Longbow(s)

[ShadesWolf]

If longbows were so clearly superior, why had they disappeared in most European countries by the middle ages?

Two main reasons my friend

1/ euopean countries, France is an excellent example, didnt want to put the power of a unique weapon in the masses hands, as they were nervous of the power it would give them.

2/ the develpment of the fire arms, any basically trained peasant could fire one, needed no years of training or strength.

[Tuuvi]

If longbows were so clearly superior, why had they disappeared in most European countries by the middle ages?

I did not mean that longbows were vastly superior, what I meant is that the longbow design has some advantages over shorter bows. I will have to do some reading in order to remember what exactly they were, however I believe it has something to with the length of the string when drawing the bow. I would also like to point out that shorter bows can be just as powerful as longbows with the right design (Asiatic composite bows being a great example).

You're also forgetting that the English longbowmen have a reputation for having been the best archers in medieval Europe.

Were longbows used for hunting, or were they specifically warbows. It seems that any attempt to stalk prey with a bow the size of a man is not going to be successful.

Foot

Longbows can be used for hunting quite successfully. Today in the U.S. there is a small niche of people who prefer to use real wooden bows for hunting over the modern compound bow; longbows are a pretty popular choice among these people. There are also historical examples of longbows being used for hunting. The Eastern Woodland Indians used longbows for hunting. I believe that the bows I mentioned in my earlier post were used for hunting, but the book does not say what the bows were used for so that is a guess on my part.

[Owen Glyndwr]

If I recall correctly, the longbow wasn't even very popular in the English army until Edward I (of Braveheart fame) encountered their deadly capabilities at the hands of the Welsh during his campaigns. (1276-1277 & 1282-1283)

The longbow was extremely effective in Welsh warfare, which relied a lot more on hit and run tactics, and ambushes compared to the heavy cavalry based combat of the English and French.

Out of lazyness, I have cited wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_longbow#History

[Mediolanicus]

Two main reasons my friend

1/ euopean countries, France is an excellent example, didnt want to put the power of a unique weapon in the masses hands, as they were nervous of the power it would give them.

2/ the develpment of the fire arms, any basically trained peasant could fire one, needed no years of training or strength.

Nation states and fire arms weren't around in 600-1000 AD...

BTW, aren't argument 1 and argument 2 a bit contradictory?
We don't want to put the power of a unique weapon in their hands, which they can use highly effectively if they learn to master it by livelong practice. So we gave them fire arms, easy to use; kills everything you aim at, not unique at all.