The English Longbow Nick Venier

The English Longbow

            Ponder this thought: You are no longer in a world where food and clean water is abundant. You are no longer in a world where the thought of foreign enemies ransacking your city ever crosses your mind. You are now part of the elite French Calvary the night before the Battle of Agincourt in October of 1415. You have heard from the scouts that the English Army you are preparing to face is vastly outnumbered and consists mostly of archers. In your head, you are thinking you will survive tomorrow’s battle. Fast forward to tomorrow. The battlefield is wet and muddy but you are supremely confident that the army will overrun the English. Mounted on your horse with sweaty palms and adrenaline pumping, you hear Charles d'Albert give the signal to attack. As you charge towards the English army thinking in your head that cutting down their archers is going to be easy, you hear a whistle from an arrow going right past your ear. You think, “How the hell did an arrow almost hit me, I’m over 300 yards away from the enemy.” Then another screams by, then another and another. The pace of arrows being shot starts to frighten you. The closer you get the more arrows nearly strike you. Thinking your heavy armor will protect you, you begin to ride faster toward the enemy. Then finally, at over 100 yards, one of these arrows strikes you, knocks you from the horse, and you begin to bleed out. One of the most powerful weapons the world has ever seen has just killed you.  

            The English Longbow is touted as one the most influential weapons of the medieval era. With a long range, incredible penetrating power, and the ability to shoot 10-12 arrows per minute, the English Longbow overpowered enemies on the battlefield. The longbow largely contributed to the surprise victory of the English during the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The picture shows just how large the longbow was in comparison to the archer wielding it. Most scholars believe the bow was between 5’5 and 6’6 with a draw weight of nearly 80 pounds. That amount of draw weight propelled the arrows farther with more velocity and accuracy than any bow previously used. The longbow played a pivotal role in several battles in the 100 Years’ War and separated England from its enemies on the battlefield.

Again, I bring you back to the Battle of Agincourt but this time, you are an English archer. You are exhausted from marching significant kilometers over the past few days and you stumble upon a French army who heavily outnumbers you. You are led by the famous King Henry V who deploys your unit into an advantageous spot on the battlefield. As you enter into your battle position you realize that the French army is not ready for the onslaught that is about to begin. You wield one of the most powerful weapons of your time. France has no chance.