed to the stock with rope, whipcord, or other strong cording. This cording is called the
bridle of the crossbow. Much as a horse's
bridle, it tends to loosen over time, and must be carefully re-bound when appropriate.
The strings for a crossbow are typically made of strong fibers that would not tend to fray. According to W. F. Patternson, whipcord was very common; however linen, hemp, and
sinew were used as well. In wet conditions, twisted
mulberry root was occasionally used.
History of the use of crossbows
According to
Guinness World Records, the earliest reliable record of crossbow usage is in the
Battle of Ma-Ling, Lingyi, China at 341 BC. By the 200s BC, the crossbow was well developed and quite widely used in China. Crossbows have been found among the soldiers of the
Terracotta Army in the tomb of emperor
Qin Shi Huang . The first western reference to the crossbow is to the
gastraphetes of early Hellenistic period . The Romans called the crossbow an
arcuballista . They did not employ it as a massed weapon, but used it as a scout weapon and for hunting. It served the same purpose in Western Africa, with enslaved Africans bringing the technology to America. In the American south, the crossbow was used as a hunting weapon when firearms or gunpowder were unavailable because of economic hardships or isolation. Light hunting crossbows were traditionally used by the Inuit in Northern America, as well as being found throughout Eurasia and the Indonesian Islands.
Up until the seventeenth century most beekeepers in Europe kept their hives spread across the woods and had to defend them against bears. Therefore their guild was granted the right to bear arms and is commonly depicted carrying heavy crossbows.
In the Finnish national epic,
Kalevala, depicts Joukahainen ambushing the hero Väinämöinen with a crossbow. The legendary hero of
Switzerland,
William Tell supposedly shot an apple from the top of his son's head using a crossbow, and went on to start the war of liberation by ambushing the landreeve Gessler.
Crossbows were used in European warfare from roughly 800 to 1500 A.D. They almost completely superseded hand bows in many European armies in the twelfth century for a number of reasons. Although an expertly handled longbow had greater range, equal accuracy and faster rate of fire than an average crossbow, the value of the crossbow came in its simplicity: it could be used effectively after a week of training, while a comparable single-shot skill with a longbow could take years of practice. The invention of pushlever and ratchet drawing mechanisms enabled the use of crossbows on horseback.
The Saracens called the crossbow
qaws Ferengi, or "Frankish bow", as the Crusaders used the crossbow against the Arab and Turkoman horsemen with remarkable success. In the armies of Europe, mounted and unmounted crossbowmen, often mixed with javeliners and archers, occupied a central position in battle formations. Usually they engaged the enemy in offensive skirmishes before an assault of mounted
knights. Crossbowmen were also valuable in counterattacks to protect their infantry. The rank of commanding officer of the crossbowmen corps was one of the highest positions in any army of this time. Along with
polearm weapons made from farming equipment, the crossbow was also a weapon of choice for insurgent peasants such as the Taborites.
Crossbowmen among the Flemish citizens, in the army of
Richard Lionheart, and others, had two servants, two crossbows and a
pavise shield to protect the men. One of the servants had the task of reloading the weapons, while the second subordinate would carry and hold the pavise . Such a three-man team could fire 8 shots per minute, compared to a single crossbowman's 3 shots per minute. The archer was the leader of the team, the one who owned the equipment, and the one who received payment for their services. The payment for a crossbow mercenary was higher than for a longbow mercenary, but the longbowman did not have to pay a team of assistants and his equipment was cheaper.
Mounted knights armed with lances proved ineffective against formations of pikemen combined with crossbowmen whose weapons could penetrate most knight's armor. This led to the development of new cavalry tactics. Knights and merceneries deployed in triangular formations, with the most heavily armored knights at the front. The knights would carry small, powerful all-metal crossbows of their own. Crossbows were eventually replaced in warfare by
gunpowder weapons, although early guns had slower rates of fire and much worse accuracy than contemporary crossbows. Later, similar competing tactics would feature
harquebusiers or
musketeers in formation with pikemen, pitted against cavalry firing
pistols or
carbines.
Although it is an often-repeated belief that both
Pope Urban II in 1097 and the Second Lateran Council under
Pope Innocent II in 1139 banned the use of crossbows against Christians, scholars who have closely examined the original sources believe that Urban II never made any such ban, and that the Second Lateran Council's prohibition applied to ordinary bows as well as crossbows, and perhaps to all missile weapons in general.
Modern crossbows
Modern crossbows are often made with a similar technology to modern bows, though spring steel is still sometimes used. Composite materials such as fibreglass can be employed for either
compound,
recurve or simple bow structures. As with ordinary
compound bows, compound crossbows use pulleys or
cams to provide a mechanical advantage.
Modern crossbows are used for target shooting, as noiseless military weapons and in some places for
hunting.
Laws on crossbows
For crossbowhunting in the U.S. a person generally has to have a disability or special license to use one.
Pistol crossbows are strictly controlled in many Australian states due to their concealable nature.
In German law on weapons crossbows and firearms are equated in their legal status as weapons, but in contrast to guns, acquisition, possession, trade or production of crossbows requires no license . Because of their definition as weapons, but without further restrictions, any crossbows can be used by minors under custody of competent adults. Fishing and hunting with crossbows is prohibited.
See also
...
Notes and references
- , by Stephen Selby, 1999
- , Donald B. Ball, 1996
External links
