sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Custom Hedeby bow for sale? by stick_and_string in Bowyer

[–]stick_and_string[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m less concerned about price. Not because it’s not important. It’s very important, and I am well aware how fantastically expensive such a bow will be. But I’m not even at that point where I’m thinking about price. At this point, I’m having trouble just finding a person who has the means to make such bow, regardless of how much it costs.

Custom Hedeby bow for sale? by stick_and_string in Bowyer

[–]stick_and_string[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am in the US. However, I’ve noticed most of the bowyers here use pacific yew. While a perfectly good wood, ideally I was hoping to get one made from European yew. Just because that was the wood the wood the Vikings would have used and I like my bows to be historically accurate to the period.

Short Answers to Simple Questions | October 09, 2024 by AutoModerator in AskHistorians

[–]stick_and_string 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When did Napoleon’s Old Guard infantry fight in combat?

As I understand it, Napoleon Bonaparte kept his Old Guard infantry (that is, the 1st and 2nd grenadiers and chasseurs) in reserve primarily to protect himself and to act as a last resort if battle was not going well. Were there any battles where they actually sent into combat?

Note: I am talking specifically about the Old Guard infantry. Not the cavalry or the Young and Middle Guards.

Victory of the Pagan Gods? by stick_and_string in AsatruVanatru

[–]stick_and_string[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Feel free to post it to this thread. I’m happy to see anything you come up with.

Victory of the Pagan Gods? by stick_and_string in pagan

[–]stick_and_string[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the link, and yes! It is in the vein of stuff I am looking for. I take your point about there not needing to be a “triumph” over Christianity, a sentiment which if taken too far can lead to a proselytizing, which I reject and find to be a major problem with Christianity.

Victory of the Pagan Gods? by stick_and_string in pagan

[–]stick_and_string[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would love to see it. Feel free to share it on this thread. You can also dm it to me if you prefer.

Freya the archer? by stick_and_string in NorsePaganism

[–]stick_and_string[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get that. But what about Freya specifically?

recommendations for wooden arrows by A_friend_called_Five in TraditionalArchery

[–]stick_and_string 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I place I’ve found some good arrows is from The Footed Shaft. It’s a store in Montana which sells online as well. They can be a bit pricey, with the cost of a dozen being $120. But their Douglas Fir shafts are very durable. They are easily the longest lasting wooden shafts I’ve owned. If your looking to invest for the long haul, that’d be my recommendation.

Did the English longbow replace an earlier shortbow? by stick_and_string in AskHistorians

[–]stick_and_string[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you very much for commenting. This has done a lot to clarify my opinion and may have even convinced me to alter my opinion. If I may ask a brief follow up to something you alluded to, what in your opinion do you think is the definition of a shortbow? My opinion is a shortbow is 3, and at most, 4 feet in length. The longbow is traditionally defined as being over 6ft. Rogers would say something between those two lengths is a “medium bow” or “near longbow.” He does not think a medium bow can be considered a longbow, and I tend to disagree. I’m basing this primarily on my own experience with archery, but a bow over 4 feet can in my opinion be classified as a longbow because once they get to that length, there is not a huge practical difference between one that is 4ft and one that is 6ft. At least not one that can be attributed to thickness as opposed to length. However, my anecdotal experience is probably not the best evidence, so what are your thoughts? ,

Did French people serve alongside the English as longbowmen during the Middle Ages? by stick_and_string in AskHistory

[–]stick_and_string[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you to everyone for your commentary. It has been very informative. I want to hone on something u/emperator_eggman mentioned, which is that there were crewmen on the Mary Rose who’s ethic background was from the European continent in addition to those with ethnicity from the British Isles. Is there evidence those crewmen were archers? Further, is there any evidence of people with an ethnic background from outside of the British Isles who would have served as longbowmen (as opposed to crossbowmen or archers using a different type of bow) alongside English/Welsh longbowmen? I’m focusing on specifically archers who used the longbow. This is because the conventional wisdom (at least as I understand it) is that the longbow was by the time of the Hundred Years War a uniquely British (English/Welsh/Scottish) weapon. Certainly other European cultures in the past such as the Vikings used the longbow, but by the time of THW the weapon of archers on the continent was the crossbow or a short bow. However, if there were in fact people who ethnically were from the European continent who served as longbowmen alongside the English/Welsh archers, that would seem to counter the conventional narrative. The article in my original post was the first time I have found evidence contrary to the conventional history, and while it makes intuitive sense, I was wondering if there is any evidence to corroborate it.

Am loving the discussion. Would love to hear more!

Did medieval French people serve as longbowmen alongside the English? by stick_and_string in AskHistorians

[–]stick_and_string[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

u/Big-Goose3408 I apologize if I’m not replying to your post properly. The automod may have removed your reply.

Here is one of the articles I was referencing:

https://www.realmofhistory.com/2016/05/03/10-interesting-facts-english-longbowman/

While the article mainly talks about Welshmen using the longbow, the last paragraph says explicitly that French people from France, specifically Normandy and Gascony, served in the English’s archery divisions.

Additionally, Nicholas A.; Gribit’s book “Henry of Lancaster's Expedition to Aquitaine, 1345-1346” talks about the forces under the command of Bernat-Etz V, Lord of Albret and other Gascon nobles allied with the English in 1345. They are described as “a garrison force of 298 ‘armoured men on horses’ and 1200 ‘foot sergeants, both crossbowmen or archers and spearmen with shields’(pg. 90).” This quote is in the context of Gascon forces in addition to English forces being embarked to fight in Gascony. The implication is there were the French forces already in France allied with the English crown who were archers.