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The Chinese crossbow had a longer power stroke, around 51 cm (20 in) or so, compared to the early medieval European crossbow, which typically sat around only 10–18 cm (3.9–7.1 in). This was made possible by the more compact design of the Chinese trigger, which allowed it to sit further back at the rear-end of the tiller.
The arbalest (also arblast), a variation of the crossbow, came into use in Europe around the 12th century. [1] The arbalest was a large weapon with a steel prod, or bow assembly. Since the arbalest was much larger than earlier crossbows, and because of the greater tensile strength of steel, it had a greater force.
21st-century hunting compound crossbow. A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a prod, mounted horizontally on a main frame called a tiller, which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long gun. Crossbows shoot arrow-like projectiles called bolts or quarrels.
The repeating crossbow (Chinese: 連弩; pinyin: Lián Nǔ), also known as the repeater crossbow, and the Zhuge crossbow (Chinese: 諸葛弩; pinyin: Zhūgě nǔ, also romanized Chu-ko-nu) due to its association with the Three Kingdoms-era strategist Zhuge Liang (181–234 AD), is a crossbow invented during the Warring States period in China that combined the bow spanning, bolt placing, and ...
The medieval shortbow was technically identical with the classical era bows, having a range of approximately 91 m (299 ft). It was the primary ranged weapon of the battlefield through the early medieval period. Around the tenth century the crossbow was introduced in Europe. Crossbows generally had a longer range, greater accuracy and more ...
William Tell's crossbow: the governor of Altdorf forced William to shoot with his crossbow at an apple placed over his son's head a hundred feet away, as a way of punishing him for not bowing to the governor's statue. William, despite being a master of the crossbow, loaded two arrows into it. At the first attempt he hit the target.
The Master of the Crossbowmen commanded all archers (longbow, arbalest, crossbow, etc.), engineers and workers on siege engines, sappers ("sapeurs") and miners for mining fortifications during siege warfare. He was under the command of the Constable of France and the Marshals.
In his History of the Franks, the Frankish chronicler Gregory of Tours (also writing in the sixth century) described the throwing of an axe at the enemy. [68] It is from the Franks that the term francisca originated. However, various medieval authors used the term to refer to hand axes as well as throwing axes. [69]