The papacy tried to ban both crossbows and bows in 1139 and IIRC again some time later. Of course it was still allowed to use them against infidels. The ban did works some places but overall it was ignored.

I have read some places that an archer can do something like 20-22 shots/minute but that requires point blank shooting (so he doesnt have to raise his arm or something like that) and it wont be a very strong bow either. How fast English archers would shoot is not easy to say.

I have seen some contemporary sources mention some figures compared to other weapons but, as we cant be sure what rate of fire they had, that only gives us an estimate. My guess is an average of around 6-10 shots/minute.


CBR