Crossbow Archives

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Richard the Lionheart’s Victory on the Road to Jerusalem

By Eric Niderost

It was the middle of June 1191, and the Third Crusade was bogged down before the walls of Acre, the largest city and chief port of the former Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Read more

An artist of a much later age attempted to depict classical artillery in the painting below. Greeks devised weaponry that launched bolts and stones, often with great accuracy.

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Types of Weapons Used by Ancient Greece

By Mike Markowitz

When we think “catapult,” we imagine the types of weapons used for hurling rocks, dead plague victims, or unlucky cows against a castle. Read more

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The Composite Bow: The Medieval Precursor to the Rifle

By O’Brien Browne

Orderly rows of Sumerian soldiers stretched across the grassy plain, their conical bronze helmets hard and bright under the sizzling sun. Read more

Wounded but triumphant, Grand Master Pierre D’Aubusson receives homage from his worshipful Knights Hospitallers after beating back the Turkish siege of Rhodes.

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Siege of Rhodes: The Will Of The Hospitallers

By William McPeak

Although the great Crusades were over by 1309 ad, one old crusading order continued to evolve, flourish, and make enemies—the Knights Hospitallers of St. Read more

Cortés, wielding his sword beneath his red battle flag, leads an attack against Mexican coastal Indians at Tabasco. The Indians were horrified by their first sight of men on horseback.

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Hernándo Cortés on the plains of Cintla

By Charles Hilbert

In March 1519, a small square of 400 Spanish adventurers under the command of Hernándo Cortés stood at bay on the plain of Cintla in Tabasco, Mexico. Read more

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Edward Longshanks & William Wallace at Falkirk

By John Walker

After the disastrous Battle of Dunbar in April 1296, the Scottish revolt against England stalled for more than a year until a rebel force led by Andrew de Moray and William Wallace rekindled the flames of rebellion with a stunning victory over the English at Stirling Bridge. Read more

Genghis Khan and his Mongol hordes attack a Tangut (Xi) fortress in western China in ad 1205 in this highly imaginative 16th-century Indian painting.

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The Mongol Hordes Invade China

By Steven M. Johnson

In ad 1205, Mongol ruler Genghis Khan, having completed the unification of his Gobi Desert empire, began looking south toward China for further conquest. Read more

The Chinese Army of the mid-19th century was in serious decline, its decay a reflection of the Qing Dynasty that produced it.

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The Decline of the Chinese Army in the 19th Century

by Eric Niderost

The Qing originally sprang from the Juchen peoples, hard-riding tribesmen who occupied the territory north of Korea. In the 17th century Nurhachi of the Ansin Gioro clan united the Juchen tribes under his leadership. Read more

In the 15th Century, the Swiss relied on shock tactics, seeking to deliver an abrupt and brutal assault to win their battles.

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The History of Swiss Pikemen

by Jonathan North

Fighting mainly as pikemen, the Swiss of the 15th Century used their iconic 10-foot pikes in an offensive capacity. Read more

The 15th century was the golden age for medieval knight armor. Warriors would often cover themselves in a suit of arms made of iron plate, enveloping their bodies in a metal coating.

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Medieval Knight Armor: The Iron Plate Suit of Arms

Brooke C. Stoddard

The golden age of armor lasted from about 1400 to 1550. And what an age it was. Who can look at a fine suit of armor from this period and not feel a mixture of pity and awe? Read more

From Around the Network

The Army Nurse Corps: Caring for the Casualties in WWII

What Makes the Battle of Chancellorsville Both Glorious and Tragic

Walt Whitman—The Civil War’s One-Man Sanitary Commission

The Panzer VIII Maus: The Heaviest Tank Ever Built