Author Topic: Anyone know what type of Warbows the 14-15th century Bohemians  (Read 4984 times)

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Miles

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Anyone know what type of Warbows the 14-15th century Bohemians
« on: January 21, 2010, 09:08:32 pm »
I'm hoping someone like Jaro can help me this...

Knowing that Bohemia (Czech Republic) was basically in the middle Europe anyone know what type of Warbows the 14-15th century Bohemians use I know the Hussite used a lot of crossbow and early handguns...

The Book: Warrior of God, Jan Zizka and the Hussite Revolution, talks of the hussite using  archers but what type?

Offline Jaro

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Re: Anyone know what type of Warbows the 14-15th century Bohemians
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2010, 05:41:43 am »
Hello. It is clear that by 1400´ bow was all but obsolete in Czech. The "call to arms" of the city of Slany, which was really backwood outskirts at the time lists sometimes "boge" as something what crossbowmen brought as the secondary weapon. Hovewer serious bowshooting was pretty much dead platform by 1375 in czech lands and everybody used crossbows, for various factors, mostly rise of cities in power and lesser demands in training of militia in crossbow skills in comparition to bow and also fact that warfare in czech has been always "fortress" warfare, something for which crossbow is better. I havent found any mention of husites using bows, only crossbows and very wide use of early guns. There is only one, single remark of "bows" in "Husites chronicle" by Vavřinec z Březové - in comparition to description of crossbowmen, which is on every second line.
This hovever would told you anybody on Czech LH forums like livinghistory or Brodec.

If you want to reenact Czech bowman, you have to go back to days of Czech duchy, there is plenty of archery description in Cosmas and off course, there were battles in which Czech archers played rather significant role in defeating the frankish (read german) heavy armored knights. (At the time in mailie). (See batle of Brudek, battle of Lodenice and various descriptions of skirmishers using bows with great effect.) Also there is well known depiction of Czech archers by Peter de Ebulo (Siege of Miland) where Czech fought for emperror Friedrich Barbarossa (which secured kingship for Vratislav I.). Those archers are typically early medieval archers, no helmet or armour, but big recurved bows (whcih remind me for some reasons finnish/russian all wood composites).
(On related note there are also bawarian crossbowmen, with simple crossbows, clearly "better" units as the wear helmets.)

Jaro

There is graphic depiction of heros death in Cosmas, which one of my friends has penchant of citing quite often : "....and thus noble warrior Dětříšek z Buzů made heavy onset on the enemy, forward in the ranks, untill he stood alone, bodies massing left and right, flailing his sword as a lion. Thus they shot him with bows, many a bowmen, but he fought very valiantly until, full of arrows, image of a hedgehog died in midst of enemies."

« Last Edit: January 22, 2010, 05:49:27 am by Jaro »

Miles

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Re: Anyone know what type of Warbows the 14-15th century Bohemians
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2010, 12:03:15 am »
Thank You Jaro,
:)

I was thinking that some thing was getting lost in the book's translation on the english end.

I under stand that in russian there is a lot of ambiguity or double meaning in sources because they use a word that
translates as 'shooter' to mean archer, crossbowman and musketeer.

Is it the same with the old Czech word for archer do they have the some meaning for crossbowmen and bowmen?

Thank you again,
Miles

Offline Jaro

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Re: Anyone know what type of Warbows the 14-15th century Bohemians
« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2010, 09:28:41 am »
Miles, I think you should really ask on Brodec, since debating czech etymology in english is as we say "with left leg behind the right ear, if you catch my drift.
Hovever "střelců, střelcův" can in the context of hustites mean both crossbowmen and gunners, but not archers as it would be exception and if witnessed, we would get remark of obsolete weapon being used from chroniclers. Also "kušník" can be found.
"I strielaly z lučišt´i kušišt´" wrote Vavřinec, very specifically about something else that crossbow or gun being used.
On other hand I think that crossbow would be rather expensive before 1350´ as the buing power of city militia was not yet that established.
Czech were rather quick to adopt the crossbow s weapon of choice for siege warfare at the end of 14 century - something I think they brought from Italy campaigns of Charles the IV. and Henry of Luxemberg.

Cheers.

Jaro

« Last Edit: January 23, 2010, 05:30:40 pm by Jaro »

Miles

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Re: Anyone know what type of Warbows the 14-15th century Bohemians
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2010, 04:11:18 pm »
Jaro, thank you for your help...

Cheers
Miles