Subject:
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Re: Peasants and armies
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.castle
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Date:
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Thu, 16 Mar 2000 19:42:28 GMT
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Viewed:
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1971 times
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In lugnet.castle, Jeff Johnston writes:
> James Brown wrote:
> > Archers were only more common because any old peasant can shoot a bow. (and
> > make a bow, and own a bow...)
>
> Well...I disagree with "any old peasant can shoot a bow". The rest is pretty
> accurate, but as for the first, well, there's an old English saying: "If you
> want to train an archer, start with his grandfather." During some periods in
> English history, men were *required* to own and practice with bows at least
> once a week.
Oh well, if you want them to shoot *well*, then yeah. :)
But battle archery was very different from target archery. In battle archery,
there was no aiming, there is 'point in the air' and shoot. The only real
reason combat archery was effective is volume. Archers were taught to aim
their bows at a certain angle, and it was someone else's job to tell them when
to fire, because it made for vastly more effective volleys than each archer
judging their own distance.
> Shooting a longbow well required lots of practice.
Yup, I know. I stink at it. I'm also married to someone who's passing ok at
it, although not with a "real" longbow - 45 pound draw.
> Another fun fact: the (partial) wreck of the HMS Mary Rose, a ship
> commissioned by King Henry VIII of England, was found off the coast of
> England. I had the opportunity to see it when I was in Portsmouth. The
> reason I bring this up is because buried in the silt that preserved half of
> the ship, the archeologists found several yew bowstaves encased in wax that
> preserved them. It took several men to get one strung and none of them could
> draw it.
>
> Several skeletons were also found in the wreckage. The researchers were able
> to determine which men were archers, because the bones of their forearm and
> their spine were actually noticably warped from the muscles it took to draw
> their bows!
Yup. I'll stick to my sword and shield, thanks. ;)
James
http://www.shades-of-night.com/lego/
I'm getting paid for this --> alladvantage.com
Sign up via me, the reference $$ go to fund Lugnet.
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Peasants and armies
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| (...) Well...I disagree with "any old peasant can shoot a bow". The rest is pretty accurate, but as for the first, well, there's an old English saying: "If you want to train an archer, start with his grandfather." During some periods in English (...) (25 years ago, 16-Mar-00, to lugnet.castle)
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