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The Technological Development of the Bow and the Crossbow in the Later Middle Ages

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The Technological Development of the Bow and the Crossbow in the Later Middle Ages The Technological Development of the Bow and the Crossbow in the Later Middle Ages Ph.D. Thesis by Stuart Gorman Trinity College Dublin 2016 I declare that this thesis has not been submitted as an exercise for a degree at this or any other university and it is entirely my own work. I agree to deposit this thesis in the University’s open access institutional repository or allow the library to do so on my behalf, subject to Irish Copyright Legislation and Trinity College Library conditions of use and acknowledgement. 1 Summary This thesis explores the complexity of the design and development of the bow and the crossbow in the Later Middle Ages. The data used in this study were primarily archaeological, supplemented by some textual and artistic evidence. Information on over two hundred bows and crossbows was collected for the analysis in this study. The methodology of this work was primarily comparative: bows and crossbows were compared to each other across and within centuries and regions, to chart how the weapons developed over time. The main thrust of this thesis was to argue for a more complex understanding of the bow and the crossbow. Historians have generally not engaged with the complex mechanics involved in the operation of a bow or crossbow. An understanding of these mechanics offers valuable insight into why these weapons were designed the way they were, as well as highlighting what aspects of these weapons were truly significant. For example, longbow discussions have generally focused on the length of the weapon, but thickness was actually a more important factor in determining how powerful, and therefore deadly, a longbow was. This thesis includes information on longbows from as early as prehistory and as late as the Mary Rose. These data were used both to show that length was not the most important factor in longbow design – the prehistoric bows were very long but would have been comparably weak – and to show that powerful longbows were made in the High Middle Ages, but were still weaker than the Mary Rose longbows. This thesis also challenges the idea that depictions of the longbow in medieval art could be used to reliably provide specific insight into the weapon's design or development, but could provide information on other aspects, such as how bows and crossbows were handled. The study of the medieval crossbow focused on surviving examples from the fourteenth through to the sixteenth centuries. No clear narrative for the weapon’s development could be found; instead, crossbows developed into an increasingly complex variety of weapons as the Middle Ages became the early modern period. There was some standardisation to the weapon’s design in the fifteenth century, both in composite and steel crossbows, but, while the composite lathe barely changed in the sixteenth century, the steel crossbow diversified into a range of different styles of crossbows, all of which came in different sizes and shapes. There should be a typology to describe the diversity of these crossbows, in order to allow historians to talk about the weapon in a more specific and meaningful way. 2 In conclusion, this thesis has advocated for greater complexity and detail in the study of the bow and crossbow. The simplification of these weapons has led to much misunderstanding about their performance and use in medieval armies. Craftsmen, soldiers, and commanders all played a role in determining what kinds of weapons were used at a given time or place, and understanding the reasons for the variety of these weapons available during the Later Middle Ages could provide new and significant insight into medieval and early modern warfare. 3 Table of Contents List of Illustrations 5 Acknowledgements 7 Introduction 8 1. The Mechanics of Archery 36 2. The Development of the Longbow 64 3. The Bow in Medieval Art 92 4. Crossbow Data and Methodology 133 5. The Development and Design of the Late Medieval Crossbow 146 6. Medieval Crossbow Spanning Devices 191 7. Comparing Bows and Crossbows 213 Conclusion 240 Appendix I: Crossbows 254 Appendix II: Spanning Devices 307 Appendix III: Glossary 328 Bibliography 330 4 Illustrations 1. Illustration 1: Compass Bows vs. Target Bows 42 2. Illustration 2: Bow Shape 44 3. Illustration 3: Composite Lathe Cross-Section 48 4. Illustration 4: Arrow Yaw Diagram 50 5. Graph 5: Mary Rose Bow Length 68 6. Graph 6: Prehistoric Bow Length 74 7. Graph 7: Iron-Age Danish Bow Length 76 8. Graph 8: Irish Bow Width/Thickness Comparison 79 9. Graph 9: Bow Length Comparison 82 10. Graph 10: Mary Rose Limb Width/Thickness 86 11. Graph 11: Bow Width at Grip 86 12. Graph 12: Bow Width at Limb 87 13. Graph 13: Bow Thickness at Grip 88 14. Graph 14: Bow Thickness at Limb 88 15. Plate 15: Cod. Bibl. Fol. 23, f. 021r 122 16. Plate 16: Bayeux Tapestry Scene 51 122 17. Plate 17: Bayeux Tapestry Scene 55-6 122 18. Plate 18: MS. Royal. 