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

John Atkinson wrote:
> 
> --- Oerjan Ohlson <oerjan.ohlson@telia.com> wrote:
> 
> > He did? He seem to have used them at Hastings,
> > though - they're not
> > shown on the Tapestry, but William of Poitiers
> > recorded the use of
> > crossbows in that battle in his chronicle.
> 
> Eh?  I was under the impression the vast majority of
> his archers were using self bows.  How many crossbows
> does WoP say were there?

Medieval battle narratives are rarely that specific. When they
are, they are often wrong by an order of magnitude, at least.

This has been the topic of much debate on soc.history.medieval.
William of Poitiers wrote some time after the event, when
crossbows were more common, in Latin and refers one to William
attacking "with arrows and crossbow-bolts". Unfortunately, Latin
is not a great language to describe post-Roman military technology
and the phrase could as easily mean "with arrows and
sling-stones". Oh, and the Latin word for crossbow used at the
time could also refer to much larger engines as well, casting
bolts or stones.

Of several accounts of Hastings, WoP is the only one that mentions
anything that could potentially be translated as a reference to
crossbows, and does so exactly once; the cause much hand-wringing.
The Anglo-Normans, once established, had quite a respectable
tradition of archery with self-bows made of yew, later revived
when found to be useful when shooting at Scots.

[...]
> In fact, I don't know of a single time when missle
> troops held off heavy cavalrymen unassisted until the
> invention of the socket bayonet.  Even at Crecy and
> Agincourt, the English had both tactical obstacles and
> dismounted men-at-arms to hold off the French.

I recall reading (it's outside my usual period of interest so I
reserve the right to be wrong) that this occurred first at Pavia,
during the Italian Wars, although this involved defending what a
wargamer would call a "terrain feature".

"Heavy cavalry" may have been around for a long time after that,
but when did they stop being "knights"? When did cease to be
recruited from the petty nobility and become just a bunch of
troopers with pointed sticks?

-- 
David Brewer

"It is foolishness and endless trouble to cast a stone at every