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Longbow
A longbow is a type of tall bow that makes a fairly long draw possible. Longbows for hunting and warfare have been made from many different woods in many cultures; in Europe they date from the Paleolithic era and, since the Bronze Age, were made mainly from yew, or from wych elm if yew was unavailable. The historical longbow was a self bow made of a single piece of wood, but modern longbows may also be made from modern materials or by gluing different timbers together.
A longbow was found in 1991 in the Ötztal Alps with a natural mummy known as Ötzi. His bow was made from yew and was 1.82 metres (72 in) long; the body has been dated to around 3300 BC. A slightly shorter bow comes from the Scottish parish of Tweedsmuir in a peat bog known as Rotten Bottom. The bow, made from yew, has been given a calibrated radiocarbon date of 4040 BC to 3640 BC. Another bow made from yew, found within some peat in Somerset, England has been dated to 2700–2600 BC. Forty longbows, which date from the 4th century AD, have been discovered in a peat bog at Nydam in Denmark.
In the Middle Ages the English and Welsh were famous for their very powerful longbows, used en masse to great effect against the French in the Hundred Years' War, with notable success at the battles of Crécy (1346), Poitiers (1356), and Agincourt (1415). During the reign of Edward III of England, laws were passed allowing fletchers and bowyers to be impressed into the army and enjoining them to practice archery. The dominance of the longbow on the battlefield continued until the French began to use cannon to break the formations of English archers at the Battle of Formigny (1450) and the Battle of Castillon (1453). Their use continued in the Wars of the Roses. They survived as a weapon of war in England well beyond the introduction of effective firearms. The Battle of Flodden (1513) was "a landmark in the history of archery, as the last battle on English soil to be fought with the longbow as the principal weapon..."
In 1588, the militia was called out in anticipation of an invasion by the Spanish Armada and it included many archers in its ranks; the Kent militia for instance, had 1,662 archers out of 12,654 men mustered.
The Battle of Tippermuir (1644), in Scotland, may have been the last battle in the British Isles to involve the longbow in significant numbers. It has also been claimed that longbows may have been used as late as 1654 at the Battle of Tullich in northeast Scotland.
The earliest known book on European longbow archery is the anonymous L'Art D'Archerie, produced in France in the late 15th or early 16th century. The first book in English about longbow archery was Toxophilus by Roger Ascham, first published in London in 1545 and dedicated to King Henry VIII.
Although firearms supplanted bows in warfare, wooden or fibreglass laminated longbows continue to be used by traditional archers and some tribal societies for recreation and hunting. A longbow has practical advantages compared with a modern recurve or compound bow; it is usually lighter, quicker to prepare for shooting, and shoots more quietly. However, other things being equal, the modern bow will shoot a faster arrow more accurately than the longbow.[citation needed]
Organisations that run archery competitions have set out formal definitions for various classes of bow; many definitions of the longbow would exclude some medieval examples, materials, and techniques of use. Some archery clubs in the United States classify longbows simply as bows with strings that do not come in contact with their limbs. According to the British Longbow Society, the English longbow is made so that its thickness is at least 5⁄8 (62.5%) of its width, as in Victorian longbows, and is widest at the grip. A similar, more inclusive, definition was created by the International Longbow Archers Association (ILAA) which defined the bow as fitting within a rectangular template of the proportions 1:0.625.
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Longbow
A longbow is a type of tall bow that makes a fairly long draw possible. Longbows for hunting and warfare have been made from many different woods in many cultures; in Europe they date from the Paleolithic era and, since the Bronze Age, were made mainly from yew, or from wych elm if yew was unavailable. The historical longbow was a self bow made of a single piece of wood, but modern longbows may also be made from modern materials or by gluing different timbers together.
A longbow was found in 1991 in the Ötztal Alps with a natural mummy known as Ötzi. His bow was made from yew and was 1.82 metres (72 in) long; the body has been dated to around 3300 BC. A slightly shorter bow comes from the Scottish parish of Tweedsmuir in a peat bog known as Rotten Bottom. The bow, made from yew, has been given a calibrated radiocarbon date of 4040 BC to 3640 BC. Another bow made from yew, found within some peat in Somerset, England has been dated to 2700–2600 BC. Forty longbows, which date from the 4th century AD, have been discovered in a peat bog at Nydam in Denmark.
In the Middle Ages the English and Welsh were famous for their very powerful longbows, used en masse to great effect against the French in the Hundred Years' War, with notable success at the battles of Crécy (1346), Poitiers (1356), and Agincourt (1415). During the reign of Edward III of England, laws were passed allowing fletchers and bowyers to be impressed into the army and enjoining them to practice archery. The dominance of the longbow on the battlefield continued until the French began to use cannon to break the formations of English archers at the Battle of Formigny (1450) and the Battle of Castillon (1453). Their use continued in the Wars of the Roses. They survived as a weapon of war in England well beyond the introduction of effective firearms. The Battle of Flodden (1513) was "a landmark in the history of archery, as the last battle on English soil to be fought with the longbow as the principal weapon..."
In 1588, the militia was called out in anticipation of an invasion by the Spanish Armada and it included many archers in its ranks; the Kent militia for instance, had 1,662 archers out of 12,654 men mustered.
The Battle of Tippermuir (1644), in Scotland, may have been the last battle in the British Isles to involve the longbow in significant numbers. It has also been claimed that longbows may have been used as late as 1654 at the Battle of Tullich in northeast Scotland.
The earliest known book on European longbow archery is the anonymous L'Art D'Archerie, produced in France in the late 15th or early 16th century. The first book in English about longbow archery was Toxophilus by Roger Ascham, first published in London in 1545 and dedicated to King Henry VIII.
Although firearms supplanted bows in warfare, wooden or fibreglass laminated longbows continue to be used by traditional archers and some tribal societies for recreation and hunting. A longbow has practical advantages compared with a modern recurve or compound bow; it is usually lighter, quicker to prepare for shooting, and shoots more quietly. However, other things being equal, the modern bow will shoot a faster arrow more accurately than the longbow.[citation needed]
Organisations that run archery competitions have set out formal definitions for various classes of bow; many definitions of the longbow would exclude some medieval examples, materials, and techniques of use. Some archery clubs in the United States classify longbows simply as bows with strings that do not come in contact with their limbs. According to the British Longbow Society, the English longbow is made so that its thickness is at least 5⁄8 (62.5%) of its width, as in Victorian longbows, and is widest at the grip. A similar, more inclusive, definition was created by the International Longbow Archers Association (ILAA) which defined the bow as fitting within a rectangular template of the proportions 1:0.625.