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English longbow

Type Object Region England Time 1341–1350

The English longbow was a roughly six-foot yew self-bow and the core ranged weapon of English armies during the Hundred Years' War.

Timeline

  1. 1341–1345England · EnglandIn the 1340s England continued to rely on the longbow as its core ranged weapon, recruiting English and Welsh archers. The coordinated tactics of dismounted infantry and flanking archers formed in the 1330s further matured after the Battle of Sluys in 1340, laying the foundation for the Battle of Crécy in 1346.
  2. 1346Crécy · SommeAt the Battle of Crécy in 1346, Edward III deployed about 7,000 longbowmen alongside dismounted heavy infantry. The archers overwhelmed the Genoese crossbowmen with a far higher rate of fire and broke multiple French cavalry charges; the battle is later regarded as marking the longbow's establishment as the dominant ranged weapon on Western European battlefields.
  3. 1346–1350Calais · Pas-de-CalaisAfter Crécy, English forces besieged Calais for a long period, with longbowmen serving as the main ranged firepower in siege and field operations. After Calais fell in 1347, the city became an important English bridgehead in northern France, and the longbowman garrison system continued until around 1350.

Sources