when it comes to chain maille... the more persnickity of the medieval arms
enthusiast community love to correct everyone and tells us it;s just "maille".
.. not chain maille... . and the more knowledgable of them love to point
out that the word "maille"... is simply the french word for chain ..... so it;s
literally like saying "chain chain" and in their opinions, redundant..... ..
but if you were in the middle ages and teaching a group of young archers or
knights in training.... (who were a mix of english and french speakers)..... .
... you would not be in error to say the entire phrase.... "chain maille"......
as both groups would understand what you mean at the same time.....
mixing languages in one phrase or sentence like that was actually a common
thing to do back then... ..they even expected it under some circumstances....
. .and in some parts of the world the practice is still used today when teaching
combined groups of people who speak different languages..... (for reference
see komal rizviscooking videos in my recipe thread)... .. .
but anyway...... back to the main topic here......
will greasing an arrowhead make it penetrate maille easier?.... (maille - being
that expensive shiney garment made of wire rings that was designed to stop
sharp and pointed objects before they could do significant damage to the body?)
... the results from this study and experiment might surprise you.......
i had this video posted once before but deleted it.... because it contains a very crude
and obscene reference.... (obscene in my opinion anyway).... somewhere close to the
end of the video... and it leaves me pretty disgusted..... but i realize not everybody
here will care about that or be bothered by it... and the technical information in this
video is very good... . so i will put it back in and do what i usually do... ignoring and
brushing past the offensive part.. .. ..
but anway...... ..hollywood would have us believe medieval archers were hapless pawns
on a battlefield who were grossly micromanaged and who would run away in the event
they ran out of arrows or when an armored knight rode down on them..... .... but the
truth of the matter is very different... and the medieval archer was in fact a very
formidable combatant... even without his arrows......
.
.
i make a lot of arrows...... all different types and all by hand... ... and for a variety
of different traditonal bow types and archers..... but there is only one archer i make
the kind shown in this video for.... they are twice as heavy as the next biggest arrow
i make.... and are shot from a warbow with a peak draw weight twice as heavy as any
other bow in our household too... it gives you a new appreciation for medeival warfare
when you actually see these things like this in action first hand....
.
and in this video tod cutler visits a traditional craftsman/artisan working in a historic
medieval forge, whose has made it his occupation to make authentic warbow arrows...
.
i should mention though that the arrows in this video... made of a 1/2 inch shaft... are
matched to a warbow with a 160 pound draw weight.... the ones i make are made with
shafts slightly less than 3/8th inch thick and are matched to a warbow of 115 to 120
pounds draw weight... with any wooden arrow it is essential that the spine strength (or resistance to bending) of the arrow must match the peak draw weight of the bow
and draw length of the archer (within 5 pounds on weight and no more than 1/2 inch
on length)... ...arrows not properly matched will be horrendously inaccurate.. and if
the measurements are off by a great deal, attempts to shoot them can be disastrous....
. every time i see this former warwick castle archer.. wearing his olive green and white
tabard.. with the white elk symbol of king richard the 3rd.. i start thinking of how i
could customize a tabard with indigo purple and white and my own symbol.... (still
trying to decide on that symbol)... anyway... i wonder how people would react to
someone like me demonstrating the art of the soldier archer at a castle.. or
teaching archery wearing a white and purple tabard and a steel helmet.
.... ....yeah i know.... big imagination.....
technically, a trebuchet is in the broader category of archery.... being that projectiles
shot from both bows and trebuchets have a rainbow type trajectory.... making a huge arc on their way to the target.... .. no one can argue that the trebuchet was a form of
ancient artillery.... but not many know that at one point in history the warbows carried
by english soldier archers were referred to as artillery bows.... ..
the history of that wordage and which got called something first rather than the other is
something i plan to study in more detail eventually.... .. but for now... just look at this
thing throwing these huge lawn dart looking projectiles... .for me this would be more
fun on the 4th of july than fireworks.... .....pretty awesome.....
. this video is from a few weeks ago when he launched huge bundles of plumbattas from his
trebuchet.... totally awesome.... i guess it;s a good thing i don;t have a large property and
permision to work with it like this... coz i would definitey try to build one of these things..
