It is not clear when the crossbow was invented, but it is believed to have appeared in China first by 7th century BCE and Greece around the 5th or 4th century BCE.
In China, the crossbow was one of the primary military weapons from the Warring States period until the end of the Han dynasty, when armies were composed of up to 30 to 50 percent crossbowmen. The crossbow lost much of its popularity after the fall of the Han dynasty, likely because of the rise of the more resilient heavy cavalry during the Six Dynasties. One Tang dynasty source recommends a bow-to-crossbow ratio of five to one as well as the utilization of the countermarch to make up for the crossbow archer's lack of speed. The crossbow countermarch technique was further refined in the Song dynasty, but crossbow usage in the military continued to decline after the Mongol conquest of China. Although the crossbow never regained the prominence it once had under the Han, it was never completely phased out either. Even as late as the 17th century AD, military theorists were still recommending it for wider military adoption, but production had already shifted in favour of firearms and traditional composite bows.
In the Western world, a crossbow known as the gastraphetes was described by the Greco-Roman scientist Heron of Alexandria in the 1st century AD. He believed it was the forerunner of the catapult, which places its appearance sometime prior to the 4th century BC during the Classical period. Further evidence of crossbows in ancient Europe are two stone relief carvings from a Roman grave in Gaul and some vague references by Vegetius. A mounted crossbow machine, the oxybeles was used in the 4th century BC. Pictish imagery from medieval Scotland dated between the 6th and 9th centuries AD do show what appear to be crossbows, but only for hunting, and not military usage. It is unclear how widespread crossbows were in Europe prior to the medieval period or if they were even used for warfare. The small body of evidence and the context they provide suggest that the ancient European crossbow was primarily a hunting tool or minor siege weapon, such as the ballista, but these are torsion engines and are not considered crossbows. Crossbows are not mentioned in European sources again until 947 AD, as a French weapon during the siege of Senlis. From the 11th century AD onward, crossbows and crossbowmen occupied a position of high status in medieval European militaries, with the exception of the English and their continued use of the longbow. During the 16th century AD, military crossbows in Europe were superseded by gunpowder weaponry such as cannons and muskets. Hunters, however, continued to carry the crossbow for another 150 years, favoring it for its silence.
It is speculated that medieval European crossbows originate from China, but some differences exist between the two trigger mechanisms used in European and Chinese crossbows.
Terminology
A crossbowman or crossbow-maker is sometimes called an arbalist or arbalest.
Arrow, bolt and quarrel are all suitable terms for crossbow projectiles.
The lath, also called the prod, is the bow of the crossbow. According to W.F. Peterson, the prod came into usage in the 19th century AD, as a result of mistranslating rodd in a 16th-century AD list of crossbow effects.
The stock is the wooden body on which the bow is mounted, although the medieval tiller is also used.
The lock refers to the release mechanism, including the string, sears, trigger lever, and housing.
China
Warring States In terms of archaeological evidence, crossbow locks made of cast bronze have been found in China dating to around 650 BC. They have also been found in Tombs 3 and 12 at Qufu, Shandong, previously the capital of Lu, and date to 6th century BC.You (1994), 80.A Crossbow Mechanism with Some Unique Features from Shandong, China . Asian Traditional Archery Research Network. Retrieved on 2008-08-20. Bronze crossbow bolts dating from the mid-5th century BC have been found at a Chu burial site in Yutaishan, Jiangling County, Hubei Province. pp. 153, 157–158. Other early finds of crossbows were discovered in Tomb 138 at Saobatang, Hunan Province, and date to mid-4th century BC.Mao (1998), 109–110.Wright (2001), 159. It's possible that these early crossbows used spherical pellets for ammunition. A Western-Han mathematician and music theorist, Jing Fang (78–37 BC), compared the moon to the shape of a round crossbow bullet.Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 3, Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd, p. 227. Zhuangzi also mentions crossbow bullets.
The earliest Chinese documents mentioning a crossbow were texts from the 4th to 3rd centuries BC attributed to the followers of Mozi. This source refers to the use of a giant crossbow between the 6th and 5th centuries BC, corresponding to the late Spring and Autumn period. Sun Tzu's The Art of War (first appearance dated between 500 BC to 300 BCJames Clavell, The Art of War, prelude) refers to the characteristics and use of crossbows in chapters 5 and 12 respectively, and compares a drawn crossbow to 'might.'
The state of Chu favourited elite armoured crossbow units known for their endurance, and were capable of marching 'without resting.' Wei's elite forces were capable of marching over in one day while wearing heavy armour, a large crossbow with 50 bolts, a ji strapped to their back, buckle helmets to their heads, a side sword, and three days worth of rations. Those who met these standards earned an exemption from corvée labour and taxes for their entire family.
Han dynasty The Huainanzi advises its readers not to use crossbows in marshland where the surface is soft and it is hard to arm the crossbow with the foot. The Records of the Grand Historian, completed in 94 BC, mentions that Sun Bin defeated Pang Juan by ambushing him with a body of crossbowmen at the Battle of Maling. The Book of Han, finished 111 AD, lists two military treatises on crossbows.
