War Archery and Social Status

[Indirik]

The topic of nobles and archery came up in Toupellon today. Gustav Kuriga (plays Henzo Kuriga in Toupellon) posted this link:

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/articles/war-archery-and-social-status.pdf

It's a quite long paper prepared by someone in the SCA on the use of archery in warfare by nobility. I thought it was quite interesting. It specifically focuses on warfare, and not the ever-so-frequently-requested "archery tournaments". It has extensive sources and footnotes.

I particularly liked this account of King Richard I:

For this purpose, he caused to be made a hurdle, commonly called  a
circleia, put together firmly with a complication of interweaving, and
made with the most subtle workmanship. This the king intended to be
used for crossing over the trench outside the city. Under it he placed
his most experienced arbalesters, and he caused himself to be carried
thither on a silken bed, to honour the Saracens with his presence, and
animate his men to fight; and from it, by using his arbalest, in which
he was skilled, he slew many with darts and arrows.

[Gustav Kuriga]

Thank you for posting this up here Indirik, I just thought it an interesting subject, considering the comments that have been going back and forth between my character and Selene. An interesting thing to note is that the use of the bow by the nobility is especially prevalent among the Polish. To the point where the Husaria, their heavy cavalry, made use of the bow, specifically the small curved eastern variety.

[egamma]

Thank you for posting this up here Indirik, I just thought it an interesting subject, considering the comments that have been going back and forth between my character and Selene. An interesting thing to note is that the use of the bow by the nobility is especially prevalent among the Polish. To the point where the Husaria, their heavy cavalry, made use of the bow, specifically the small curved eastern variety.

Sounds like the Hussars were influenced by Ghengis Khan...what's the time period for this report?

[Indirik]

It contains stuff from about 800 all the way through to around 1700. It is arranged by geographic area more than time period. It is extensively sourced, and includes dates for the various quotations.

[Shizzle]

Then again, arbalests can be loaded by servants. I wouldn't just use the same logic for regular bows (more tiresome?)

[Gustav Kuriga]

Yet regular bows were probably the more commonly used ones amongst nobility, as the arbalest (which was a variation of the medieval crossbow that only came about during the 12th century, so really should not be used interchangeably with crossbow) was viewed with even more disdain than normal bows by many nobles.

*key note* Even this article, which is about the use of bows in war by the nobility, notes that some nobles viewed it with disdain. So it is perfectly ok to say your noble views those who use the bow as lowly... but it is also perfectly fine to play your noble as a bowman.

[pcw27]

Wow crazy coincidence I was just reading this article and linked it on another page.

[Gustav Kuriga]

yes, pretty useful article when looking into the stances of medieval nobles.