Transcript:

One weapon -more than any other- dominated warfare in the Norman period; the crossbow.

14th century crossbows like this were a culmination of centuries of development. With limbs made of steel, they were incredibly powerful, but earlier Norman crossbows had limbs made of wood. There was a limit to how powerful these wooden bows could be, so the idea that Norman crossbows were a powerful weapon is really a myth. Despite this, they were effective at medium range, and that was enough in battle.

Drawing the bow repeatedly took a lot of strength. Thankfully, help was at hand. A Crossbowman spanned his weapon with a device called a Belt & Claw; this gave him extra leverage, allowing him to use his back and legs to draw the string. Crossbowman were vulnerable on the battlefield, so they carried large shields called pavises, so they could hunker down behind, load, pop up, shoot, and then back down again to reload.

Crossbows were accurate, took less training and use cheaper ammunition than the longbow. Most importantly, you could wait to take your shot, so they were perfect for siege situations.

To protect crossbowman, when they were defending castles, they used specially built wooden galleries called hoardings. But shooting down towards an approaching enemy presented its own problems: how to stop the bolt from falling off the crossbow before it could be shot. What they did is just place the thumb loosely on the top of the bolt. this was just enough light pressure to hold it in place.

Around 1200, the Norman wooden crossbow was superseded by a new design, the composite bow. With limbs made from horn and sinew, they could be made more compact than a wooden bow. And they could deliver up to four times the punch They were, however, more expensive. So, whether on the battlefield or the castle rampart, simple wooden crossbows remained the main weapon of the day.

The Crossbow: Vocabulary bank

Dominate - verb have dominance or the power to defeat over; be in control; look down on; be larger in number, quantity, power, status or importance

warfare - noun the waging of armed conflict against an enemy; an active struggle between competing entities

culmination - noun (astronomy) a heavenly body's highest celestial point above an observer's horizon; a concluding action; the decisive moment in a novel or play; a final climactic stage

limb - noun the graduated arc that is attached to an instrument for measuring angles; either of the two halves of a bow from handle to tip; one of the jointed appendages of an animal used for locomotion or grasping: arm; leg; wing; flipper; (astronomy) the circumferential edge of the apparent disc of the sun or the moon or a planet; any of the main branches arising from the trunk or a bough of a tree; any projection that is thought to resemble a human arm

myth - noun a traditional story accepted as history; serves to explain the world view of a people

effective - adj. existing in fact; not theoretical; real; able to accomplish a purpose; functioning effectively; exerting force or influence; producing or capable of producing an intended result or having a striking effect; works well as a means or remedy; ready for service

repeatedly - adv. several time

leverage - noun investing with borrowed money as a way to amplify potential gains (at the risk of greater losses); strategic advantage; power to act effectively; the mechanical advantage gained by being in a position to use a lever; verb provide with leverage; supplement with leverage

vulnerable - adj. capable of being wounded or hurt; susceptible to criticism or persuasion or temptation; susceptible to attack

battlefield - noun a region where a battle is being (or has been) fought

shield - noun armor carried on the arm to intercept blows; a protective covering or structure; hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles; verb protect, hide, or conceal from danger or harm; hold back a thought or feeling about

reload - verb place a new load on; load anew with ammunition, "She reloaded the gun carefully"

accurate - adj. conforming exactly or almost exactly to fact or to a standard or performing with total accuracy; (of ideas, images, representations, expressions) characterized by perfect conformity to fact or truth ; strictly correct

siege - noun the action of an armed force that surrounds a fortified place and isolates it while continuing to attack

approaching - adj. of the relatively near future; noun the act of drawing spatially closer to something; the temporal property of becoming nearer in time; the event of one object coming closer to another

bolt - adv. in a rigid manner; directly; noun a sudden abandonment (as from a political party); a screw that screws into a nut to form a fastener; the part of a lock that is engaged or withdrawn with a key; a sliding bar in a breech-loading firearm that ejects an empty cartridge and replaces it and closes the breech; a roll of cloth or wallpaper of a definite length; the act of moving with great haste; a discharge of lightning accompanied by thunder; verb make or roll into bolts; swallow hastily; secure or lock with a bolt; move or jump suddenly; eat hastily without proper chewing; leave suddenly and as if in a hurry; run away; usually includes taking something or somebody along

pressure - noun a force that compels; the somatic sensation that results from applying force to an area of skin; the force applied to a unit area of surface; measured in pascals (SI unit) or in dynes (cgs unit); an oppressive condition of physical or mental or social or economic distress; the act of pressing; the exertion of pressure; the state of demanding notice or attention; verb to cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral or intellectual means :"She forced him to take a job in the city"; exert pressure on someone through threats

supersede - verb take the place or move into the position of

horn - noun one of the bony outgrowths on the heads of certain ungulates; any hard protuberance from the head of an organism that is similar to or suggestive of a horn; an alarm device that makes a loud warning sound; a high pommel of a Western saddle (usually metal covered with leather); a noisemaker (as at parties or games) that makes a loud noise when you blow through it; a noise made by the driver of an automobile to give warning; the material (mostly keratin) that covers the horns of ungulates and forms hooves and claws and nails; a device on an automobile for making a warning noise; a brass musical instrument with a brilliant tone; has a narrow tube and a flared bell and is played by means of valves; a brass musical instrument consisting of a conical tube that is coiled into a spiral and played by means of valves; verb stab or pierce with a horn or tusk

sinew - noun possessing muscular strength; a cord or band of inelastic tissue connecting a muscle with its bony attachment

compact - adj. closely and firmly united or packed together; having component parts closely crowded together; heavy and compact in form or stature; briefly giving the gist of something; noun a small cosmetics case with a mirror; to be carried in a woman's purse; a small and economical car; a signed written agreement between two or more parties (nations) to perform some action; verb have the property of being packable or of compacting easily; squeeze or press together; make more compact by or as if by pressing; compress into a wad

expensive - adj. high in price or charging high prices

composite - adj. consisting of separate interconnected parts; of or relating to or belonging to the plant family Compositae; noun considered the most highly evolved dicotyledonous plants, characterized by florets arranged in dense heads that resemble single flowers; a conceptual whole made up of complicated and related parts

rampart - noun an embankment built around a space for defensive purposes

simple - adj. unornamented; (botany) of leaf shapes; of leaves having no divisions or subdivisions; having few parts; not complex or complicated or involved; easy and not involved or complicated; apart from anything else; without additions or modifications; lacking mental capacity and devoid of subtlety; exhibiting childlike simplicity and credulity; noun any herbaceous plant having medicinal properties; a person lacking intelligence or common sense

remain - verb be left; of persons, questions, problems, results, evidence, etc.; "There remains the question of who pulled the trigger"; stay the same; remain in a certain state; continue in a place, position, or situation; stay behind