Weapons: The Arbalest (Crossbow)

Also referred to as an arbalest, the crossbow was seen as early as 1066 but didn’t become popular for about another century. The first crossbows were
constructed entirely of wood but later models incorporated animal cartilage in the yew wood frame for elasticity. The original crossbows were actually
very poor weapons: very slow to load, prone to misfires, and overly complicated for the generally mechanically disinclined population of the period. As
technology improved during the middle ages and mechanical devices were developed for loading and aiming crossbows, their use and popularity
increased. The main advantage crossbows had over bows was that they could be loaded ahead of time and held effortlessly loaded while aiming. Their
greatest detractors were their slow reload ability, inaccuracy, and considerable weight. A crossbowman (also called an arbalester) was only expected
to fire one bolt per six shots by an archer. Further, they were very short ranged weapons and their bow strings (sinew or gut) were often useless in wet
or damp weather. Most early crossbows had a stirrup on the front of the stock (squint through this text to the crossbow on the wallpaper for an
example). To reload the crossbow, the archer placed the stirrup on the ground, his foot through the stirrup, and pulled the bowstring back as hard as he
could until he notched it in the nut (the mechanism which held the string in place, depressing the crude trigger bar allowed the bolt to fly). Mechanical
loading devices involving pulleys and gears made this process considerably simpler, but by no means easy. An interesting historical footnote about
the crossbow: in 1139 the Pope decreed crossbows to be too murderous for “Christian warfare” and directed an interdict against them. Naturally, he
still encouraged their use against infidels. Richard the Lionhearted disobeyed the edict and continued to employ crossbowmen in his armies. To the
amused sense of irony for many of the period (and us), he was later killed by a crossbow bolt.