Online Talk - The Longbow: Investigating the Myth

Thursday 26th November 2026

The Longbow was the iconic English weapon of the late Middle Ages, but its history is often obscured by myth. What were its attributes, and how was it tactically employed? How valid are the assumptions about the relative ‘inferiority’ of the crossbow and the idea that the bow was the simple weapon of a peasant society? In the battles of the Middle Ages, the longbow has been seen as a ‘wonder-weapon’, in itself enough to explain victories - yet if this was so, why was it not adopted elsewhere in the same way as it was in England?

Moving into Tudor England, where the bow’s role in war after the Battle of Stoke was fairly ignominious, to what extent was archery practice kept up? Considering who was shooting, and when and where they were practising, gives some real insights into Tudor society.  The bow-versus-gun debate is well known but not well understood. When was the gun adopted as the standard weapon of the soldier and the bow deemed to be obsolete? How good a weapon was the arquebus compared to the bow? 

Author and historian Jonathan Davies explores these questions in our next online talk. Register here.