As something of an amateur Historian I subscribe to the BBC History Magazine. In the October issue I came across the following article that I thought might be of interest to you archery guys. I'm afraid I've had to copy it out long hand as I couldn't find a link so sorry for the size of the file and I hope that it's at least of interest to some of you.
Paul
David Keys reports on tests that demonstrate the true power of the medieval longbow.
Experiments at the Ministry of Defence weapons testing facility are helping to reinstate the English longbow's reputation as a super effective medieval weapon of war.
Over the past 30 years, doubts had been cast on the effectiveness of the longbow. Research suggested that, although the weapon helped break up enemy formations, it was a relatively poor method of killing armoured soldiers. However the new tests - carried out by the scholars from London Cranfield Universities a the MOD's UK Defence Academy, Shrivenham, Oxfordshire - suggest that in fact, the medieval English longbow was a very effective killing machine.
The problem with earlier tests was that some used the wrong bows together with the wrong arrowheads for the armour being tested. The new more accurate experiments have been made possible by research on the bows and the skeletons of two probable longbowmen found on the Tudor warship the Mary Rose, the flagship of Henry VIII's navy, which sank in 1545 and was raised from the seabed in 1982.
The Tests at the Defence Academy have utilised bows similar to those found on the ship.
Using bows with 110,140 and a 150 pounds draw weight (as opposed to the 50-70 pound bows used in some earlier experiments), the energy released at impact was 100-120 joules, equivalent to being hit by a sledgehammer. Shooting at rapid intervals with the correct bows, arrows and arrowheads, a team of skilled archers would have been ale to kill or wound substantial numbers of soldiers in full armour at up to 200 metres.
The research has also revealed that the range was greater than previously thought.
After the Mary Rose work and subsequent research, the major problem which the scholars found was not how to replicate the correct longbow, but how to replicate a professional medieval or Tudor longbowman. Modern Longbow hobbyists who had helped in earlier experiments didn't have the strength and build to manage bows of up to 150 pounds draw weight. Medieval/ Tudor archers practised for several hours a day - not a feasible schedule for most of today's hobbyists.
As shown by medieval examination of the left forearms of the Mary Rose bowman, and those excavated from the medieval battlefield of Towton, the constant use of their arm muscles altered the size and shape of their bones. The nearest the researchers could get to a medieval longbowmans was Mark Streeton from Leicestershire, a blacksmith fro 20 years - and an archer since he was six. Some of the muscles involved in smithing are the same required for archery. He also has an ideal build - short arms and wide shoulders.
The research suggests that the longbow was most effective when used to deliver the equivalent of an artillery barrage. With up to a thousand arrows per second descending at 100mph, casualties would have been high. The tests were coordinated by military historian Dr David Whetham of King's College London, Physicist Paul Bourke of Cranfield University, and bow maker and fletcher Hilary Greenland, Secretary of the Society for the Promotions of Traditional Archery. The full results will be published in 2007 in the journal of the Royal Armouries, Arms and Armour.
Paul
David Keys reports on tests that demonstrate the true power of the medieval longbow.
Experiments at the Ministry of Defence weapons testing facility are helping to reinstate the English longbow's reputation as a super effective medieval weapon of war.
Over the past 30 years, doubts had been cast on the effectiveness of the longbow. Research suggested that, although the weapon helped break up enemy formations, it was a relatively poor method of killing armoured soldiers. However the new tests - carried out by the scholars from London Cranfield Universities a the MOD's UK Defence Academy, Shrivenham, Oxfordshire - suggest that in fact, the medieval English longbow was a very effective killing machine.
The problem with earlier tests was that some used the wrong bows together with the wrong arrowheads for the armour being tested. The new more accurate experiments have been made possible by research on the bows and the skeletons of two probable longbowmen found on the Tudor warship the Mary Rose, the flagship of Henry VIII's navy, which sank in 1545 and was raised from the seabed in 1982.
The Tests at the Defence Academy have utilised bows similar to those found on the ship.
Using bows with 110,140 and a 150 pounds draw weight (as opposed to the 50-70 pound bows used in some earlier experiments), the energy released at impact was 100-120 joules, equivalent to being hit by a sledgehammer. Shooting at rapid intervals with the correct bows, arrows and arrowheads, a team of skilled archers would have been ale to kill or wound substantial numbers of soldiers in full armour at up to 200 metres.
The research has also revealed that the range was greater than previously thought.
After the Mary Rose work and subsequent research, the major problem which the scholars found was not how to replicate the correct longbow, but how to replicate a professional medieval or Tudor longbowman. Modern Longbow hobbyists who had helped in earlier experiments didn't have the strength and build to manage bows of up to 150 pounds draw weight. Medieval/ Tudor archers practised for several hours a day - not a feasible schedule for most of today's hobbyists.
As shown by medieval examination of the left forearms of the Mary Rose bowman, and those excavated from the medieval battlefield of Towton, the constant use of their arm muscles altered the size and shape of their bones. The nearest the researchers could get to a medieval longbowmans was Mark Streeton from Leicestershire, a blacksmith fro 20 years - and an archer since he was six. Some of the muscles involved in smithing are the same required for archery. He also has an ideal build - short arms and wide shoulders.
The research suggests that the longbow was most effective when used to deliver the equivalent of an artillery barrage. With up to a thousand arrows per second descending at 100mph, casualties would have been high. The tests were coordinated by military historian Dr David Whetham of King's College London, Physicist Paul Bourke of Cranfield University, and bow maker and fletcher Hilary Greenland, Secretary of the Society for the Promotions of Traditional Archery. The full results will be published in 2007 in the journal of the Royal Armouries, Arms and Armour.
