Crossbows in European Painting and Medieval Miniatures

Several reproductions of old paintings, engravings and etchings.
I repent, it is interesting!

Addition of several reproductions of old paintings.
St. Sebastian:

Mr SAM wrote:Addition of several reproductions of old paintings.
St. Sebastian

I believe St. Sebastian was a soldier in the Roman Army and at the same time was a Christian. For his beliefs he was sentenced to death by tying to a column and being shot with dozens of arrows. He was left for dead, but when his wife found him, he was still alive and she was able to nurse him back to health...the story is certainly interesting from both stand points of History and Religion. Thanks Mr. SAM!

Edit: Found this just now, but haven't found the story behind it.

Banquet of Members of Amsterdam's Crossbow Civic Guard:

French tapestry early 16 th century

Allegory of "The Siege of the Castle Jealousy" from "The Novel of the Rose"
In the center of the composition a young lady is shown, shooting from a crossbow. And this crossbow is charged with a rose!

Ivo wrote:...
Banquet of Members of Amsterdam's Crossbow Civic Guard:
...

Excellent!
My many thanks to star this photo.
There was this only in my collection :



Pay attention to the contours of crossbow along the left edge of the picture :idea:
This portrait is most remarkble for showing a small crossbow symbol together with each member.

This reminds me of some one I knew...

My art teacher (земля ему пухом) used to like to paint women, portraits and the rest as well , so he did the SAME exact thing. He would hide little things of all sorts in his paintings...tiny snakes in the hair, little birds,... that you would not be able to see unless you came up to the painting and stared at it for a long time in search of these little secrets...this was not always comfortable, because of the content .

Hello tvig,

Is this the entire painting or just a section from it? I'm a little weak in my German, so getting around their site is a bit difficult...Still, it's a good quality pic...Thanks.

By the way, welcome to the forum.

Several pages with crossbows from The Manesse Codex
(The Manesse Codex is a 14th century manuscript whose images contain a number of examples of German arms and armory.)



The Manesse Codex is an illuminated manuscript in codex form copied and illustrated between ca. 1304 when the main part was completed, and ca 1340 with the addenda; the codex was produced at the request of the Manesse family of Zürich.
It is the single most comprehensive source for the texts of love songs in Middle High German, representing 140 poets, several of whom were famous rulers. The entries are ordered approximately by the social status of the poets, starting with the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, Kings Conradin and Wenceslaus II, down through dukes, counts and knights, to the commoners/
The manuscript is the most beautifully illumined German manuscript in centuries, its 137 miniatures are a series of "portraits" depicting each poet. A large number of the nobles are shown in full armour in their heraldic colors and devices (therefore with their faces hidden) taking part in tournament combats.

Here is an interesting picture. It shows a medieval crossbow with its bastard string. I don't think I have ever seen a depiction of this before.

For any who may not know; the bastard string is used to flex the bow far enough for the working string to be set into the nocks.

http://www.manuscriptminiatures.com/chroniques-72-a-25/234/



Mac

Hey Mac thanks for sharing that pic. Wonder why he has the bastard string attached? Besides the bastard string that painting hints at so much more.
It looks like the crossbow in question has a Yew prod with horn tips and has a foot stirrup. And what strikes me as interesting is that this a group of Men at Arms and the guy with the crossbow is mixed in with men with polaxe and he has a sword.

Basilisk,

That's how my bows look when they are not in use. I leave the bastards on and the working strings slipped off one nock. This way nothing gets lost.

It might be a wooden bow with horn nocks, or it might be a horn and sinew composite. If it is supposed to be yew, the artist has gotten the colors of the heart wood and sap wood reversed.

Mac

Link to Larger Image

This is the "Four Riders" from the Beato de Osma. It is Spanish and is dated to 1085. It looks like the crossbow is similiar to the Roman arcuballista and has a roller nut.

I'll add my avatar's one...I don't have clear if its loaded by belt-and-hook or by goats foot...just the hooks are drawn...I don't even know how is a goats's foot supposed to be carried!



http://jessamynscloset.com/Basquegallery2.html

That's from the "Trachtenbuch de Christoph Weiditz von seinen teisen nach Spanien
(1529)und den Niederlandeden (1531/32)"
seems that we were very conservative regarding clothing, and weapons...until well past the 1550's the most conmon weapos were the the sword, the spear, and...crossbow of course. Who wants noisy firearms if we had been using crossbows for centuries?

Hello all, could anyone identify where is this image from?