How does a medieval archer make a living?

Answer 1

Archers were professional soldiers who fought with bow and arrow. When they were not employed as soldiers, they were usually peasants who farmed the land.

There is a link below to the medieval section of an article on the history of Archery.

Answer 2

In England of the later parts of the Middle Ages, the archers were mostly yeomen. This meant that they were small, independent farmers who farmed their own land. As such, they spent most of their time farming. They did have to practice archery quite a lot, especially when they used the longbows, because this required a great deal of strength and practice.

Answer 3

An archer is someone who is skilled with a bow.

In military application the archer was a common soldier, and for much of the middle ages was seen as inferior to the crossbowman. A crossbow has greater range and delivers greater kinetic energy at equivalent range. Crossbowman were seen as elites among non-aristocratic troops, and received generous pay. The primary advantage of the bow over the crossbow is in rate of fire. A skilled archer can fire many more arrows in the same amount of time compared to a crossbowman. In open field battles this can be advantageous, and in the Hundred Years War the English had success at a number of battles such as Crecy, Poitier, and Agincourt, where they employed large numbers of archers. There were some 15th century battles, such as Verneuil and Patay, where they were much less successful, however. In siege situations rate of fire mattered less and crossbowman were considered vital to castle defense. Bows were certainly employed to defend castles, however, as a common foot soldier might be equipped with a bow as well as spear or guisarme.