[OT] CrossbowRe: [FT] (LONG) The Balance of Power -- Fighters and a Defense

***
> > Way back in history...there was a terrible weapon
> > called the crossbow.
...
In fact, they got the pope to forbid it as not christian.
***

Unless employed against heathens, as I recall... ;->=

I can't think of a way of draggin' this back on topic, but I was
reminded
of somewhat later invention, an auto-crossbow. Apparently, the user, a
relatively untrained serf or the like, was expected to hold the trigger
for
3 or 5 shots at oncoming troops, then drop the dingus and run. Does
anyone
know of it?