In the 2nd century AD, Chen Yin gave advice on shooting with a crossbow in the Wuyue Chunqiu:
It's clear from surviving inventory lists in Gansu and Xinjiang that the crossbow was greatly favoured by the Han dynasty. For example, in one batch of slips there are only two mentions of bows, but thirty mentions of crossbows. Crossbows were mass-produced in state armouries with designs improving as time went on, such as the use of a mulberry wood stock and brass; a crossbow in 1068 AD could pierce a tree at 140 paces.Peers, 130–131. Crossbows were used in numbers as large as 50,000 starting from the Qin dynasty and upwards of several hundred thousand during the Han. According to one authority, the crossbow had become "nothing less than the standard weapon of the Han armies," by the second century BC. Han era carved stone images and paintings also contain images of horsemen wielding crossbows. Han soldiers were required to pull an "entry level" crossbow with a draw-weight of to qualify as a crossbowman.
+ Han dynasty inventory list (13 BC) Item Number For Imperial Use Crossbow 537,707 11,181 Crossbow bolts 11,458,424 34,265 Bow 77,521 Arrows 1,199,316 511
Later history
After the Han dynasty, the crossbow lost favour until it experienced a mild resurgence during the Tang dynasty, under which the ideal expeditionary army of 20,000 included 2,200 archers and 2,000 crossbowmen. Li Jing and Li Quan prescribed 20 per cent of the infantry to be armed with standard crossbows, which could hit the target half the time at a distance of , but had an effective range of . A Tang dynasty military manual dating to 759 shows a technique for crossbowmen to engage in volley fire, with rotating ranks of crossbowmen taking turns to load and shoot, coordinated by drumbeat.
During the Song dynasty, the government attempted to restrict the spread of military crossbows and sought ways to keep armour and crossbows out of private homes. Despite the ban on certain types of crossbows, the weapon experienced an upsurge in civilian usage as both a hunting weapon and pastime. The "romantic young people from rich families, and others who had nothing particular to do" formed crossbow shooting clubs as a way to pass time.
The Yuan dynasty employed specialist siege units called the "Artillery Army" or "Crossbow Army" as well as indigenous troops who used crossbow bolts tipped with poison. Guard units also employed crossbows.
During the late Ming dynasty, no crossbows were mentioned to have been produced in the three-year period from 1619 to 1622. With 21,188,366 taels, the Ming manufactured 25,134 cannons, 8,252 small guns, 6,425 muskets, 4,090 culverins, 98,547 polearms and swords, 26,214 great "horse decapitator" swords, 42,800 bows, 1,000 great axes, 2,284,000 arrows, 180,000 fire arrows, 64,000 bow strings, and hundreds of transport carts.
Military crossbows were armed by treading, or basically placing the feet on the bow stave and drawing it using one's arms and back muscles. During the Song dynasty, stirrups were added for ease of drawing and to mitigate damage to the bow. Alternatively the bow could also be drawn by a belt claw attached to the waist, but this was done lying down, as was the case for all large crossbows. Winch-drawing was used for the large mounted crossbows as seen below, but evidence for its use in Chinese hand-crossbows is scant.
Army Chariot Crossbow Bow Cavalry Assault Maneuver Ji (polearm) Spear Basic infantry Supply Total Ideal WS 6,000 2,000 2,000 10,000 Ideal WS Zhao 1,300 100,000 13,000 50,000 164,300 Anti-Xiongnu Han (97 BC) 70,000 140,000 210,000 Later Zhao 27,000 60,000 87,000 Former Qin 270,000 250,000 350,000 870,000 Basic Sui expedition 4,000 8,000 8,000 20,000 Basic early Tang expedition 2,000 2,200 4,000 2,900 2,900 6,000 20,000
Advantages and disadvantages
The creation of the crossbow allowed archers to use bows of greater strength, accuracy, and stability, but at the cost of shooting fewer arrows.
In 169 BC, Chao Cuo observed that the crossbow combined with the carriage were useful in fighting against cavalry. The carriages provided protection from cavalry charges while the crossbows outranged and penetrated deeper than the Xiongnu's short bows. The crossbow bolts could not be used by regular bows if they are picked up. However, Chao Cuo notes that during his time the crossbow had been neglected, which he suggested required reconsideration owing to the advantages they provided over the Xiongnu. He believed that with the protection of armored soldiers, crossbows could be used to defeat the Xiongnu because their leather armor and wooden shields could not stand up to the crossbow bolts. Cao Cuo suggested using crossbow armed cavalrymen exhaust their supply of bolts shooting the Xiongnu before dismounting to fight on foot, which the Xiongnu were not adept at.
According to the Song dynasty scholar Zeng Gongliang (998–1078), the crossbow was most useful for piercing hard objects, shooting at a long distance, and defending mountain passes. However it was slow and a single man could only shoot three times before having to engage in hand to hand fighting. Military commanders during the Tang dynasty protected the front line with long bills and great shields to repel the charge and made crossbowmen carry sabres and long-hafted weapons to engage in melee combat. The crossbows were thrown away and a rearguard was instructed to collect them.