Gorman S. The Technological Development of the Bow and the Crossbow in the Later Middle Ages

Dublin: Trinity College, 2016. - 345 p. "Technological development of the bow and crossbow in the late Middle Ages."
This thesis explores the complexity of the design and development of the bow and the crossbow in the Later Middle Ages. The data used in this study were primarily archaeological, supplemented by some textual and artistic evidence. Information on over two hundred bows and crossbows was collected for the analysis in this study. The methodology of this work was primarily comparative: bows and crossbows were compared to each other across and within centuries and regions, to chart how the weapons developed over time. The main thrust of this thesis was to argue for a more complex understanding of the bow and the crossbow. Historians have generally not engaged with the complex mechanics involved in the operation of a bow or crossbow. An understanding of these mechanics offers valuable insight into why these weapons were designed the way they were, as well as highlighting what aspects of these weapons were truly significant. For example, longbow discussions have generally focused on the length of the weapon, but thickness was actually a more important factor in determining how powerful, and therefore deadly, a longbow was. This thesis includes information on longbows from as early as prehistory and as late as the Mary Rose. These data were used both to show that length was not the most important factor in longbow design – the prehistoric bows were very long but would have been comparably weak – and to show that powerful longbows were made in the High Middle Ages, but were still weaker than the Mary Rose longbows.The Mechanics of Archery
The Development of the Longbow
The Bow in Medieval Art
Crossbow Data and Methodology
The Development and Design of the Late Medieval Crossbow
Medieval Crossbow Spanning Devices
Comparing Bows and CrossbowsAppendix I: Crossbows
Appendix II: Spanning Devices
Appendix III: Glossary