Main Discussion Area > English Warbow
Crossbows outrange Longbows?
triton:
--- Quote from: ChrisD on June 10, 2009, 04:58:02 pm ---
--- Quote from: Yeomanbowman on May 08, 2009, 06:00:54 pm ---Gerald actually claimed the penetration was a hand span so 4" but he was prone to the odd bit of exaggeration. He recounts a 'factual' tale of a human/horse chimera as the result of an unholy union between an Irish man ad a horse :o
--- End quote ---
Nothing unusual in that - very common in Ireland - amazed you hadn't noticed! There is also the union between human and pig which gives rise to very successful politicians, human and donkey often to be found working in banks - and whole host of others.
C
--- End quote ---
:o ;D ;D ;D
Yeomanbowman:
--- Quote from: ChrisD on June 10, 2009, 04:58:02 pm ---
--- Quote from: Yeomanbowman on May 08, 2009, 06:00:54 pm ---Gerald actually claimed the penetration was a hand span so 4" but he was prone to the odd bit of exaggeration. He recounts a 'factual' tale of a human/horse chimera as the result of an unholy union between an Irish man ad a horse :o
--- End quote ---
Nothing unusual in that - very common in Ireland - amazed you hadn't noticed! There is also the union between human and pig which gives rise to very successful politicians, human and donkey often to be found working in banks - and whole host of others.
C
--- End quote ---
You're an Irishman, Chris. I wouldn't have got away with any jokes :D At times I think my builder is the result of human/sloth.
Jaro:
Kiwijim - the crossbow on "projects" page has nothing to do with medieval crossbows. Nothing at all. The shape, the stock, the prod, nothing matches. The technology is lightyears from what would have been used on 15. century crossbow. If you think it its correct, then you know nothing about them.
They are tricky to build, if you cut the corners with modern technology and I dont know anybody who would build comercial replica of medieval crossbow, which would at least LOOKED like one, the correctness of construction aside. I know of hobbysts who build very good replicas, altough most uses fiberglass prods dressed and masqueraded as composite prods - which is what I do, hovewer the stock, the bone parts, the friction bedded roller nut, the rope fastening of the prod etc. can be made correctly. But nobody sells it since it is bloody work, which does not pays off.
Yeomanbowman - Gerald of Wales is amusing medieval liar, though most of the chroniclers seem to have their weak moments. I recall Geralds description of crowning of Wales king, which involves intercourse with white as, then killing the animal with swords and eating soup cooked from the meat. But he sure knew how to amuse readers.
kiwijim:
jaro,
I am not going to enter an argument whether those crossbows are late medieval or not, in hindsight I am prepared to conceed there. The only reason I provided the link was to show you a +500lb crossbow being loaded with a goatsfoot. Do not let that detract from my original points:
1)Medieval crossbows could have been alot heavier than given credit.
2)A simple spanning device enables a heavy crossbow to be spanned with relative ease.
3)Crossbows of this power will store and release more enery than longbows and will outrange them.
So far you have used speculation to accuse me of talking science fiction and not knowing anything, but come on jaro, disprove me or shut it. >:D
regards
james
Jaro:
I have used my personal experience which I have with building of medieval crossbows. You have used a site which does not have anything to do with medieval crossbows as a source of your information.
Frankly, I dont know if you are aware of standarts of academical debate, but negatives do not need to be proven. It is not me who have to "disprove" anything, it is on you to "prove" things. So far you did so by citing information from site which concerns building of crossbows with metal grooves and using match rifle stocks.
Let me amuse gentle readers of this with little reiteration:
1) Medieval crossbows could have been alot lighter than given credit (Completelly ommiting the fact that there is more than one type of such crossbow and that we have surviving examples of some which must have been very light. )
2) Simple spanning device enables crossbows which coud otherwise only be spanned by very strong men to be spanned with relative ease (That is if you have studied the actual development of crossbows, you would find examples which have been uprgaded from simple hook to hook with a single pulley and then in late 15. century for german cranequin - which is observable on the changes the craftsman did on the stocks) - we have the actual museum examples of this development
3) Crossbows of which power? If you are talking about anything else than cranequin cranked crossbows, then the answer is probably "no".
Note on goat lever - I have trouble of finding them in some numbers in medieval sources. Its either hook or hook with pulley, or later a cranequin. There is english windlass crank, but that is it and not very common in western or mid europe or on continent anyway. The goat lever is something I associate with swiss or continental sporting crossbow of 17. century and there is very little of them. Should goat lever be used on lighter meditearean types of crossbows, such as used in Italy - it was wood, and there we are back where we were, not as strong as you wildly imagine.
Jaro
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