Medieval Archery
Many infamous battles that dot the pages of history would not have been won were if not for medieval archery. This type of corps played an integral part when it came to defense tactics.
While movies tend to portray medieval archery rather accurately, there was a lot more to this type of weapon than a gallant horseback ride. Throughout history, those that had talent with a bow and arrow were often granted numerous unique privileges within a court. Additionally, this type of combat was encouraged amongst townspeople, and those that slayed others in the midst of friendly practice were not held accountable for their actions.
During the 14th Century, the English archer rose to prominence, and he was known as the best archer in the world. English archers often consisted of those that were mounted and those that were on foot. The ones that were mounted were few due to the skill level needed to ride a charging horse and shoot an arrow that was on fire. However, those that were on foot often numbered into the hundreds, and they were a deadly force to be reckoned with. Once the 15th Century rolled around, archers became scarce, though they were still an important part of any battle.
Medieval archery largely died out during the 15th Century thanks to the invention of the hand gun. NO matter how great an archer was, they could not fight against guns. Still, some courts used the archer in addition to those soldiers with hand guns. In this manner, those courts that had all types of weapons covered often won the most battles. Can you imagine what history might have been like if bows and arrows were not thought of?
Most medieval battles were bloody enough, but if archers did not exist during that time they would have been a lot bloodier. Often, soldiers had to charge at one another with long swords in order to fight. If archers were not part of the scene, battles would have relied entirely upon hand to hand combat. Since archers could line up in droves in order to shoot enemies from behind safe walls, battles were often easier to win.
As you can probably tell, medieval archery is one of the most important aspects of battle history. Without the skilled archer, numerous kingdoms would not have enjoyed the fame that they once did.