extent and spread of turko-mongol bows in europe

[ausjulius]

that is interesting so the turkic bow had some foothold in iberia.. its interesting that about the time crossbows really got popular in rurope middle easterners abandoned them..

i remember reading the medieval english would buy additional wooden bow shafts from portugal and spain to fill demand as the price was cheaper..
kind of in the same way theyed buy amour parts from central europe and knife blade from the lowlands to rehandle.


as to skill i doubt it after all they made plenty of laminated crossbow prods.. and if it was skill they could just hire hungarians or tatars ect to make them for them.

maybe our perception of wooden bows being dominant in europe is a bit skewed by modern ideas?
it could very well be that it was only the british isles where it was totally dominant and maybe other areas turco-mongol and other types of recurve bow were much more common that we presume ?

also what happened to the native mediterranian laminated recurve bows in history.. its odd they just vanished?

the saami, people of the baltic and finns used laminated recurve bows of a two wood type. more primitive than the siberian a or nomads bows. but still a step closer.. it just seems so odd that such technical martialistic people as medieval northern europeans had such inferior bows.. but great crossbows,, amour ,, weapons.. fortifications ect..

mabye they just liked wooden bows? like it was a thing they took pride in even if less practical? i wounder if there is any medieval writing on the topic. because after all english for example were masters of archery.. .

[fernando]

In the battle of Aljubarrota (August 1385), where the Portuguese secured their independence from Spain, 800 local crossbow men were sided by 300 highly trained English long bow archers.
Attached is how Portuguese artist Gregório Lopes (c. 1490-1550), recriated the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, a martyr from the III century condemned by emperor Diocleciano.


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