The crossbow is portrayed as a hunting weapon on four Pictish stones from early medieval Scotland (6th to 9th centuries): St. Vigeans no. 1, Glenferness, Shandwick, and Meigle.[49] The use of crossbows in European warfare is again evident from the Battle of Hastings until about the year 1500. They almost completely superseded hand bows in many European armies in the 12th century for a number of reasons.
In modern tests, longbows showed a higher rate of shot than crossbows of the same energy, due to the difficulty of the shooter in handling the mechanical parts for loading in the same time as the bow was pulled. With lots of training, a longbowman can achieve a high degree of accuracy that is comparable to the much steeper learning curve in aimed shooting with the crossbow. Despite strength training, there are physical limits to the longbow, unlike the crossbow, which can store several times the energy, but will be less efficient in translating stored into kinetic energy due to the thicker spring material.
There is no record from the Middle Ages comparing longbowmen and crossbowmen shooting in one army from a similar position, although such occasions are known with visiting Englishmen in the Baltic and Scots in the French army.
In the armies of Europe,[50] mounted and unmounted crossbowmen, often mixed with slingers, javelineers and archers, occupied a central position in battle formations. Usually they engaged the enemy in offensive skirmishes before an assault of mounted knights. Crossbowmen were also valuable in counterattacks to protect their infantry. The rank of commanding officer of the crossbowmen corps was one of the highest positions in any army of this time. Along with polearm weapons made from farming equipment, the crossbow was also a weapon of choice for insurgent peasants such as the Taborites.
Mounted knights armed with lances proved ineffective against formations of pikemen combined with crossbowmen whose weapons could penetrate most knights’ armor. The invention of pushlever and ratchet drawing mechanisms enabled the use of crossbows on horseback, leading to the development of new cavalry tactics. Knights and mercenaries deployed in triangular formations, with the most heavily armored knights at the front. Some of these riders would carry small, powerful all-metal crossbows of their own. Crossbows were eventually replaced in warfare by more powerful gunpowder weapons, although early guns had slower rates of fire and much worse accuracy than contemporary crossbows. Later, similar competing tactics would feature harquebusiers or musketeers in formation with pikemen (pike and shot), pitted against cavalry firing pistols or carbines.
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The battles of Crecy (1346, the Plague first struck Britain in 1348) and Agincourt (1415) were both in large part due to the English proficiency with the (Welsh) Longbow.
The longbow has been said to be one of the casualties of the Black Death — breakdown of the feudal economy led to wage labor, which in turn led to the hoi polloi using the new income to, basically, go shopping, instead of practicing their archery.