Crossbow

Lore & Background

The earliest known crossbows were invented in ancient China in the first millennium BCE and brought about a major shift in the role of projectile weaponry in wars. The medieval European crossbow was called by many names, including 'crossbow' itself; most of these names derived from the word ballista, an ancient Greek torsion siege engine similar in appearance but different in design principle. The Greek crossbow was likely invented independently of the Chinese crossbow.

Reader's Guide

Crossbows avoid the need to draw-and-shoot in a quick motion by having trigger-released cocking mechanisms to maintain tension on the string once it has been spanned into its ready-to-shoot position, allowing a crossbow to be carried cocked and ready and affording its user time to aim. Crossbows are spanned using techniques and devices such as levers, belt hooks, pulleys, windlasses, and cranequins. These potentially achieve better precision and enable effective use by less trained personnel. However, crossbows with high draw weights require sophisticated systems of gears and pulleys that are awkward and slow to employ on the battlefield. Medieval crossbows were also very inefficient, with short shot stroke lengths and slower speeds of their steel prods and heavy strings. Modern crossbow designs overcome these shortcomings.

Did You Know?

• The lath, also called the prod, is the bow of the crossbow. According to W. F. Peterson, 'prod' came into usage in the 19th century as a result of mistranslating 'rodd' in a 16th-century list of crossbow effects.
• The stock (a modern term derived from the equivalent concept in firearms) is the wooden body on which the bow is mounted, although the medieval tiller is also used.
• The lock refers to the release mechanism, including the string, sears, trigger lever, and housing.