2, B vi. f. 10 123 19. Plate 19: British Library, Royal 2 B VII, f. 151v 123 20. Plate 20: British Library, Royal 2 B VII, f. 146 123 21. Plate 21: British Library, Royal 2 B VII, f. 162v 124 22. Plate 22: Legend of St Ursula: Return to Basel, Franz Wallraf Cologne 124 23. Plate 23: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS fr. 616, f. 11v 124 24. Plate 24: Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, SGS Munich 125 25. Plate 25: British Library, Add MS 47682, f. 40 125 26. Plate 26: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Fr 2643, f. 165v 126 27. Plate 27: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Fr. 2680, f. 208 126 28. Plate 28: Hans Memling Martyrdom of St Sebastian 127 29. Plate 29: Meister der Heligen Sippe d.J. Martyrdom of St Sebastian 127 30. Plate 30: Albrecht Durer Martyrdom of St Sebastian 128 31. Plate 31: Képes Krónika, f. 146 128 32. Plate 32: British Library, Add MS 42130, f. 56 129 33. Plate 33: British Library, Add MS 42130, f. 147v 129 34. Plate 34: Pierpont Morgan Library, Ms M. 638, f. 42 129 35. Plate 35: Pierpont Morgan Library, Ms M. 638, f. 32 130 36. Plate 36: Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 264, f. 51v 130 37. Plate 37: Hans Holbein the Elder, Martyrdom of St. Sebastian 131 38. Plate 38: Pietro Perugino, Martyrdom of St. Sebastian 131 39. Plate 39: Piero de Pollaiuolo, Martyrdom of St. Sebastian 132 40. Graph 40: Fifteenth-Century Composite Lathe Lengths 151 41. Graph 41: Fifteenth-Century Composite Tiller Lengths 153 42. Graph 42: Fifteenth-Century Composite Lathe/Tiller Comparison 154 43. Graph 43: Fifteenth-Century Composite Weight 156 44. Graph 44: Fifteenth-Century Steel Lathe Length 157 5 45. Graph 45: Fifteenth-Century Steel Tiller Length 159 46. Graph 46: Fifteenth-Century Steel Tiller/Lathe Comparison 159 47. Illustration 47: Bern W1982 161 48. Graph 48: Heavy-Steel Crossbow Tiller/Lathe Comparison 162 49. Illustration 49: Bern W1982 Close-Up 164 50. Graph 50: Sixteenth-Century Composite String Length 166 51. Graph 51: Sixteenth-Century Composite Total Length 167 52. Graph 52: Sixteenth Century Composite Tiller/Lathe Length Comparison 168 53. Graph 53: Sixteenth-Century Steel String Length 170 54. Graph 54: Sixteenth-Century Steel Lathe Length 171 55. Graph 55: Sixteenth-Century Steel Lathe Length Comparison 171 56. Graph 56: Sixteenth-Century Steel Tiller Length Comparison 173 57. Graph 57: Sixteenth-Century Steel Lathe/Tiller Length Comparison 174 58. Graph 58: Sixteenth-Century Steel Lathe/Total Length Comparison 175 59. Graph 59: Sixteenth-Century Steel Crossbow Weight 176 60. Graph 60: Crossbow Weight Comparison 177 61. Graph 61: Composite Lathe Width/Thickness Center 180 62. Graph 62: Composite Lathe Width/Thickness Outside 180 63. Figure 63: Crossbow Lathe Dimensions Diagram 181 64. Graph 64: Composite Lathe Center Thickness vs Outer Width Comparison 182 65. Graph 65: Steel Lathe Width/Thickness Center 182 66. Graph 66: Steel Lathe Width/Thickness Outside 183 67. Graph 67: Lathe to Lock Distance 185 68. Illustration 68: Grandson B199 187 69. Graph 69: Spanish Crossbow Length 188 70. Graph 70: Spanish Crossbow Weight 189 71. Illustration 71: Bern Cranequins 195 72. Illustration 72: Goats-Foot Lever Diagram 196 73. Illustration 73: Grandson B2 197 74. Graph 74: Cranequin Bar Length 200 75. Graph 75: Cranequin Section Thickness/Width Comparison 201 76. Graph 76: Cranequin Weight 203 6 Acknowledgments My interest in medieval history, and weaponry in particular, stretches back well into my youth and probably owes more to the works of one J.R.R. Tolkein than it does to actual history. I finally got my exposure to the real thing when I came to Trinity College Dublin in 2007 as a fresh faced undergraduate. At that time, I could not have guessed that my interest in the history of the Middle Ages would eventually result in me engaging in the long and detailed study laid out here. I particularly could not have predicted that it would have led to me traveling to an isolated village in the Swiss alps to examine crossbows in a medieval castle. Throughout this experience and the exciting opportunities it provided me, my parents, Michael and Margaret, have patiently supported me and for that I am eternally thankful. I would also like to thank the Trinity History department for awarding me a grant from the Grace Lawless Lee fund, which enabled the aforementioned trip to Switzerland to study crossbows in person. Many thanks are due to my supervisor, Prof. Terry Barry, who helped to guide and structure my vague vision of a research project and helped me to produce a polished final product from what started as a general interest and a lot of enthusiasm for the subject.
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