The Longbow's Influence On The English Army

Thanks to the ingenious use of the longbow in the Battle of Crecy, the English king, Edward III, and his army were able to win the battle with under 100 casualties while the French having over 10,000(Kops). Because of the outcome of the war, the longbow earned the name “The Medieval Machine Gun” (Kagay). Many of the tactics used during the Battle of Crecy by the English army were considered to be great breakthroughs in warfare and were the basis of some of the tactics used in modern warfare. Everything from the defensive position the English army took to the weapons they chose to use was a determining factor in their victory. Of those, the decision to use the longbow over the traditional cross-bow or a regular bow ensured their victory. Implication of the longbow by the English army changed the course of the battle because of its dominance over traditional weapons and allowed them to claim victory with very few deaths. The leader of an army can have a great influence on the outcome of the battle so depending on who is leading an army can be the difference between winning and losing it. This can be seen in the Battle of Crecy and had a huge impact on the outcome of the battle. On the English side, Edward III led the army to victory with his leadership skills. From 1327 until …show more content…
Different muscles will need to be worked to pull back the 100 pound bow string (Guttman). To pull back a longbow an archer needs to be more than just strong. It would be nearly impossible to hold the string back, aim at the target, and release so a different technique needs to be used. Instead the archer needs to pull back and release all in one fluid motion while being in a sideways position as demonstrated in Fig: 1 (Kagay). By using this technique the archer can safely and accurately shoot the bow. Just by adding one new weapon to the battlefield changed the course of history and how wars would be