What is Longbow?
[[Image:Longbow.jpg|thumb|right|A longbow]] [[Image:Battle of crecy froissart.jpg|thumb|right|250 px|Fighting with longbows]] A '''longbow''' is a type of [[bow (weapon)|bow]]. It may not have been as strong as a [[crossbow]], but it could shoot more arrows per minute.<ref name=Fadala>Fadala, Sam 2011. ''Traditional archery''. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, p. 13/14.</ref> Also, the basic equipment cost little, and could be easily [[mass produced]].<ref name=Denny6>Mark Denny, ''Ingenium: Five Machines That Changed the World'' (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007), p. 6</ref> Metal-tipped arrows could go through [[armour]]. Only the strongest armor would stop it.<ref name=Fadala/> Archers (longbowmen) would usually have a second weapon, often a [[battle-axe]], if the fighting came close to them. The longbow was mainly used in the [[Middle Ages]] until the 1500s. It was made from a single piece of hard wearing, flexible [[wood]], often from a [[yew]] tree.<ref name=Denny6/> Yew was cut during the winter when there was no sap.<ref name=Denny6/> The flat side of the bow facing the target was flexible sapwood while the belly (facing the archer) was round and made of strong heartwood (from the center of a tree).<ref name=Denny6/> Groups of longbowmen would shoot at the same time. The arrows would come down like hail. This often scared the enemy. Longbows have been found in Europe as far back as the [[Mesolithic]] period.{{fact|date=March 2022}} == History == The [[Welsh people|Welsh]] were the first people to use longbows.<ref name=KRI>{{cite web|url=https://kriii.com/english-bowmen/|accessdate=March 29, 2022|title=English bowmen|date=7 August 2019|publisher=King Richard III Visitor Centre|archive-date=29 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629030345/https://kriii.com/english-bowmen/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In AD 633 Offrid, son of Edwin, king of [[Northumbria]], was killed by an arrow shot from a Welsh longbow. This was during a battle between the Welsh and the [[Mercia]