which were more lethal crossbows or longbows ? and in the days of the Normans, which were more commonly used ?

Answer 1

I don't know the specifics, historically, on when each was used, but I can supply what I do know.

The longbow came first. It has a long ranger, fires faster, but the power of its shot can vary. It can't pierce heavy armor, and requires good accuracy. I've heard it said that a good english longbowman could fire six arrows a minute with accuracy - that's sick. Of course, as has been already said, it takes years to develope that kind of talent and skill.

The crossbow was used more commonly once it became popular, but in a different way. It was a "fire and forget" weapon most of the time - rush towards your enemy, stop, fire your crossbow, drop it (its attached with a chain or rope), pull out your other weapon, and run in screaming and hacking.

A crossbow had much more short-range punch, in many cases could piece armor, and was easier to train with and use. Reloading was a pain if it was anything but a light crossbow, and the lightest and easiest to reload crossbows really weren't much good for anything except hunting.

So, which was more lethal? As a force multiplier, I would say the longbow, in the hands of a properly trained archer. An enemy killed at a distance is the best kind of enemy. In any other situation, a crossbow. That said, you would not want to face a hundred people running towards you with crossbows.

I think crossbows were easier to make, once they were developed. Longbows had to be very carefully cut and dried, but crossbows could be made with much lower standards and still deliver.

Saul

Answer 2

Crossbows can be made very powerful. However, the more powerful the crossbow, the more difficult and long the reloading time will be. A relatively weak crossbow can be redrawn by simply pulling back the string using the power of one arm. A stronger crossbow you have to lower the xbow, put your foot in a stirrup to hold it and pull with both arms and your back. An even stronger crossbow you have a little crank and gears, you crank the string back gradually. A really strong crossbow would need a bigger stronger crank and you'd have to crank longer. So just the reload speed would make the crossbow a very poor choice of weapons. Further, crossbows aren't as silent as people think. While not nearly as loud as a gun, they still make a fair bit of noise when fired. Also, the stronger the crossbow is, the heavier the bow arms are, which makes a really powerful crossbow unbalancing. Range is an issue. It's simply the fact that using xbow technology you can only fling an arrow at a certain top speed. Gravity comes into play and pulls the arrow to ground. You compensate by purposely firing OVER the target...but with slow projectiles being off just a little bit on your calculation of how over to fire and your arrow will miss by a very large margin. The same mistake with a rifle at similar distances equates to the bullet hitting just a few inches different. If you are a survivalist, then the fact that you can fetch your arrows and you don't have to carry a bunch of ammo is going to be a benefit (although arrows always run a small chance of breaking whenever they are fired) and it isn't as loud as a gun so if you are hunting and miss, the animals close to you and close to where the arrow hit will hear and run, but not more distant animals.

Answer 3

As far as speed, the crossbow is a faster shot but only good for close targets.
The longbow's use...accruacy, speed and distance was and is based mainly in the skill of the shooter and the wieght of the bow..
In the days of the Normans they did have cross bow but the people of that time and area preferred hand to hand combat and the archers shot in mass group prior the the initial attack to decrease the number of opponents to face.
So in answer, the Normans did not generally use the crossbow because of it's limitations. They preferred hand weapons to even the longbow.

Answer 4

Not an expert here, but I'm a fan of the bow and crossbow especially in movies and lit.

I've read a book of Sun Tzu Art of War and there was a footnote there that said that Chinese crossbows were powerful enough to pierce through Greek shields of that time.

So seeing the Movie 300, and a hail of arrows being easily blocked by the Spartan shields... and if The Persians were using these crossbows instead... Crossbows are definitely more powerful.

But for range, the long bow is deadlier at longer distances. It can be more accurate and precise at longer ranges too.

Crossbows may be slower to load than a bow. But a bolt can be loaded on the crossbow beforehand, so its faster to use initially in case of an immediate attack.

Answer 5

Longbows and crossbows have different tactical advantages. A longbow was the standard archer battle weapon, effective a long distances and powerful enough to achieve those distances. Also, they were powerful enough to penetrate armor in closer combat, though using medieval battle strategy the archers were typically behind the infantry and cavalry. Things went wrong if archers were in close combat.
The crossbow was an effective close combat weapon, quick to reload and devastating to combatants, even those in the best armor. Nobles outlawed the crossbow in action because it put noblemen and royalty at risk from common soldiers. They believed that hand to hand combat with a sword was the way for a noble to die, since it was at least a knight who would bring them down.
As far as a more common weapon, the longbow was the common one.

Answer 6

Crossbows are comparably recent addition to the arsenal in the West. I don't think they were used before the middle Middle Ages. I should say a cross bow is more lethal, since it works more like a machine gun, which is important in group situations while a longbow requires more time. Also the impact power of a cross bow is stronger.

Answer 7

Both have advantages and disadvantages.

First off, if you are speaking of the Norman conquest of 1066, neither were present. They both because common centuries later.

The long bow has immense range and a fast rate of fire, but takes a man years to learn how to use properly and build up the needed chest muscles.

The crossbow has a slow rate of fire, good penetration, and anyone can learn to use it ... but it is slow to reload.

When gunpowder came along, any idiot careful enough not to blow himself up could learn to shoot - and he could carry the supplies for a half a days shooting RIGHT on his person, rather than needing years of training and a wagon-load of arrows for the same effect.

Answer 8

Longbows, Longbows.

Answer 9

Depends on the type of battle you are fighting. The long bows were more like artillery and cross bows were used more small arms fire. The Normans used more long bows.