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    Medieval Crossbows: Photos, Drawings, Diagrams

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    Post by Mr SAM Sat Dec 05, 2009 4:30 am

    First topic message reminder :

    Good time of day! santa

    I Want to present to you a few 16-th century crossbow photos, which adorns our forum as the first sample of medieval crossbows :flower: (It also adorns the desktop of my computer - is one of my favorite king :queen: )

    Medieval Crossbows: Photos, Drawings, Diagrams - Page 2 736z.th Medieval Crossbows: Photos, Drawings, Diagrams - Page 2 737z.th Medieval Crossbows: Photos, Drawings, Diagrams - Page 2 734z.th Medieval Crossbows: Photos, Drawings, Diagrams - Page 2 73z.th Medieval Crossbows: Photos, Drawings, Diagrams - Page 2 731zr.th Medieval Crossbows: Photos, Drawings, Diagrams - Page 2 735zl.th Medieval Crossbows: Photos, Drawings, Diagrams - Page 2 733z.th Medieval Crossbows: Photos, Drawings, Diagrams - Page 2 732zi.th


    Last edited by Mr SAM on Sun Jan 17, 2010 3:59 am; edited 1 time in total
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    Post by Lightly Thu Aug 26, 2010 2:11 pm

    William Tell;


    I am very interested in these Maltese bows, I love them and would like to start moving towards making some as closely as possible to these, they are so elegant.. one thing I REALLY need that I cannot find, is good closeups of the noses of the bows, to see the shape that they are, and from the very front, to see how keeled, or NOT keeled, they are.. Have you any like that?

    And, do you know the origin or meaning of any of the inlays on the bows? By this I mean, are they sigils, or marks of a household, or religious meanings, or pure decoration?

    I can point to some specific images for you. And would LOVE to see if there are good closeups that are very clear...

    Any help appreciated!

    Many thanks;

    Lightly
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    Post by Ivo Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:59 pm

    Got a little bit of eye candy for you guys...probably the most massive crossbow I've seen so far. Medieval Crossbows: Photos, Drawings, Diagrams - Page 2 524936

    Medieval Crossbows: Photos, Drawings, Diagrams - Page 2 Giiiii10

    I can't remember what museum it's in, have it saved in the bookmarks somewhere... study

    Anyway, if anyone knows anything about these huge bows, what they were used for and how...it would definitely be great to hear.

    Thanks and You're Welcome Smile

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    Post by Geezer Wed Jun 29, 2011 6:26 am

    The huge bow in the middle? Germans call it a Ganz-Rustung, which literally translated means 'entire' or 'whole'' spring. The field-bows flanking it are 'halb-rustung'
    The ganz-rustung is a wall-bow or siege-bow. They're stored in a castle armory, for defense of castle, city, or other permanent works.
    Siege bows might be taken into the field for attacks on somebody else's permanent works, but they're really too large for maneuver warfare or hunting. Maybe Edward the Black Prince could have had a few siege-bows in his defensive lines at Crecy.
    Geezer.
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    Post by Wilhelm Thu Jul 07, 2011 11:01 am

    Geezer,

    Would these bows be for firing particularly heavy projectiles, or simply improving the range of ordinary projectiles? The picture isn't entirely clear, but it looks like the quarrel rest near where the prod is mounted would require a projectile that stretched from the nut to the rest, which is quite a bit longer than any bolts I have seen.

    What a monster of a bow!
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    Post by Geezer Thu Jul 07, 2011 11:57 am

    most of the medieval bolts I have seen are about 15 inches long, but of course Bolts must be long enough to stretch from lock to rest. Of course a fully-grooved bow would handle bolts of any size, but it's possible to have bolts that are just too light-weight. In which case, the bowstring, prod, and mounting must absorb energy that doesn't go into the bolt.
    The Kunsthistorisches museum in Vienna (Austria) has some bolts that are long enough for their siege-bow. Probably about two feet in length. Interestingly enough, some of their bolts have red and blue bands (cresting) around the shaft, just ahead of the feathers, much like modern target arrows.
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    Post by Vidar Halvslak Mon Jul 11, 2011 7:53 am

    Theese enourmous bows are called "Wall-Armbrust" and are siege-weapons in castles for natural reasons.
    They can be even larger.
    Geezer@ a "Ganz Rüstung" is a heavy crossbow with a steelprod-thickness over 15 mm in the middle. Under 15 mm is called Halb Rustüng. There is also "Viertel Rüstung" wich is small crossbows ( I don´t remember the diameter).
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    Post by Geezer Fri Jul 15, 2011 9:24 am

    Geezer here: I'm not sure if this is the best place to post this, but I have just ordered Holger Richter's monograph (@ 100 pages) on Dresden armbrustmachers (crossbow makers) It should be here in a week or two, and I hope to comment on it, once I've had a chance to digest whatever's there. If it's anything like the Hornbogen book, it should be a gold-mine.
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    Post by Basilisk120 Wed Apr 04, 2012 10:46 pm

    http://larsdatter.com/archers.htm Contains a bunch of medieval paintings with crossbows and archery supplies.
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    Post by jeep Fri Apr 06, 2012 11:53 am

    Malta palace armoury crossbow.
    For the one interested some very detailed pictures for replica.Those are beautiful and certainly very efficient. The pictures come from an exhibit we had in the Invalid museum (war museum) in Paris
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    Post by jeep Fri Apr 06, 2012 11:59 am

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    Post by jeep Fri Apr 06, 2012 12:17 pm

    In complement if you need measurements look in one of the crossbow bibles : A guide to the crossbow by W.F.Paterson,page 73 every things needed to know to build this one !!!! This replica is in my waiting list...
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    Post by stoneagebowyer Sat Apr 07, 2012 5:26 am

    What a beautiful weapon. Is this a Spanish crossbow? It reminds me of the Padre Island crossbow.

    I will have to see about obtaining the Paterson book. Thanks for the info!

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    Post by jeep Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:27 am

    This model and the other one from the Valletta palace armoury are all similare they where military issued weapon (goat foot lever)during the big "siege" battle against the Turks in the 16 century.They are very similar with Spanish (but in my opinion better build and adorned ) nothing surprising they came from the same era . If I referred to the different museums I visited they where widely represented at this time in various places. What is interesting in Valletta armoury is the number of them preserved and same model conferming the mass distribution.It's mean is a reliable,simple and efficient weapon for military use. Paterson estimation is around 400# pull.
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    Post by stoneagebowyer Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:35 am

    I grow more and more fond of such simple designs, and the fact that they were issued to "common" soldiers, the rank and file soldiers. History only seems to record the nobles and royalty and such, and the person who sweated, bled, and suffered is forgotten so often.

    I also appreciate this kind of crossbow, as it was used in the New World, and gives us a connection in North America to medieval and renn. technology, and after the crossbow was replaced by gunpowder weapons.

    I will be certain to build one of this style this year.

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    Post by Basilisk120 Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:07 pm

    Thanks for the pictures Jeep. I agree with Dane, there is a beauty to some of these simple crossbows.
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    Post by stoneagebowyer Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:00 pm

    A Spanish bow is my on my short list of projects, concurrent with a late Roman bow, after I finish the heavy German crossbow. I am going to order a couple of extra prods soon. I guess you can never have or build enough crossbows Smile

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