(This post is related to the one
I wrote on bows earlier on. You can find that one here)
In the time of The Black Prince
(roughly the 1300s), archers were pretty much respected for the skill they had,
especially with the longbow. And it was one heck of an art; archers had to
build up arm strength from childhood; practice for years, and at that period,
would probably never do anything else in life other than shoot arrows. Live an archer, die an archer, and more often than not, the latter would be on the battlefield with your bow in your hands. Glorious, indeed.
Of skeletons found that date back
to medieval times, it is fairly easy to identify the ones that belonged to
longbow archers. Apparently, the spines would be all twisted out of shape, and
the bones in the right arm near the elbows were reportedly deformed. Kind of morbid, I know, but it goes to show how difficult their training was, and how much a part of their lives it played. If you really want to know more about this, you can go here. Otherwise, moving on...
