As the name implies, the longbow was generally longer in length than the common bow. The bow length was usually the height of
the archer with the arrow length half that. By virtue of its greater length and bowstring span, the long bow let fly a more powerful
arrow over greater distances. Longbows were simple bows, meaning they were constructed of a single material (wood, preferably
yew with elm as a substitute). Associated almost exclusively with the Welsh and English during medieval Europe, the long bow
was particularly responsible for revolutionizing the way in which large scale combat was conducted: in the first three organized
employments of the long bow, at the battles of Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt, English longbowmen decimated the French ranks
several hundred yards away. Forced to dismount and cover the distance to the English lines on foot, exhausted French knights in
full plate armor proved little match for the waiting English soldiers. For the first time since the days of the Roman legions, the
foot soldier once again ruled the battlefield.
Some very interesting historical notes about the longbow...
The V symbol (for Victory, and now Peace) formed with the index and middle finger, palm outward, popularized by Winston
Churchill during WWII, has a very different connotation in Britain when formed with the back of the hand toward the target of the
symbol. It means essentially the same thing as showing them your middle finger. English longbow men of the middle ages gave
the V-symbol, palm facing inward, its significance as an insult. At the battle of Agincourt, the English longbowmen wreaked
havoc upon the French knights. As a result, from that point forward, the French would cut off the index and middle finger of any
English archer they captured; this would prevent the archer from ever drawing a bowstring again. In response to the French
practice, English longbowmen would flaunt their intact index and middle fingers at their French adversaries from across the
battlefield in future conflicts, and thus the symbol derives its very insulting nature among modern day British culture.
The longbow was not a weapon for the weak-hearted or weak-armed. The bowstring itself required in upwards of 100 foot-pounds
of pressure to draw it, let alone aim it properly. Further, English archers were required to hit a man-sized target with their arrows
at more than 200 yards distance. While a great weapon in and of itself, the longbow was even more deadly in the hands of a
skilled archer.