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Summary of the History of the
Crossbow
poem by Guy of Amiens,1 as having been used at Hastings.
William of Poitou2 also writes that crossbows were carried by
the Norman soldiers at Hastings. Again, Sir S. R. Meyrick, in his great
work on ancient armour, states ' that in Domesday Book (1085-1086) the
name of " Odo the crossbowman " is given as being a tenant of some lands
of the king in Yorkshire.' The name ' Odo' shows that this man was a Norman.3
The historian, Thorne,4 writes 'that at the battle of Hastings
the Normans entered the field with " drawn " bows (arcubus tensis).'
This applies, I consider, to crossbows, and intimates that the Normans
were prepared for an immediate assault on their opponents.
There would be no occasion for the chronicler to record as worthy of
comment, that the ordinary bows of the Normans were 'strung,' as every
bow would be strung, as a matter of course, some time before the battle
commenced. It would, indeed, be remarkable if they were carried into action
un-strung.
Besides this, the word ' tensis ' suggests a bow with its string stretched,
as a crossbow that was kept ready for use at a moment's notice.5
The string of a crossbow could be retained in this position, or in a
state of tension, as when drawn back over its catch.
On the other hand, the string of an ordinary bow could not be thus held,
as with this weapon, when the string was drawn it was instantly released.
William II. was accidentally (so 'tis said) killed in 1100, when hunting
deer in the New Forest, by a bolt from the crossbow of Sir Walter Tyrrel.
This again proves that the Norman invaders brought crossbows to England,
and that they carried them for purposes of sport as well as for use in
warfare.
William II., Henry I., Stephen, and Henry II. all employed crossbowmen,
chiefly foreign mercenaries, in their armies.
1 Guy, Bishop of Amiens. Wrote Carmen de
Hastingce Proelio. He completed this famous poem about 1068, and died
about 1075.
2 William of Poitou, Archdeacon of Lisieux,
chaplain and biographer of William the Conqueror, flourished about 1087,
was born about 1020, died about 1090. Untrustworthy as a chronicler owing
to his tendency to magnify the deeds of his patron, but probably correct
in such a small matter as the use of crossbows at Hastings.
3 E. A. Freeman, in The History of the Norman
Conquest of England, Vol. iii., p. 467, writes, ' First in each division
marched the Archers, Slingers, and Crossbowmen.'
4 William Thorne, flourished about 1397, a
monk of St. Augustine's, Canterbury. He deals with the general history
of England. Much of his writing is derived from the chronicles credited
to Thomas Sprott (flourished about 1265), who was also a monk of St. Augustine's.
5 'quondam cithara tacentem Suscitat
musam neque semper arcum Tendit Apollo. ' 'At times Apollo stirs with his
lute the silent muse and does not always draw (tendit) the bow.' - HORACE,
Bk. II. Ode X. |
