Traditional crossbows

History of the crossbow

The crossbow has a long and well-documented history in Europe, with sources dating back to classical antiquity. The earliest mentions come from the Roman writer Vegetius (Epitoma Rei Militaris, 4th–5th century), who describes a weapon that he calls arcuballista or manuballista: a portable bow on a wooden stock, tensioned with a lever mechanism. Although these Roman models were simpler than later medieval crossbows, they demonstrate that the principle was known early on.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the crossbow largely disappears from written sources for several centuries, but it makes a strong return in the 10th and 11th centuries. The Bayeux Tapestry (ca. 1070) contains the earliest medieval depiction of a European crossbow in use, during the Battle of Hastings (1066). From the 12th century onwards, chroniclers such as Ordericus Vitalis and William of Malmesbury describe the crossbow as a weapon with great penetrating power. Pope Innocent II condemned its use against Christians at the Second Lateran Council in 1139, which reinforced the weapon's reputation as "disrespectful but deadly effective."

In the 13th and 14th centuries, the crossbow became standard equipment in many European armies. Cities like Genoa were known for their professional crossbowmen, described by Froissart in his chronicles of the Hundred Years' War. Mechanical improvements — such as the windlass, belt hook, and later the cranequin — allowed for higher draw weights, making heavy steel bow limbs common from the 14th century onwards.

Until the 16th century, the crossbow remained important alongside early firearms. Only with the rise of the arquebus and musket did the crossbow gradually disappear from the European battlefield, although it continued to be used for hunting and sport for a long time.