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Post by Alpo on Aug 22, 2014 22:47:22 GMT -6
Just got finished watching a movie called Timeline. The French and the English are at war. The Brits have captured a French castle and the French are trying to take it back.
Both sides are launching flights of arrows at each other. With longbows.
I thought the longbow was an English weapon. The French used crossbows.
Am I confused, or was the movie maker?
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Post by armedandsafe on Aug 23, 2014 15:52:57 GMT -6
The French did have long bows, but were not as proficient with them as were the English. English law stated that every able bodied male had to have a long bow and practice with it regularly. The French did use crossbows, but mostly for close in work or cavalry.
Pops
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Post by Pistolenschutzen on Aug 24, 2014 11:09:54 GMT -6
Just got finished watching a movie called Timeline. The French and the English are at war. The Brits have captured a French castle and the French are trying to take it back. Both sides are launching flights of arrows at each other. With longbows. I thought the longbow was an English weapon. The French used crossbows. Am I confused, or was the movie maker? The longbow was indeed an English innovation, Alpo and not used by the French as a weapon of war, though they did use the crossbow. The longbow was a very specialized weapon. It took a lifetime to become truly proficient with the longbow, and was a particular specialty of the Welsh people. Training started when boys were very young and they grew up pulling and shooting these bows. The pull on the bow was very heavy, well over 100 lbs, so that led to proportionately strong development of arm and shoulder on the right side of the body, a fact verified through skeletal remains that have been found on battlefields. The bow was made of yew wood, which is native to England and northern Europe but species of it do grow in a few other places around the world, including the northwest portion of the US. At three battles during the 100 Years War--Agincourt, Poitiers, and Crecy--the English longbowmen decimated the flower of French knighthood using this weapon when the French knights charged the English battleline. The bows were so powerful they could drive an arrow completely through the armor of the day and the body it protected, and do that at considerable distance.
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Post by Enfield on Aug 25, 2014 0:09:10 GMT -6
As Pistol says is my understanding and just to add to that legend has it that is how the sign with holding two fingers up as an insult originated.
That being, showing that you still have two fingers, with which to draw your bow
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Post by 1shot1k_Admin on Aug 25, 2014 1:04:05 GMT -6
As Pistol says is my understanding and just to add to that legend has it that is how the sign with holding two fingers up as an insult originated.
That being, showing that you still have two fingers, with which to draw your bow Probably so...probably so......course.....the bloke that had only ONE to show wasn't sendin his best regards neither......
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Post by Enfield on Aug 25, 2014 2:16:26 GMT -6
Now that is funny
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Post by Alpo on Aug 25, 2014 8:44:58 GMT -6
Do the English really only use two fingers?
I've shot bows since I was about 9, and I've always used three - one above the nock and two below.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2014 9:20:11 GMT -6
I was given longbow lessons as a youngster. Local club. I enjoyed it. Actually our shooting club also does archery, but owing to a bad right shoulder I cant take part.
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Post by Pistolenschutzen on Aug 25, 2014 11:06:17 GMT -6
The English longbowmen were so effective and feared by Britain's enemies, that when the bowmen were captured, the index finger and middle finger of the bowman's hand were often chopped off so he could never again pull a bow.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2014 12:28:53 GMT -6
The long bow had a powerful pull, some recovered from the Mary Rose were tested to destruction and had incredible weights. The volume of fire with the long bow was also an important factor. Its interesting to note accurate and rapid fire was a consistent feature with our armed services. The Royal Navy when fighting the French and Spanish were able to out shoot them by a considerable margin. Before WW2 the army school of musketry introduced the 15 accurate rounds a minute standard. Those unable to achieve this could even be discharged. Experienced soldiers could achieve 20 plus.
Famously, this was experienced by the German Army in 1914, much to their surprise.
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