Thread: Announcing The SRP Logo Limited Edition Straight Razor

Originally Posted by MJC

Thank you for pointing this out Bruno.

If anyone is interested I would recommend the book "The Crooked Stick"

Once I learned more about the history of the English Longbow I came to understand how much of an impact it had on "our" (USA) history.
More info than I could possibly lay out here - but the bullets:

• England has to be defended
• Does not have the resources for a conventional Army
• Everyone is "enlisted" (required) to master the Longbow - and demonstrate that skill
• In exchange the Crown changes how they treat these "Common Men" - they become the Band of Brothers at Agincourt for instance (Magna Carta, Common Law etc.)
• Why? because they have the means to turn that weapon against said Crown should they be treated unfairly (And you see the reason for the 2nd Amendment very clearly - this was in the Founders frame of reference)

Don't put too much faith in that particular book. It perpetuates a great number of myths and fallacies, I'm afraid. See for example: www.deremilitari.org

Sadly I'd argue strongly that the longbow did *not* have the influence suggested here, particularly in view of Magna Carta. (Which incidentally had VERY little to do with enshrining the rights of the 'Common Man' and everything to do with protecting the rights of propertied landowners, i.e. the nobility.) Magna Carta came into being in 1215. The archetypal 'English' yew longbow wasn't English at all. It was originally Welsh and was largely adopted by the English following the Welsh wars of independence under Llywelyn ap Gruffydd who died in 1282. The bow that was so effective in the Hundred Years War, and therefore to which so many myths have been attributed, was this yew longbow. Other types of bows were used prior to the yew longbow, but apart from eastern composite bows, none could match their power.

Anyway, there's problem 1 of the argument: Magna Carta came into effect in 1215, the English didn't really make effective use of the yew longbow until the Hundred Years War, specifically the battle of Crécy in 1436. So the longbow had nothing to do with Magna carta which in turn had nothing really to do with the Common Man anyway.

As for fear of the commons and the need to treat them with respect, I would direct readers' attention to the aftermath of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The 'Common Man' did rise in arms. They took prisoners, they executed Simon Sudbury (Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor of England), they burned the Savoy and hunted John of Gaunt. And then they were crushed. When the 'Common Man' did rise in arms against the Crown - even in late 14th-century England when the longbow was at the height of its power - they were crushed like bugs. Thousands were hunted down and executed. In short the Crown had little fear of the Commons, even after they had been training with the yew longbow for generations.

As for the 'Band of Brothers', don't forget that was written by Shakespeare around 184 years after the battle itself. Henry didn't say those words, Shakespeare wrote them.

Oh, and one last thing: Robin Hood would most likely have shot what was conventionally called a shortbow. Although the origins of the Robin Hood myths are a whole other thread entirely, he, too, appears prior to the English adoption of the longbow.

EDIT: I should add - if one is interested in the material history of the longbow, this looks like a good book. (i.e. the bow itself, its construction and use, etc). It just has a bunch of problems in terms of wider social, political, cultural history

Cangooner exits left, removing his history prof hat, and returning us to regularly scheduled razor talk...