How did the crossbow impact the world?

Answer 1

Bows had been used for thousands of years by individuals and armies ( Egyptian tombs so the use of bows) so it was not a new form of warfare or means of hunting.

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The longbow had a tremendous impact on European history. It was a powerful weapon that helped England defeat numerically superior enemies.

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The medieval English longbow had a draw-weight of 100-120 pounds and a practical range of around 250 yards.

Because of the heavy draw-weight, the longbow fired arrows with great velocity. With its bodkin arrowhead, a longbow's arrow could penetrate chain mail and even some plate armor. Relatively few knights could afford the heavier plate armor that could withstand the longbow.

A master archer could fire 20 arrows per minute. While yeomen honed their accuracy on targets, the longbow's true impact came through massed fire raining down on massed enemy formations."

Answer 2

The crossbow changed medieval warfare in many ways, including the following reasons:

• Bows took many years of proper training to be used proficiently, yet crossbows could be used relatively effectively with significantly less training time.
• For similar reasons, the concept of the crossbow was in many ways a predecessor for modern small firearms (preloading, simple trigger system, easier usage, etcetera).
• Crossbows were slower for it, but special drawing mechanisms such as the "goat's foot" and the "windlass" allowed crossbows of increasing power and armour penetration to be used by men of the same strength.
• Knights and men-at-arms with full helmets would not be able to draw bowstrings to an "anchor point" on their faces to shoot correctly, yet could rest a crossbow stock over/in/under their shoulders to shoot properly.