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Summary of the History of the
Crossbow
the Continent from about 1200 to 1460-70.1 In English armies,
mercenary crossbowmen were numerous till about 1300 ; after which period,
though by no means dispensed with, especially in the defence or siege of
a fortification, they were employed in smaller numbers.
Fig. 18.- Mounted Crossbowman with Cranequin Crossbow
and a Quarrel in His Hat
In the thirteenth and fourteenth, and in the first half of the fifteenth
century, crossbowmen were considered, on the Continent, to be the ' corps
d'elite' of an army, and were always placed in the front of the battle
line. ' Balistarii semper praeibant,' wrote Matthew Paris in the thirteenth
century.2
Among English troops, crossbowmen were given a similarly honourable
position till the time when longbowmen came forward at the end of the thirteenth
century.
1 The crossbow is occasionally alluded to by
French chroniclers during the reign of Louis VI. (le Gros), 1108-1137.
The weapon became common in France during the reign of Philip II., 1180-1223.
2 Matthew Paris - Benedictine monk of St. Alban's,
English historian, died 1259. |
