Medieval Crossbow

The counterpart to the much-feared and respected English Longbow during Medieval times was the crossbow (covered in-depth here). The crossbow represented, in its most simple approach, the beginnings of the "rifleman" we know of today due to their long-range penetrative powers and line-of-site action. Compared to the longbow, crossbows were more difficult to aim and heavier to handle with a very slow rate-of-fire between bolts. The crossbow only slightly outranged the longbow leaving the longbow as the more overall efficient weapon. Longbowman also had a tendency to lean into their shots, standing sideways in a group of archers, and thusly more longbowman could be set within a single formation unlike the wider shoulder-to-shoulder stance required of crossbowman. In either case, the two weapons held their own unique advantages and disadvantages.

The 14-century crossbow could fire a variety of "bolts" and was extremely accurate in well-trained hands. Its major drawback was in resetting the tension control after every shot, this period of the fighting making a reloading crossbowman extremely vulnerable to the enemy. A trained crossbowman could shoot off about roughly one bolt per minute, proving vastly inferior to the dozen or so arrows per minute a trained longbowman could achieve. However, crossbowman did not require the years of practice to refine their trait when compared to an archer, making crossbowman cheaper to procure in larger numbers.

In all, the crossbow could easily compliment any standing army by providing line of sight artillery and this unit was particularly aggressive when defending high points such as castle walls, especially during siege actions. Though not a perfect weapon by any standard, it proved a step forwards in portable artillery design and could be considered one of the earlier attempts at arming infantrymen with a long gun-type weapon - prior to the widespread acceptance of gunpowder. Some armies made extensive use of the crossbow, preferring it even to the regular bow and arrow in some cases, as the piercing power of the bolt was much more relied upon than the high-arcing artillery facet of the arrow. With the introduction of the armored knight, the crossbow became a necessity for battlefield commanders.