[funnybeam]

The longbow didn’t require “minimal training”, it took years of regular practice and physical conditioning.

Weekly longbow practice was even a legal requirement for most English men to ensure there were enough skilled archers.

The crossbow was the weapon that allowed an untrained peasant to kill an armoured knight and was widely illegal for that reason

[ben_w]

> The crossbow was the weapon that allowed an untrained peasant to kill an armoured knight and was widely illegal for that reason

So I heard as a kid. All the medieval weaponry youtube channels I see demonstrating them tell me this, too, is a myth; that the real benefit for a crossbow was to be able to prepare a weapon and hold it in the ready-to-fire state — the same state Hollywood shows for normal bows without considering that they're supposed to be massive springs that some skinny archer is apparently holding extended for ages without effort.

However, I'm not a historian, for all I know the medieval weaponry youtube channels I see are all GenAI output.

[munksbeer]

Rule of conversation on hn - never use an analogy. Someone will be along to tell you "well ackshually..."