.. .. and then... knowing me.... i would end up in big trouble..... but it;s still fun to
watch someone else do it....
there were many battles during the 100 years war where common longbow archers not only played a significant part...
but also were the element that turned the battle in favor of the english.... most people know about agincourt and
crecy... but another very important battle where archers made the difference was the battle of morlaix ... i heard
about this battle a few years ago during one of the arguments on the archery range about whether crossbows were
superior to longbows in battle....
the proponents of the crossbow in this argument were all compound bowmen.... a complicated and gadget laden
device that can take almost as long as a crossbow to set up, aim and shoot... .. similar to the crossbow a compound
bow requires very little training or physical conditioning to use... and while much more accurate than a longbow.. ..
neither can be shot instinctively like a longbow can.. or shot as quickly.. ... ...in fact some traditional archers... myself included... believe crossbows and compound bows should not even be considered archery.... (but that;s a separate argument for another time)
but during the discussion at the range one of the older and more knowledgable traditional archers brough up the battle of morliax.... in which english archers found themselves facing a superior number of french and genoese crossbowmen
who were advancing on the much smaller english force.... ...in a very short time the french and genoese crossbowmen
were shredded under a rain of arrows by the english longbowmen whose rate of shots were 3 to 4 times greater than
the crossbows of the french force.... .... .. .the video below tells about that and also much more that happened
at the battle of moriax...
so why is this important on a forum dedicated to christian fundamentalism?..... well.... a lot of those common english
archers weilding a longbow .. would have probably considered themselves christian fundamentalists if alive today.. maybe even baptists.. and if you and your family come from a long history of english ..scottish.. or welsh baptists
... one of your ancestors might have been among them.... ....
Okay, interesting, no snark at all here, complete sincerity. Educate me. Do you have some sort of backstory to understanding these Englishmen and their "fundamentalist" bona fides?
Okay, interesting, no snark at all here, complete sincerity. Educate me. Do you have some sort of backstory to understanding these Englishmen and their "fundamentalist" bona fides?
. only one backstory for certain.... someone i am not blood related to - but related to nonetheless... (by adoption)... whose ancestors came to the americas from scotland in the 1500s... and who.. prior to that transatlantic voyage.. had been very active in the presbyterian church..... .. who were also commoners with an occupational name.... (not nobility).... and who had been required to fight for which ever nobleman they happened to live on the land of, while still in scotland.... ....their name was not related to any of the professional archery trades.... they were involved in other trades in scotland ... ..but it was handed down through family histories that they had been archers nonetheless... and also from time to time conscripted into the army as archers... ..
which was actually a common thing in great brittain at that time - with all common born men and boys in england.. wales and scotland being required to train every week in archery from the age of 7 for as long as they remained strong and healthy.... ... so as to provide england a standing army of yeoman archers in case they ever needed one... ...and as it turned out england needed that army of commoner archers quite often under certain kings.....
the first paragraph i wrote above... only applies to the ancestors of the person i am related to by adoption ... as far as i know.. .but the second paragraph could apply to the ancestors of anyone whose ancestors were english.. scottish.. or welsh... ....(whether or not they were members of certain christian protestant churches)... .. and who lived and worked in great brittain at any time from the early 1300s.. when england became famous for it;s longbowmen.... to 1644 when england is recorded to have used the longbow in battle for the last time..... (with firearms taking over as it;s primary small arm from that point on).... ..
from 1300 to 1644... unless a man was a professional soldier and trained as an infantryman.... then .. regardless of his occupation.. he would have been required to train as an archer, and expected to answer any call to arms with his own longbow.... (england would supply the arrows)... ....
whether or not his religious beliefs then would qualify him as a fundamentalist today would have been a personal matter between each of those men and God... in at least a few cases with regards to the ancestors of the relative i mentioned it was certainly the case..... there is no doubt that at least a few more of them would have fit that profile too... ..i was speculating when i said "a lot of them" might have fit the fundamentalist profile... and i based that speculation on what is thought to be understood about the religious beliefs of common englishmen back then, and where they might find themselves fitting in today... ...but the truth of the matter is i only know for certain of a few.... maybe i was just hoping there would be a few more....
. you are very welcome.. ... one thing i forgot to mention in my explanation.... and it;s strange that i forgot it because it was in my mind when i assumed many of these longbowmen were religious men...... was that when the order was given by the king for every common born, able bodied male in england.. from the age of 7 and above ... to train in archery.... it was ordered that they should report - "immediately after church on sunday".... to a designated field set up with bales.... (or butts as they referred to them).... overseen by a veteran and highly experienced yeoman archer... (possibly one of their older neighbors or fellow church goers)..... where they would practice archery for a minimum of 3 hours....
the king decreed it to be on sunday after church, because the crown recognized that these men worked from dawn to dusk all other days of the week,.. at their various occupations.... and that they also attended church on sunday mornings.... .. so sunday afternoon was the only free time during daylight hours they had...
they were... in short... the militia of their day...... not professional soldiers but simply common citizens of brittain who were trained and skilled in a manner of arms.. and who kept up that skill through practice - ready to serve their king and country in battle any time they were called upon....
