bows and arrows

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2013/03/24/70162-a-real-life-archer-faster-than-legolas/?fb_source=pubv1

That was amazing ! And in no way impossible for the times that people used arrows. Ive got a whole new perspective on archery now, thanks Norc !

i found that article really interesting too

Yeah I used to know a superb archer who did classes at the Holiday Park I worked at years ago. Saw some amazing stuff totally changed my view of it.
Think how deadly and effecive it must have been in battle with 200-400 archers of that skill level? Skies literaly did turn dark with the hail of arrows!

Does take yer breath away indeed. As you say Petty, 2 0r 300 marksmen with a bow could have a battle half over in a very short space of time, they really were invaluable. wonder if it reflected in their wages or living standards ?

Yeah and even at a volley every second thats a lot of death raining down at you- 200 long bowmen could fire about 1000 arrows every 5 seconds- and if they are good enough to get 2 shots off a second they'd double that output.
Its no wonder Henry V beat the French at Agincourt at odds of 10-1 against given he was the only one with long bow archers. It really was the weapon of mass destruction of its time- so long as you had enough of them.

I think archers were treated beter- but I am not certain- I do know that when the long bow came in in England it was a requirement of each noble to have a set amount of archers in full time pay.
And imagine someone who just practised all the time with one- theyd be deadly in a battle.

Gives a new slant to the Robin Hood story. If it was true,it wouldnt be such a "fairy tale" . Not so funny now you realise the damage a simple item like a bow & a few arrows can cause ! Id be worried also !

jonas armstrong

Ok then. She's a superhero.

Now that IS focus, strength & control

Did Harold Godwinson not lose the battle with Will.I.AM the conqueror because he left his archers up North? Just had a battle with another Harold (although I think Harald) and done ok there, then rushed back down South in that really famous (possibly most famoustest of pre-bullet British scuffles on British soil) that I cant think of the name of.....

Hastings!!!!!

Yeah- he went and routed a Norwegan invasion I think against a Harold and it was on his return that the French invaded.

And we've been paying taxes ever since ! Land grabbing, favouring their own kind over us British, turning us into impoverished slaves, Bloody frog hoppers ! I bet Cameron can trace his ancestry back to William the Conk ! Hes got the right attributes,

Will 1.0 was a real bastard.

Oh yeah, busy grabbing & taxing & plotting to kill each other to gain more wealth & land. Father plotting to kill son, son plotting & often succeeding to kill dad ! Sounds like a housing estate ! lol.

Well that, and also he was a literal bastard.

And not forgotting one of the main reasons the English dont really seem to know who they are these days ( and a driving factor behind Tolkien writing his books) is that the French destroyed their history and myths and religions and made the natives a serf class.
This is why you are best getting tanked up with buckie, stripping naked, painting yourself blue and charging screaming like a mad man at any passing strangers. People soon think twice about invading a country filled with such people.

The Anglo-Saxons themselves had a hand in all that too, though. A lot of the changes you mentioned occurred well before 1066.

Im my dark,distant past I admit I got "tanked" up, ran naked thru town,(well, a park actually) yelled badly a song, greeted passing strangers & all I got was a ride home in a "black & white" & was given a good telling off ! (never did find my clothes ?)

Proof?

Ha ha, no mobiles/cameras in those days ! (more like slate board & chalk)