Main Discussion Area > English Warbow
Evidence OTHER than MR Bows of 120+ bows?
Archeress:
On a serious note..In comparison with wills..Yesterday i was launching my half inch bobtail war arrows (according to EWBS specs) from my 110 greenheart/bamboo longbow. My bow is slow with these arrows. Made 120 metres only....although we had a mighty head/cross wind.It kept up all day. Arrows went from right to left. On a stationary target i feel i could probably throw my arrows faster. BTW..the 110 is now producing 103 pounds of thrust. On a positive note..my 120 yew from Ben Perkins is all paid for and i expect to see it next week sometime. My war arrows are the most dangerous arrows i have but in retrospect i would really need smaller arrows spined to 100 /105 to make the bow happy.
Josh B:
--- Quote from: Benjamin H. Abbott on November 11, 2013, 02:03:49 am ---
--- Quote from: Atlatlista on November 08, 2013, 09:20:26 pm ---50-60 pounds though is not wholly unrepresentative of military bows from many cultures other than England though, so I may content myself with that.
--- End quote ---
Which cultures would those be? Records, estimates, and reconstructions from Turkey to China suggest 120-180lbs for infantry bows and 80-120+lbs for cavalry bows. While 50-60lb bows surely saw action from time to time, I don't know of any source that considers them acceptable for military use. To me, such composite bow draw weights offer strong supporting evidence that English archers commonly used 150+lb bows.
Regarding long-distance shooting, both Fourquevaux and Smythe - two sixteenth-century military writers - indicated the advantages of engaging at closer than maximum range.
--- End quote ---
I believe it would be safe to say that native Americans used bows in that poundage range for there martial needs. The only tribe that I have studied that actually had a heavier bow specifically for war was the Cherokee. I am no expert, so that could be completely wrong and others may have done the same. The point being, these are cultures that used a lighter bow in warfare and to good effect. Josh
Benjamin H. Abbott:
Saying Native Americans is likely saying Europeans. It's a huge category. :) Various Spanish, Portuguese, and English colonial accounts suggest that at least some Native groups used large bows every bit as powerful as traditional English ones. Garcilaso de la Vega even wrote about English-trained archers in the Spanish contingent, and he made no distinction between their bows and those of their Native opponents in what's now the Southeast United States. De la Vega also wrote that no Spaniard was able to draw a captured Native bow - possibly, but probably not, including the one Spaniard raised in England and trained in English archery.
Josh B:
I never intended to imply that all the tribes were the same. That's why I used the plural "cultures". As the Cherokee are a southeastern people, it would be of high probability that their neighbors practiced a similar style of warfare, with similar weapons. But as you said, native American covers a lot of people. Some of which were quite accomplished at making war with hunting weight bows. You wanted cultures that made war with lighter bows. I offer "some" native American people as an answer. Josh
Archeress:
I should imagine that one reason the nth american indigenous peoples used lighter bow than european medievalists is because thier enemies did not have body armour..just clothing/uniforms. shirts/bare torsos. even my 40 pound ash bow with a 5/16th arrow and a sharp point would do damage.
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