English and Welsh longbow
Arco largo inglés y galés
- Date
- siglos XII-XIV (Crécy, 1346) · confidence medium
- Place
- Gwent, Wales, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Welsh and English archers
- Field
- Conflict
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A nearly two-metre yew bow with a draw weight of 100 to 150 pounds, firing up to ten arrows a minute and piercing mail at medium range. With massed archers it decided Crécy (1346), Poitiers and Agincourt.
Its origin is debated: prehistoric longbows (Ötzi, Holmegaard) are older, but the specific war weapon is linked to Gwent (Gerald of Wales, 1188) and to the policies of Edward I and III. Mary Rose remains (1545) allow draw weights of 150-185 pounds to be measured.
What it led to
- English victories in the Hundred Years' War
- the decline of cavalry without archer cover
- thicker plate armour in response