Crossbow

The mechanized ranged weapon of the medieval era

The crossbow is a ranged weapon that lays a bow horizontally on a stock, the tiller, and holds the drawn string until a trigger releases it. Unlike an ordinary bow, it can deliver great power after relatively short training rather than a lifetime of practice, and so it is often called a democratized weapon. In medieval Europe it was widely used as an infantry weapon and as the mainstay of wall defense. Early prods were composite, of wood, horn, and sinew glued together, but from the 14th century the steel prod was introduced and greatly raised the draw weight and the penetration. The bolt, or quarrel, that answers to the arrow is shorter and heavier than an ordinary arrow and delivered strong penetration at close range.

A heavy steel-prodded crossbow of the late Middle Ages

The arbalest is a heavy crossbow of the late Middle Ages that used a steel prod in place of the earlier wood-and-horn composite, boasting the greatest penetration of its day. The steel prod's draw weight ran to hundreds of kilograms — far beyond drawing by hand — so it had to be spanned mechanically with a windlass (pulley device) or a cranequin (geared device). It could pierce even plate armor at an effective range of 200 m and beyond, but spanning took so long that its rate of fire was only one or two bolts a minute. To offset this, it was paired with a pavise-bearer, behind whose great shield the crossbowman sheltered while reloading. It shot a short bolt (quarrel, about 30–40 cm) and required little training, so even conscripts could be made battle-ready quickly.