A form of bow mounted in a stock, with a crank to wind back and tension the bow itself, and a trigger to discharge the arrow, or bolt. Crossbows were fired more slowly than longbows, but were especially useful in sieges. They were much used in the Crusades and by troops of mercenary expert bowmen. China had crossbows before the 4th-c BC.
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that fires projectiles. Crossbows played a significant role in the warfare of Europe during the Middle Ages, and in Asian warfare. Crossbows are used today primarily for target shooting and sport hunting.
History and technology of crossbows
Most probably, the crossbow first appeared at an unknown date among the tribes of South-Eastern Asia, where it is still used by the hunter-gatherer and nomad tribes both for hunting and warfare, as well as a toy. In the 5th century BC, a variant of the crossbow was independently invented in the Greek city-states.
The bow (called the "prod" or "lath" on a crossbow) of early crossbows were made of a single piece of wood, usually ash or yew. These composite bows could be much more powerful than wooden bows, and were adopted for crossbow prods across Europe. The crossbow prod is very short compared to ordinary bows, resulting in a short draw length. This makes crossbows less efficient at releasing energy, and to compensate they must have very heavy draw weights. Although some crossbows (ancient or modern) are drawn using only the unassisted arm strength of the archer, more powerful crossbows required some sort of mechanical device to draw the string. In the later years of the crossbow it had enough kinetic energy to penetrate any chainmail and most plate armor hit squarely: some reached a draw force of nearly 1600 N (350 lbf), compared to the 300-900 N (60-180 lbf) draw force for a longbow. Moreover, crossbows could be kept cocked and ready to shoot for some time with little effort, allowing crossbowmen to aim better and lessen the reaction time to fire compared to a bowman.
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Pull lever |
Push lever |
Ratchet |
Windlass |
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stationary windlass device |
repeating crossbow with pull lever and automatic reload magazine |
The arrow-like projectiles of a crossbow are called "bolts." There is an optimum weight for bolts to achieve maximum kinetic energy, which varies depending on the strength and characteristics of the crossbow. Bronze triggers with safety notches are known to have been used on crossbows from at least 200 BC in China. Leonardo da Vinci designed many trigger mechanisms for crossbows, ultimately producing a "hair trigger" that could be released with very little finger strength.
The strings for a crossbow are typically made of strong fibers that would not tend to fray.
History of the use of crossbows
The Greek version of the crossbow (gastraphetes) was extensively used by the army of Dionysius during the siege of Motya, a key Carthaginian stronghold in Sicily, in 397 BC. By the 200s BC, the crossbow (nǔ, 弩) was well developed and quite widely used in China. In the American south, the crossbow was used as a hunting weapon when firearms or gunpowder were unavailable because of economic hardships or isolation. Light hunting crossbows were traditionally used by the Inuit in Northern America, as well as being found throughout Eurasia and the Indonesian Islands.
The Finnish national epic, Kalevala, depicts Joukahainen ambushing the hero Väinämöinen with a crossbow.
Crossbows were used in European warfare from roughly 800 to 1500 AD. Although an expertly handled longbow had greater range, equal accuracy and faster rate of fire than an average crossbow, the value of the crossbow came in its simplicity: it could be used effectively after a week of training, while a comparable single-shot skill with a longbow could take years of practice. The invention of pushlever and ratchet drawing mechanisms enabled the use of crossbows on horseback.
The Saracens called the crossbow qaws Ferengi, or "Frankish bow", as the Crusaders used the crossbow against the Arab and Turkoman horsemen with remarkable success. Along with polearm weapons made from farming equipment, the crossbow was also a weapon of choice for insurgent peasants such as the Taborites.
Crossbowmen among the Flemish citizens, in the army of Richard Lionheart, and others, had two servants, two crossbows and a pavise shield to protect the men. The payment for a crossbow mercenary was higher than for a longbow mercenary, but the longbowman did not have to pay a team of assistants and his equipment was cheaper. The knights would carry small, powerful all-metal crossbows of their own. Crossbows were eventually replaced in warfare by gunpowder weapons, although early guns had slower rates of fire and much worse accuracy than contemporary crossbows.
Although it is an often-repeated belief that both Pope Urban II in 1097 and the Second Lateran Council under Pope Innocent II in 1139 banned the use of crossbows against Christians (There are no surviving acts of the council and very little can be surmised from the records and chronicles.),scholars who have closely examined the original sources believe that Urban II never made any such ban, and that the Second Lateran Council's prohibition (which has various possible translations) applied to ordinary bows as well as crossbows, and perhaps to all missile weapons in general.
Modern crossbows
Modern crossbows are often made with a similar technology to modern bows, though spring steel is still sometimes used. As with ordinary compound bows, compound crossbows use pulleys or cams to provide a mechanical advantage.
Modern crossbows are used for target shooting, as low-noise military weapons and in some places for hunting.
Laws on crossbows
The crossbow often has a complicated legal status due to its lethality and its similarities with both firearms and other archery weapons.
Australia
Pistol crossbows are strictly controlled in all Australian states due to their concealable nature. Crossbows can be bought and owned by adults over 18 years of age in some states such as Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia, while in most of the eastern states crossbows can only be owned with a special licence, for instance for members of an official sporting club. Control on transport of crossbows between states has increased to prevent unauthorised use of imported crossbows.
Canada
In Canada, crossbows that can be aimed and fired with one hand, or have an overall length of less than 500 mm (19.68 in) are considered prohibited weapons. (Canada firearms center FAQ)
Finland
In Finland hunting with crossbow is not allowed. But possession of crossbows and other bows requires no licence. (Finnish law)
Germany
In German law on weapons, crossbows and firearms are equated in their legal status as weapons(WaffG Anlage 1 1.2.2), but in contrast to guns, acquisition, possession, trade or production of crossbows requires no license (WaffG Anlage 2). Because of their definition as weapons, but without further restrictions, any crossbows can be used by minors under custody of competent adults.
United States
For crossbow hunting in the U.S. a person generally has to have a disability or special licence to use one.
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