Arrows And Archery At Agincourt 1415

[caldrail]

Here's an interesting video looking into the effectiveness of archery at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. it's very illuminating.

https://youtu.be/DBxdTkddHaE

So. The conclusions are that chainmail isn't that protective against archery. A well designed metal plate armour can be very protective, but still transmits the shock of the impact. An external Jupon, or padded layer, will help mitigate the impact by a certain margin. And the heavy longbow pull does not allow the lightning quick fusilade of fantasy films. Food for thought.

[guy]

I know nothing about military technology. I was, however, curious about the relative strength of the Mongol (and the similar composite Hunnic) bow compared to the English longbow:

 

https://archeryhistorian.com/mongolian-bow-vs-english-longbow-advantages-and-drawbacks/

I liked this quote comparing the Hunnic composite bow with the longbow:

“The composite [Hunnic] bow was mostly used to shoot lightweight arrows over large distances, on dry flat plains with high visibility. The longbow was designed to shoot extremely heavy arrows over short range with limited visibility at heavily armoured targets. The composite bow was designed for hit and run skirmishing, the longbow to stand up to and devastate a heavy cavalry charge.”

https://historum.com/threads/mongol-composite-bow-vs-english-longbow.55139/

This is a nice video understanding the power of bows (limited by the user).

 

Edited February 1, 2022 by guy

[caldrail]

I have seen a comparison with the Samurai longbow which comes out favourably for the Japanese overall. In fact, the Japanese bow has to be held off centre to prevent strain on the wrist and improve accuracy.