English longbow

The English longbow, also called the Welsh longbow, was a powerful type of bow about 2.0 m (6 ft 6 in) long used by the English and Welsh during the Middle Ages both for hunting and as a weapon of war. Longbows were most devastatingly put to use during the Hundred Years War against the French.

Surviving bows

More than 3,500 arrows and 137 whole longbows were recovered from the Mary Rose, a ship of Henry VIII's navy that was sunk at Portsmouth in 1545. It is an important source for the history of the longbow, as the bows, archery implements and the skeletons of archers have been preserved. The bows range in length from 1.87 to 2.11 m (6 ft 1 in to 6 ft 11 in) with an average length of 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in).{{Ref|MaryRose}}.

Related Topics:
Mary Rose - Henry VIII - Portsmouth - 1545

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The longbows on the Mary Rose were in excellent finished condition. There were enough bows to test some to destruction which resulted in draw forces of 45 kgf (450 N, 100 lbf) on average. However, analysis of the wood indicated that they had degraded significantly in the seawater and mud which had weakened their draw forces. Replicas were made and when tested had draw forces of 68 to 90 kgf (680 to 900 N, 150 to 200 lbf) {{Ref|Hardy}}.

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In 1980, Robert E. Kaiser published a paper{{ref|Kaiser_paper}}, prior to the recovery of the Mary Rose, stating that there were five known surviving longbows:

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• The first bow comes from the Battle of Hedgeley Moor in 1464 during the War of the Roses. A family who lived at the castle since the battle had saved it to modern times. It is 1.66 m (65.5 in) and a 27 kgf (270 N, 60 lbf) draw force. {{ref|Bat_heg_moor}}
• The second dates to the Battle of Flodden ("a landmark in the history of archery, as the last battle on English soil to be fought with the longbow as the principal weapon..."{{ref|Flodden}}) in 1513. It hung in the rafters at the headquarters of the Royal Scottish Archers in Edinburgh, Scotland.{{ref|Kaiser_Scotland}} It has a draw force of 36 to 41 kgf (360 to 410 N, 80 to 90 lbf).
• The third and fourth were recovered in 1836 by John Deane from the Mary Rose. Both weapons are in the Tower of London Armoury and Horace Ford writing in 1887 estimated them to have a draw force of 28 to 32 kgf (280 to 320 N, 65 to 70 lbf) {{Ref|Ford}}. A modern replica made in the early 1970s of these bows has a draw force of 46 kgf (460 N, 102 lbf).{{ref|MaryRose_replica}}
• The fifth surviving longbow comes from the armoury of the church in the village of Mendlesham in Suffolk, England and is believed to date either from the period of Henry VIII or Queen Elizabeth I. The Mendlesham Bow is broken, has an estimated length of 1.73 to 1.75 m (68 to 69 inches) and draw force of 35 kgf (350 N, 80 lbf). {{ref|Mendlesham}}