The CrossbowBloomsbury Publishing, 9 mar 2018 - 80 páginas Technologically sophisticated and powerful, the crossbow has long enjoyed a popular reputation for villainous superiority because it could be used with little training as a weapon of assassination. The study of bow designs, trigger mechanisms and spanning devices reveals a tale of considerable mechanical ingenuity; advances that produced a battlefield weapon requiring comparatively little training to use. It was an extremely useful weapon, and especially effective in siege warfare for both attack and defence. Known to the Ancient Greeks and the Chinese as early as the 5th century BC, the crossbow developed both in Western Europe and in the Far East. Advances in trigger mechanisms, spanning and bow design allowed the development of ever more powerful bows. In this study acknowledged weaponry expert Mike Loades traces the origins, development, combat record and lasting legacy of the crossbow, the formidable projectile weapon that played a key role in a host of battles and sieges across Europe and Asia. |
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15th century Andreas Bichler Anna Komnene arbalist archers armour army arrows baleen battlefield belt-and-claw system Bradbury castle chariot Chinese crossbow Christine de Pizan claw Close Rolls composite bows composite lath cord cranequin crossbow bolt crossbow laths David Joseph Wright defence draw-weight Dynasty Edward enemy English European crossbow feet fletching foot gaffle gastraphetes great-crossbow guild H.C. Maxwell Lyte hand-bow hook horn horseback hunting inches Kim Hawkins king’s ko nu Komnene Leo Todeschini lock longbow mechanical advantage military Ming Dynasty mounted crossbowmen one-foot crossbows Pang Juan Paterson pavise Payne-Gallwey Photograph power advantage power-stroke pulley quarrels range repeating crossbow replica Richardson 2016 rolling-nut screw shooter shooting shot siege sinew spanning device spanning stand St Briavels standard crossbow steel bows steel laths stirrup Strickland & Hardy string strips target tiller Tower town trigger lever troops two-foot crossbows weapon weight windlass crossbows wooden bow wooden laths