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A '''longbow''' is a long, hand-drawn weapon designed to shoot arrows at a distance and which sometimes exceeded 6 feet in length.  It was made famous from its usage in [[medieval]] [[England]].<ref>http://www.thefreedictionary.com/longbow</ref>  It is a common misconception that the longbow was a uniquely [[British]] weapon, when in reality longbows were developed on every continent and arrived relatively late to England.<ref>http://www.thebeckoning.com/medieval/longbow/the-longbow.html</ref> It was the [[Welsh]] who actually developed the longbow that the English later adopted.   

A '''longbow''' is a long, hand-drawn weapon designed to shoot arrows at a distance and which sometimes exceeded 6 feet in length.  It was made famous from its usage in [[medieval]] [[England]].<ref>http://www.thefreedictionary.com/longbow</ref>  It is a common misconception that the longbow was a uniquely [[British]] weapon, when in reality longbows have been found in various parts of the world. It was the [[Welsh]] who actually developed the longbow that the English later adopted.  

 

What is unique is the way it was used ''en masse'' and with tactical brilliance by English commanders during the 14th and into the 15th centuries and the discipline and training of the archers - an Anglo-Welsh yeoman archer of the time was trained to loose an arrow, a cloth-yard long, up to 400 yards, with a good deal of accuracy, at a rate of between 6 and 10 arrows a minute. This is a rate of fire not exceeded until the first repeating rifles of the 19th century. As each bowman knelt to reload, the man behind shot, and so on. Arrows literally darkened the sky.

It should be noted that bow quality changed over time and all longbows were not the same.  It was more than just large size that made the English longbow a formidable weapon.  Able to shoot further and with more power than conventional bows, its effect was notable.  In fact, at short range, an arrow from a longbow could penetrate 4 inches of seasoned [[oak]].<ref>http://www.archers.org/default.asp?section=History&page=longbow</ref> The longbow proved to be a devastating weapon in the hands of British longbowmen, who demonstrated enormous success against armies with significantly greater numbers of troops.  Good examples of this were the [[Battle of Crecy]] and the [[Battle of Agincourt]] during the [[Hundred Years War]] where heavily armored French [[knight|knights]] were unable to maneuver effectively and suffered prolonged exposure to withering longbow fire.

It should be noted that bow quality changed over time and all longbows were not the same.  It was more than just large size that made the English longbow a formidable weapon.  Able to shoot further and with more power than conventional bows, its effect was notable.  In fact, at short range, an arrow from a longbow could penetrate 4 inches of seasoned [[oak]].<ref>http://www.archers.org/default.asp?section=History&page=longbow</ref> The longbow proved to be a devastating weapon in the hands of British longbowmen, who demonstrated enormous success against armies with significantly greater numbers of troops.  Good examples of this were the [[Battle of Crecy]] and the [[Battle of Agincourt]] during the [[Hundred Years War]] where heavily armored French [[knight|knights]] were unable to maneuver effectively and suffered prolonged exposure to withering longbow fire.