Arbalest

Origin

The arbalest appeared in 12th–13th-century Europe as steel metallurgy advanced, replacing the older wood-and-horn composite crossbow. It reached its height on the 14th–15th-century battlefield as the infantry's armor-piercing missile weapon, and the Genoese crossbowmen in particular won fame hired as mercenaries across Europe. Its core advance was the union of a steel prod with mechanical spanning devices (windlass and cranequin). With the spread of firearms such as the matchlock in the 16th century — a rival, since both needed little training and pierced armor — it gradually gave way to the gun and lived on for hunting and sport.

Features

• Steel prod — the greatest penetration of its day (pierces plate)
• Mechanical spanning with windlass (pulley) or cranequin (gears) required
• Effective range over ~200 m, shooting a short bolt (quarrel)
• Slow rate of fire, one or two bolts a minute
• Worked in pairs with a pavise (great shield) bearer
• Little training needed — conscripts made battle-ready quickly

Stories

In sieges and open field it served as the armor-piercing weapon to bring down heavily armored knights and men-at-arms. The shooter spanned the string by machine, set a bolt, then aimed and loosed from behind a pavise, and spent a long while reloading. Because of the slow rate, it was best used in ranks firing by rotation, or in combined arms with shield-bearers and spearmen, rather than alone. It was especially deadly where the shooter was protected — defending a wall or a narrow chokepoint. With its great power, a single bolt could punch through shield and man alike.

Weakness

Its gravest weakness was the extremely slow rate of fire, only one or two bolts a minute. In the same time a longbowman could loose more than ten, so in a fast melee or close fight it was badly outmatched. The spanning devices (windlass, cranequin) were heavy and complex, awkward to carry and handle, and a mechanical failure left it all but useless. Rain fouled the string and mechanism (the Genoese crossbowmen at Crécy are the classic example), and in close combat it was defenseless, so the cover of shields and spears was essential.

Cultural Significance

The crossbow, the arbalest among them, shocked medieval society as 'a weapon with which a commoner could kill a knight.' Because a single powerful bolt could fell an armored noble without years of training, the Second Lateran Council of 1139 went so far as to forbid the crossbow in war between Christians (allowing it only against non-believers) — a ban that was, of course, scarcely observed. The death of Richard the Lionheart, struck by a crossbow bolt at the siege of Châlus in 1199, is remembered as an irony visited upon a king who had embraced the weapon.

In Popular Culture

The arbalest appears in games and fantasy as the archetypal 'powerful but slow heavy crossbow.' Dark Souls features a crossbow named literally the 'Arbalest,' and it is familiar too as the Heavy Bowgun of Monster Hunter or the Genoese crossbowmen of Mount & Blade and Total War. As with Geralt in The Witcher or the film Van Helsing, the crossbow is often cast as the weapon of vampire and monster hunters. It is usually portrayed as 'slow to load but lethal in a single shot,' aligning well with its historical use.

Trivia

• The Second Lateran Council of 1139 forbade the crossbow in war between Christians — it was seen as 'too cruel and dishonorable' that a lowborn soldier could so easily kill a noble knight.
• Richard the Lionheart of England died of a crossbow-bolt wound at the siege of Châlus in 1199, a fate said to have come back upon a king who favored the crossbow.
• The crossbow's true advantage over the longbow was training, not power: an English longbowman trained for years from childhood, but a crossbowman could be raised in weeks, which is why continental armies preferred it.