Medieval War Bow

Description of the Product

English longbow like this is perhaps the most famous bow model in the world. However English longbow can mean two different types of bows - either a war bow or a bow made for sport shooting. A very rigid, long bow made from a single piece of wood was used as a weapon in wars in the Middle Ages, until the 17th century when it was replaced by firearms. In the 18th century, archery was revived and became a recreational sport. For target shooting English longbows became lighter, thinner and more ornate compared to the earlier war bows. According to the English archery tradition, the longbow is a simple and clear-lined bow made from single piece of wood or laminated from two pieces of wood, whether we are talking about war bows or bows made for target archery.

The English longbow had its heyday in medieval times, from 1250-1450, but use of a bow and arrow dates back to pre-historic times. It was used in hunting and sports as well as in war. Even though these bows are called English longbows identical bows were used across northern and western Europe. It was the English who trained extensive units of longbowmen that made this bow famous in the Hundred Years’ War against the French. English longbowmen resolved the famous battles of Crecy, Poitiers and most famously the Battle of Agincourt and made these longbows famous.

Few weapons have ever achieved similar performances as medieval war bows in the hands of English archers in the Middle Ages. In small numbers and as underdogs the English armies managed to defeat time and time again the armies of French knights, which at first glance seemed superior. The longbowmen didn’t win their crushing victories against poorly trained and equipped barbarians fighting undisciplined but against the best of their time, the famous, heavily armored and well equipped chivalric knights of France.

Longbowmen were highly valued in medieval England and their salary was many times higher compared to ordinary infantry soldiers. Because archers required constant training to maintain strength and accuracy, several Kings of England ruled that every man, rich or poor, needs to practice archery in his spare time and on holidays to maintain the war prowess of the country. The training was effective and the enemies of England were afraid of the highly accurate and effective English archers. A common Scottish saying in the past was that every English Archer bore with him the lives of four-and-twenty Scots. The number of arrows carried in his quiver by a typical archer was 24.

As firearms became more common, the use of the longbow in wars gradually decreased. This is partly due to the years of training and practice required, which made the upkeep of the longbowmen expensive and time consuming. Also after 1350 plate armor was becoming more available to a larger number of soldiers and knights and (as the longbow could not easily penetrate these) longbows started to lose importance in battle use. Towards the end of the 15th century, archers were no longer considered as the most important military force, which in turn led to decrease in training and this again to decline in the strength and skill of archers, and this again to the gradual decline in the importance of the longbow as a weapon of war. The last record of the longbow in war use is from 1644, but its importance as an important weapon of war had diminished long before this.

There are not many longbows that have survived to our day, for they wore down with use, finally breaking, so there was nothing to hand down to the next generation. The bows were typically made of yew and by the 16th century the demand for yew had surpassed its production, and yew was all but wiped out from all of Europe. Other materials were of course also used but yew was most popular. The best information we have about medieval war bows comes from a Tudor warship called Mary Rose that sank in a battle against the French in 1545. The ship was raised in the 1980s and a load of longbows were found on board. The dimensions, style and details of our bow corresponds to the bows found on Mary Rose. The main difference being that our version has slightly lighter draw weight compared to the extremely strong medieval war bows.

This Medieval War Bow has 50-60 pound draw weight with 30-inch draw length and about 45-50 pound draw weight with a 28-inch draw length. Thus this bow has the feel and strength of a large bow but so that average adult archer can still barely shoot with this bow without lengthy strength training with the bow. At least 40 pounds draw weight is required for bow hunting in Finland by the law. The draw weight of an ordinary medieval war bow is estimated to have been max 80-110 pounds, but the draw weight of few individual surviving bows has been as high as whopping 185 pounds. There are not many archers alive today who have the skill and strength to shoot accurately with heavy bows like these.

The top and bottom nocks of this bow are made of water buffalo horn with a single groove for the string just like on the originals. The handle has no extra wrapping and is bare as in the original war bows. Marking for the arrow bypass point has been burned to the sides of the bow, just like in the originals. This helps you to set your hand to the correct point and thus have the arrow at correct position when shooting. The arrow bypass point has been burned to both sides of the bow making this bow suitable to be shot ambidextrous.

The bow comes with a mock arrow for checking the correct draw length. This arrow has no fletchings or tip, and it is to be used as a simple guide against which to check that your arrows are compatible with this bow in length.

This traditional bow is ready to shoot and enjoy, as it requires no adjustments or preliminary break-ins. The bow has a one year warranty from date of purchase, and it is entirely hand made in Finland.

• Total length approx. 204 cm
• 50-60 pound draw weight with 30-inch (76 cm) draw length and 45-50 pound draw weight with 28-inch draw length (71 cm)
• Laminated from hickory and white oak
• Sidenocks made of waterbuffalo horn
• Burned markings to mark the spot for arrow bypass point
• Dacron string
• Locally hand made 100% wooden traditional bow
• One year warranty

Due to the length of the item, please contact us first for shipping options.