Crossbow limb colours.

[pocoloco]

Here's Anna Komnene's text about crossbows:

e warriors at once flocked to that spot, as they saw he was strongly armed for battle. But Marianus, speaking in their language, advised the Latins to have no fear, and not to fight against fellow-Christians. But one of the Latins hit his helmet with his crossbow. This cross-bow is a bow of the barbarians quite unknown to the Greeks; and it is not stretched by the right hand pulling the string whilst the left pulls the bow in a contrary direction, but he who stretches this warlike and very far-shooting weapon must lie, one might say, almost on his back and apply both feet strongly against the semi-circle of the bow and with his two hands pull the string with all his might in the contrary direction. In the middle of the string is a socket, a cylindrical kind of cup fitted to the string itself, and about as long as an arrow of considerable size which reaches from the string to the very middle of the bow; and through this arrows of many sorts are shot out. [256] The arrows used with this bow are very short in length, but very thick, fitted in front with a very heavy iron tip. And in discharging them the string shoots them out with enormous violence and force, and whatever these darts chance to hit, they do not fall back, but they pierce through a shield, then cut through a heavy iron corselet and wing their way through and out at the other side. So violent and ineluctable is the discharge of arrows of this kind. Such an arrow has been known to pierce a bronze statue, and if it hits the wall of a very large town, the point of the arrow either protrudes on the inner side or it buries itself in the middle of the wall and is lost. Such then is this monster of a crossbow, and verily a devilish invention. And the wretched man who is struck by it, dies without feeling anything, not even feeling the blow, however strong it be.

She is not writing about the siege crossbows, it seems. Quite powerful pieces, I would say.

[Arlequín]

I don't doubt the typical crossbow was a powerful weapon and I imagine that even if the better armour could resist penetration by anything but bolts shot from a spring-steel one, the others would still knock a guy on his ass from force alone.

Modern Kevlar vests might be a fair analogy; it might stop penetration, but does nothing to stop kinetic force and still results in quite bad bruising.

 
 

[Garanhir]

And just a curious piece of knowledge, the Finnish style of crossbow shooting was somehow bit different, or so they say, as they didn't place the stock against the shoulder but under the shoulder in the armpit. Thus the shot was not direct fire as such for longer ranges but more inline with shots done with a normal bow.

As far as I'm aware, that wasn't unique to Finland. Throughout the Middle Ages, crossbows and even handguns were tucked under the arm to steady them. It wasn't until the invention of more powerful handguns that the kick could ruin the aim and thus needed a more secure holding position against the shoulder.

[Dr. Zombie]

I have shot with a replica of a 14th century crossbow and it shot straight through a 2mm steel breastplate five layers of cloth and a pork roast. The bolt didn't stick or anything it went straight through.

Most breastplates of the time were actually not 2mm thick, but it is the easiest to find these days as it is what reenactors prefer.

Crossbows are seriously dangerous weapons.

[Silent Invader]

Fascinating.