Battles & Wars › Medieval wars › Hundred Years' War
English longbow
c. 1280–1500· Invention or discovery· Weapons, armor & warships
Mostly agreedGood evidence; some details, dates or numbers uncertain.
A tall yew bow, about as long as its archer, that let massed English and Welsh archers dominate medieval battlefields.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
The longbow, about 1.8–2 meters long, had draw weights estimated at 45–80 kg (100–180 lb), far above modern sporting bows. A skilled archer shot perhaps 10 to 12 arrows a minute at ranges up to about 250 meters. Drawing such a bow took years of practice from boyhood, so English kings ordered archery practice by law. Deployed by the thousands beside dismounted men-at-arms, often behind stakes, archers won at Crécy, Poitiers and Agincourt.
Why it matters
It let common foot soldiers beat armored knights, helped England win its great battles in France, and faded only as guns that needed less training improved.
Think of it like
Like a skilled trade: the tool was cheap, but each operator took a decade to train, so the supply of archers was the bottleneck.
How we know
137 complete longbows and thousands of arrows from the warship Mary Rose (sank 1545), archers' skeletons with telltale shoulder changes, royal archery laws, and battle chronicles.
Still debated
How well arrows pierced plate armor, and exactly how archers were arranged on the field, are still argued.
Connections (4)
▸English longbow broke the dominance of Stirrup and heavy cavalry (knights)Mostly agreed
The connection
For centuries charging mounted knights decided battles. Massed English archers, fighting beside dismounted men-at-arms on chosen ground, broke Scottish attacks at Halidon Hill and French cavalry charges at Crécy and Poitiers. Arrows killed and maddened horses, making charges costly and chaotic. By Agincourt the French nobles attacked mostly on foot. Infantry had regained the battlefield.
When and how
The Anglo-Scottish border and France, 1333–1415; English and Welsh archers under Edward III, the Black Prince and Henry V against Scottish and French armies.
How sure are we?
Chroniclers such as Froissart describe horses brought down by arrows, and French tactics changed afterward, with knights increasingly fighting on foot.
Debates and open questions
Flemish, Scottish and Swiss foot soldiers with pikes also beat knights in this era; how much credit the bow deserves, versus ground and discipline, is debated.
▸English longbow cut down French charges at Battle of CrécyWell documented
The connection
At Crécy perhaps 5,000 to 7,000 English and Welsh archers stood on a slope beside dismounted men-at-arms. They outshot the Genoese crossbowmen hired by France, who fell back. French knights rode through their own crossbowmen and charged uphill into the arrow storm, again and again into the night. Arrows brought down horses, and the English line held.
When and how
Crécy-en-Ponthieu, northern France, August 26, 1346; Edward III's army against Philip VI's French knights and Genoese crossbowmen.
How we know
Chroniclers such as Jean le Bel, Jean Froissart and Giovanni Villani stress the archers' role, and English reports list the French noble dead.
Debates and open questions
Archer numbers and the battlefield's exact location are disputed, and how many knights fell to arrows rather than hand-to-hand fighting is unknown.
▸English longbow dominated Battle of AgincourtWell documented
The connection
About five of every six of Henry V's men were archers. They advanced, planted sharpened stakes and shot at long range to provoke an attack. French cavalry charges failed, and fleeing horses churned the mud. Armored French men-at-arms then struggled forward on foot between two woods, under arrows from front and flanks. Finally the archers joined the melee.
When and how
Agincourt (Azincourt), northern France, October 25, 1415; Henry V's roughly 6,000–9,000 men against a larger French army.
How we know
Eyewitness chroniclers on both sides describe the archers and stakes, and English pay records confirm how archer-heavy Henry's army was.
Debates and open questions
Whether arrows pierced plate armor, or mostly drove the French into a deadly crush in the mud, is debated, as are army sizes.
▸Bow and arrow won its most famous medieval victories as the English longbowWell documented
The connection
The longbow was a simple bow cut from a single yew stave, about as tall as a man, with a heavy draw that took years of practice. Massed English and Welsh archers helped win Crécy (1346) and Agincourt (1415), showing what a plain bow could do with skill and numbers.
When and how
England and Wales, about 1280–1500, under Edward I, Edward III and Henry V, in the Scottish wars and the Hundred Years' War.
How we know
Chronicles, royal orders requiring archery practice, and 137 complete longbows and thousands of arrows recovered from the Mary Rose, sunk in 1545.
Debates and open questions
How much the longbow itself won those battles, versus terrain, French mistakes and dismounted men-at-arms, is debated.