History

Just started reading about the Hundred Years War, which was actually 116 years long, between England and France.  Need to research some technical details about crossbows and armour, and get a map of 14th century France.  Where is Crecy?  Guyenne?  Agenais?  Edward III pawned the crown of England to go to war, and Philip VI of France did quite well by staying put until one side ran out of money to pay the men.  An odd way to fight.

The hemp used to make the bow string on a longbow (which was a Welsh invention, not an English one) had to have a breaking tension of 600 pounds.  No wonder the arrows could go through a church door.  With a firing rate of ten or twelve arrows a minute, a company of longbowmen would have been unapproachable in battle.  Only the crossbows could attempt it, and they could only fire four quarrels a minute.

The 1330's equivalent of a tank was a knight on a warhorse.  These were heavy horses trained to kick, bite and trample, strong enough to carry a knight in full armour, plus sword, knife, and other weapons.  Probably not fast moving, and definitely carrying their own armour.