Boasting a rate of shooting not seen again in English hands until the late 19th century, the longbow was the weapon at the heart of the English military ascendancy in the century after 1340. Capable of subjecting the enemy to a hail of deadly projectiles, the longbow in the hands of massed archers made possible the extraordinary victories enjoyed by English forces over superior numbers at Crecy and Poitiers, and remained an important battlefield weapon throughout the Wars of the Roses and beyond; it also played a leading role in raiding, siege and naval warfare. Its influence and use...
Boasting a rate of shooting not seen again in English hands until the late 19th century, the longbow was the weapon at the heart of the English mil...