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Crossbows
Information on the crossbow throughout history and
into the modern day
While
not always considered an instrument of archery, the Crossbow
functions nearly the same as a bow. There are a few slight
differences, however:
1.) The
Bow (called a prod) is mounted horizontally on a piece of
wooden stock called the Tiller. This avoids such things as
the "Archer's Paradox" and "Tiller Rotation,"
allowing a less skilled archer a straigher shot.
2.) Because
the Crossbow is loosed using a mechanical release, more energy
can be stored in the bow as it need not be held. A smaller
prod can store more energy than a longbow over a fraction
of the distance. Traditionally, military crossbows had better
range than other bows (until modern times when lighter, stronger
materials have made the hand bow a more powerful device),
using, often, metal prods.
3.) As
the crossbows became stronger, the Draw on them became so
enormous that one single person could not span it himself.
Several devices were implemented: levers, winches, etc., but
these made spanning the crossbow too slow to be actually useful
on an open battle field (but ideal for defending against sieges.)
The crossbow, although known in Roman times, was not widely
used in Europe until the Middle Ages. In China, however, where
it developed at the same time, the crossbow revolutionized
warfare. A crossbow is a bow set on a stock. It fires missiles
propelled by mechanical energy and released by a trigger.
It could be more powerful than the ordinary bow and could
fire arrows, darts, or stones. It was, however, slower to
fire than the longbow and almost as difficult to wield; even
the arbalest, a later crossbow, was clumsy and slow. By the
end of the 13th cent. use of the crossbow had declined. At
the battle of Crécy (1346) English longbowmen, firing
from fixed positions, proved far more efficient than Genoese
crossbowmen fighting for the French.
The Chinese later developed the repeating crossbow, an ingenious
weapon that proved ineffective against repeating rifles in
the First Sino-Japanese War. There are some references to
gravity powered semi-automatic Chinese Crossbows as early
as 400 B.C.
Sketch
design of siege crossbow
by Leonardo da Vinci
while he was employed as a siege engineer
in the court of Francis I of France
- Swiss
folkhero, William Tell, was an excellent shot with a crossbow
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