Let's Get It Right: Longbow vs Crossbow - A Video Essay
Play War Thunder now with my link, and get a massive, free bonus pack including vehicles, boosters and more: https://playwt.link/sandrhomanhistory2023
War Thunder is a highly detailed vehicle combat game containing over 2000 playable tanks, aircrafts and ships spanning over 100 years of development. Immerse yourself completely in dynamic battles with an unparalleled combination of realism and approachability.
Everyone has a strong opinion on whether the longbow or the crossbow was the better ranged weapon in the middle ages. There are speculative but nonetheless common claims like: “the longbow was the machine gun of the middle ages and the crossbow was the sniper rifle”. History buffs, testers and historians can get into heated debates about armor penetration, rate of fire and tactical application of these weapons. Certain aspects like rate of fire or penetration power can be tested experimentally, as has been done, for example, by fellow YouTuber Tod from Tod’s Workshop , but testing has limits: after all, tests are not battles. Also, the interpretation of such tests often leads to logical fallacies – for example: a better rate of fire doesn’t necessarily imply a more effective weapon in battle. In the same vein traditional historiography runs into problems because they often ignore the tactical implications of practical tests. A proper comparison of the two weapons needs to consider both practical tests and historiography. So, in this video we’d like to shed some light on the main arguments of the debate. We‘ll bring together testing and research and – maybe – get a baby step closer to understanding these two weapons and their roles in medieval warfare.
Bibliography
Bradbury, Jim, The Medieval Archer, Woodbrige 1985.
DeVries, Kelly, “Catapults Are Not Atomic Bombs: Towards a Redefinition of 'Effectiveness' in Premodern Military Technology”, in: War in History 4, No. 4 (November 1997), pp. 454-470.
Devries, K., Medieval Military Technology, 1994.
Green, David, The Hundred Year's War: A People's History, Padstow 2014.
Payne-Gallwey, Ralph, The Crossbow: Its Military and Sporting History, Construction and Use, London 1903.
Prestwich, Michael, Armies and Warfare in the Middle Ages: The English Experience, (1996, repr. Hong Kong, 2006.
Rogers, Clifford J., Tactics and the Face of Battle, in: Tallet, Frank/Trim, D. J. B. (Ed.), European Warfare 1350-1750, Cambridge 2010.
Rogers, Clifford J., The Efficacy of the English Longbow, 1998.
Strickland, Matthew and Hardy, Robert, The Great Warbow, Stroud 2005.
Soar, H., Gibbs, J., Jury, C., Stretton, M., Secrets of the English War Bow. Westholme, 2010, pp. 127–151.
Видео Let's Get It Right: Longbow vs Crossbow - A Video Essay канала SandRhoman History
War Thunder is a highly detailed vehicle combat game containing over 2000 playable tanks, aircrafts and ships spanning over 100 years of development. Immerse yourself completely in dynamic battles with an unparalleled combination of realism and approachability.
Everyone has a strong opinion on whether the longbow or the crossbow was the better ranged weapon in the middle ages. There are speculative but nonetheless common claims like: “the longbow was the machine gun of the middle ages and the crossbow was the sniper rifle”. History buffs, testers and historians can get into heated debates about armor penetration, rate of fire and tactical application of these weapons. Certain aspects like rate of fire or penetration power can be tested experimentally, as has been done, for example, by fellow YouTuber Tod from Tod’s Workshop , but testing has limits: after all, tests are not battles. Also, the interpretation of such tests often leads to logical fallacies – for example: a better rate of fire doesn’t necessarily imply a more effective weapon in battle. In the same vein traditional historiography runs into problems because they often ignore the tactical implications of practical tests. A proper comparison of the two weapons needs to consider both practical tests and historiography. So, in this video we’d like to shed some light on the main arguments of the debate. We‘ll bring together testing and research and – maybe – get a baby step closer to understanding these two weapons and their roles in medieval warfare.
Bibliography
Bradbury, Jim, The Medieval Archer, Woodbrige 1985.
DeVries, Kelly, “Catapults Are Not Atomic Bombs: Towards a Redefinition of 'Effectiveness' in Premodern Military Technology”, in: War in History 4, No. 4 (November 1997), pp. 454-470.
Devries, K., Medieval Military Technology, 1994.
Green, David, The Hundred Year's War: A People's History, Padstow 2014.
Payne-Gallwey, Ralph, The Crossbow: Its Military and Sporting History, Construction and Use, London 1903.
Prestwich, Michael, Armies and Warfare in the Middle Ages: The English Experience, (1996, repr. Hong Kong, 2006.
Rogers, Clifford J., Tactics and the Face of Battle, in: Tallet, Frank/Trim, D. J. B. (Ed.), European Warfare 1350-1750, Cambridge 2010.
Rogers, Clifford J., The Efficacy of the English Longbow, 1998.
Strickland, Matthew and Hardy, Robert, The Great Warbow, Stroud 2005.
Soar, H., Gibbs, J., Jury, C., Stretton, M., Secrets of the English War Bow. Westholme, 2010, pp. 127–151.
Видео Let's Get It Right: Longbow vs Crossbow - A Video Essay канала SandRhoman History
Показать
Комментарии отсутствуют
Информация о видео
Другие видео канала
Historical Reasons for Single Combat (and what we can learn from it about ancient societies)War in Ancient India - From the Indus Valley Civilisation to Alexander the GreatPike and Shot Warfare - The Spanish Tercio | Early-Modern WarfareLandsknechts: Most Sought-After Mercenaries in Early Modern EuropeSwiss Mercenaries: The End of Cavalry Superiority in the Late Middle AgesThe Highland Charge - The Famous Shock Tactic of the Scottish ClansThe Origins of War (500,000 BC–3,000 BC)What We Actually Know About "Greek Fire"1632: 5 Great Battles (Thirty Years War Part 8)1630/31: Gustavus Adolphus & the Swedish Intervention (Thirty Years War Part 7)1625-1629: Wallenstein & the Danish Intervention (Thirty Years War Part 5)Joan of Arc: The (Staggering) Siege of Orléans 1428 / 29 | Hundred Years' War1624/25: Beyond Europe: The Global Dimension of the War (Thirty Years War Part 4)The Galloglass: Ireland's Most Sought-After MercenariesIn Defense of the Scottish Renaissance Army1620-1623: The Internationalisation of the War & the Palatine Campaign (Thirty Years War Part 3)How to Lay Siege to a Bastion Fort 1643-1715 (in 11 Easy Steps)Perfect Bastion Forts & Infallible Sieges by Sebastien Le Prestre de VaubanLepanto 1571: Shattering the Idea of Ottoman InvincibilityThe Powder Keg: The Bohemian Revolt 1618-1620 | (Thirty Years War Part 2)