.were all of them religious men?..... no.... maybe not even the majority of them.... .. but we know that at least a few of them were devout christian... most all were family men... .... and they served when called upon....
but anyway.... i hope that can explain and clarify it a little further.... ....
........
this video.... which unfortunately can;t be embedded and will have to be watched on
youtube.... does a really good job of showing how a longbowman of that time period
practiced... it;s the same archer... kevin hicks..who does some of the other videos
i posted here.... but he was much younger in this one....
iron.. steel... and bronze arrowheads are among the most expensive part of making arrows
., in fact.. when i get my materials together to make a new set of arrows, the arrow heads
and even the field points, are the things i end up spending the most money on.... cutting
raw wing feathers into fletching and cutting wood blanks into arrow shafts can be done
with cold hand tools.....so can knapping flint and obsidian arrow heads..... but making
a complete metallic arrow head or point cannot.... and it is the only part of arrow
making i don;t know how to do myself..... ..i don;t even have the tools or
equipment for it if i did know how to do it..... ..
.... but i do plan to change that one day.... some day in the future i want to be able to
forge my own arrowheads.... and maybe other things too... . most people will probably
find this a very boring video... .it;s kinda long for the average fff attention span... ..
but to me.. and anyone with the same intersts in primitive archery i have... it;s
fascinating.... .. and very educational.......
.
and i heard danish elves were really good at surfing too.... but just like i haven;t seen any pope and young records set by danish bowhunters... or read of any great battles won by danish soldier archers.... i also haven;t seen any danish surfers out on the ocean during big wave days....
however..... he does kinda remind me of a goat... like the little goat who wore a bell - and who pranced and frolicked along behind heidi.. as she skipped merrily through the alpine meadows..... ...but even with the bell heidi;s goat didn;t make as much noise as lars does... nor beg for so much attention....
....but it;s great to see you here holy mole!....
.................
by the way..... just for those looking on that might have been confused by lars andersens larsenous performance....
...... this is the proper finger position on the bow strings for the dexter hand.... and proper way to hold a longbow in the bow hand - when shooting a heavy warbow.... or any bow with a heavier draw weight than that of a
hollywood stunt bow... ... in the picture below you see...(properly demonstrated).... first finger above the arrow with the second and third fingers below it.... some people place the 4th finger on the string if their hand shape and finger lengths allow it.... but the majority of pulling power actually comes through the
second and third fingers... as they are the fingers whose sinews are in direct line with the bones and
sinews of the forearm....
can you guess the last time an english longbow was actually used to kill an enemy
combatant in warfare?...... ...would you be surprised to learn it was world war 2?..
.. .in 1940... during an ambush on a german patrol close to the town of dunkirk...
. an english officer called mad jack churchill used his longbow to kill a german
soldier walking point in that patrol just before the ambush with machine guns and
other modern small arms began........this same english officer is also documented
as having carried a scottish claymore ashore from a landing craft during world war 2.
....... (as the picture on the front of the video shows...)
can you guess the last time an english longbow was actually used to kill an enemy
combatant in warfare?...... ...would you be surprised to learn it was world war 2?..
.. .in 1940...
I actually would have assumed, perhaps wrongly, that a bow and arrow (though maybe not an English longbow) still has its uses in modern warfare. A nearly silent sniper weapon would be handy, presumably.
I actually would have assumed, perhaps wrongly, that a bow and arrow (though maybe not an English longbow) still has its uses in modern warfare. A nearly silent sniper weapon would be handy, presumably.
you are right.... not traditional longbows.... or even recurves... but archery in a different form does still have it;s place.... .... . . ... there have been reports that certain special forces groups had high tech and compact compound bows.. .... and also compound crossbows in their weapons inventory... .. but it;s hard to get details on how they might have been used because of the secret nature of the special operations.... .....but i have seen laser sights that were made for compound bow and crossbows that are supposed to make them as accurate as a rifle .... ..i have never seen one in action at the range though....
