The Longbow

Kingdom of Elmet

Longbow.

This page last updated 22/04/06

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The Arrow Storm.

The English archer was feared throughout the medieval period. With good reason. Not until the invention of the automatic weapon, the machine-gun, did the longbow have any competition in the killing field.

Archers started their training while children, to build their bodies and their capabilities to a fine degree. Training was compulsory, every Sunday, and that law is still on the books!

A good bowmen could shoot (not 'fire' - that only refers to guns) 15 arrows per minute at ranges of around 300+ yards. The French learned this well at places like Agincourt. At least the French that survived learned it.

The 'arrowstorm' was a term which fitted the scene well. 5000 archers could lay 75,000 deadly arrows on the enemy in a single minute. And local to us in Elmet was the possibly biggest display of this terrifying art ever witnessed.

At the battle of Towton in 1461 - Britain's bloodiest battle - the Yorkist faction had as many as 20,000 archers. At 15 arrows per minute that's 300,000 arrows per minute - 5000 arrows per second. 28,000 died. Nothing came close to this killing score until the First World War.

Archery died because of its long training period - and the movement of population from field to town. Musketry was easier to teach - requiring no specific physical stature - and so the military archer past into history.

One of the most fitting quotes regarding English archery was made by a Burgundian merchant in Brugges in the 1480's.

He noted in his diary that the weather was awful. The rain was a torrent. It was coming down so heavy it 'reminded me of English arrows'.

Kind of says it all.

Check below for a life re-run of this event at the scene!

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