When people think of bows as weapons they probably think of the type used by American Indians. This is a pretty simple concept too really. All it takes is a stick and a piece of string to make the bow! Well for a good one there is more to it than that, but it really is the premise. And historically these were the first bows created and used.

But as medieval weapons grew and evolved so did bows. The next bow that came along was the long bow. Historians believe that these first appeared somewhere in England and spread from there to the rest of Europe. These were better than the old bows because with the added velocity armor could be pierced. The concept of “one shot, one kill” was born.

But things didn’t stop there. The next level of bows would be the crossbow. At one point in history the Church of England even banned their use because they were so deadly! Suddenly it was easy to hit moving targets with this new invention. And the whole while as the bow evolved the projectiles or arrows evolved with them. Poisons were even added to insure death! And if you walk into any archery store now you will see that the bow continues to evolve.

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