English Longbow

The English longbow was as tall as it’s archer. It required a lot of strength and skill to wield the English longbow. In order to have the strength and skill to wield the longbow training began when the archers were young boys and as the boys grew so did their longbow to match their height. The English longbow fired 300 yards 6 arrows per minute. The arrows could penetrate armor.  Demand for wood to make the longbow depleted forests all over continental Europe. England purchased over 12 million arrows for their bows in 18 years. English laws were passed making archery practice mandatory. Then Guns began replacing the bow by the 1600s.

Blast Furnace

The earliest blast furnaces were probably developed in China 2,000 years ago but they didn’t spread in adoption. The first big advance in bloomery design occurred in Spain in the 700s AD. Iron that got too hot in a bloomery turned into pig iron which was hard to refine. Water-powered bellows helped force enormous air volume into the bloomeries which made them very hot. The  first blast furnaces appeared in Switzerland and Sweden around 1300 AD. The blast furnace converts iron ore pig iron effently.     

Plate Armor

Chain mail had been around for centuries and was an effective defense against medieval weapons but it was expensive and labor intensive to make. But then a coat of metal plates evolved during the 1200s it was gradually refined to become more form-fitting and to cover more parts of the body. The first suits of plate armor were developed by 1420 AD. It protected the knight from most kinds of attacks, even arrows. Plate armor was light and flexible so the knights could run, jump and pretty much do what they can do without the armor. It’s use declined in the 1600s. 

   Spurs 

No one knows when the spur was invented. Early versions were worn by the Greeks and Romans. The spur began to take on its modern form in England in the 13th century. It arose out of a desire to better communicate with your horse. Improves rider’s control over the horse. It increases the horse’s sensitivity to leg commands.

The Most Interesting Thing I Learned About This Week 

The most interesting thing I learned about this week is the spur because I got to learn a little bit more about the history of the spur because I use spurs all the time.

So this is a rowel spur I have at my house.

  This is my mom old barrel racing spur which is a lighter version of the spur it is a bumper spur.