Chronology of the Longbow

Added 8 May 1997, Revised 14 April 2001

I will add pieces of longbow history as I find them. Sources will be annotated were possible.

Note: I do not use of the classic 'BC' and 'AD' system. I prefer to use 'BCE' (Before Common Era) and 'CE' (Common Era) respectively.

Chronology of Longbows

50,000 years ago --- oldest known evidence of archery, in the form of arrowheads found at Bir-El-Ater in Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and the Sahara. (Hardy, p. 12)
20,000-7500 years ago --- Bow fragments (possibly longbow) found near Hamburg. (Hardy, p. 16)
Stone Age --- Swiss and German archaeological sites contain longbows similar to Medieval English longbows.. (Hardy, p. 17)
Mesolithic/Neolithic --- Bows found with a cutaway handle to allow for more of a center shot. (Hardy, p. 17)
circa 2000 BCE --- The remains of a yew wood bow were retreived from a dig South West Scotland - the wood presumbaly coming from Cumbria which had a far greater yew tree population than the soils of South West Scotland. (Hood, personal communication)
circa 1900 BCE --- Bows prove to be highly effective by Egyptians in battle of Neb-Hepet-Re during the 11 th. Dynasty. (Hardy, p. 23)
circa 1500 BCE --- Archaeological record indicates possible decline in use of bows. (Iron weapons are developed.) (Hardy, p. 19)
circa 750 BCE --- Use of bows increases. (Hardy, p. 21)
circa 300 CE --- Bows are made using sapwood for the back of the bow and heartwood for the belly of the bow are found in Scandanavia and Northern Europe. (Hardy, p. 23)
490 CE -- Clovis, the king of the Franks, writes the salic laws, including a law detailing the penalty of a fine of 54 solidi for cutting off the fingers of a man's draw hand. (Hardy, p. 23)
circa 633 CE --- Welsh the first to have longbows on the British Isles. (Hardy, p. 30)
1055 --- Welsh longbowmen repel Ralph, Earl of Hereford. (Hardy, p. 30)
1182 --- The arrows of Welsh longbowmen penetrate a 4 inch thick oak door at the siege of Abergavenny Castle. (Hardy, p. 36)
1242 --- Henry II decrees that any man who makes 2-5 pounds per year must be armed with a bow. (Wilkinson-Latham, p. 164)
1340 --- English fleet sails against the French fleet in the harbor at Sluys. English longbowmen drive French back through the ranks of French ships until finally the fourth and final rank of French ships escapes in the night. (Hardy, p. 57-58)
1346 --- The Battle of Crecy, in which English longbowmen defeated a force of 6000 Genoese crossbowmen and a large number of French men-at-arms and nobility.
1346 --- Longbows crucial in defeating the Scottish invasion army lead by King David Bruce. (Hardy, p. 75)
1356 --- Battle of Poitiers, Monday, 19 September 1356, in which English longbowmen once again defeat a much larger French army. There were very few crossbowman in the French army by this time. (Hardy, p. 75)
1359 --- The Tower of London receives 20,000 bows, 850,000 arrows, and 50,000 bowstrings from counties. (Hardy, p. 84)
1360 --- The Tower of London receives 10,000 bows and 500,000 arrows in May and June. (Hardy, p. 84)
late 14 th. century --- French allegedly create an archer force superior to the English longbowmen, but the archer army is suppressed by the king out of fear. (Hardy, p. 98)
1470 --- 12 longbows and 120 arrows sold for 12s 4d (s=shillings, d=denarius (or pence)) (Hardy, p. 44)
1480 --- 10 longbows sold for 20s. 12 sheaves of arrows (288 arrows) sold for 34s 8d. (Hardy, p. 44)
1544 --- Roger Ascham publishes Toxophilus, the oldest surviving archery handbook (Hardy, p. 135)
1776 --- Benjamin Franklin advocates the use of the longbow. (Hardy, p. 172)
1789 --- A Mr. Tower loosed an arrow 340 yards. (Wilkinson-Latham, p. 166)
1914 --- A Mr. Inigo Simon loosed an arrow 462 yards 9 inches. (Wilkinson-Latham, p. 166)

Hardy, Robert, Longbow: A Social and Military History, copyright 1992, Robert Hardy. ISBN: 1 85260 412 3
Hood, Steven, Personal communication, 19 January 2001
Wilkinson-Latham, Robert, Phaidon Guide to Antique Weapons and Armour, Prentice-Hall, Inc., copyright 1981. ISBN: 0-13-661935-5

For another site that contains a chronology of archery history, try: A Shot in Time