The History of the Crossbow

Podcast Transcript

One of the most devastating weapons in the medieval world was the crossbow.

It evolved from an early hand-held projectile weapon into a powerful tool of warfare that shaped battles for centuries.

It was one of the few weapons powerful enough to stop a fully armored knight.

Yet, despite its power, it wasn’t necessarily the most powerful ranged weapon on a battlefield and when something better came along, it was quickly replaced.

Learn more about the crossbow and how it influenced history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

The story of the crossbow begins, unsurprisingly, with the bow and arrow.

If you remember back to my episode on the bow and arrow, it is one of humanity’s oldest inventions. It is so old that we aren’t really even sure when or where it was developed.

There is a good chance it was developed in Africa before humans migrated out of the continent.

The earliest verifiable crossbows emerged in ancient China during the Zhou Dynasty. Archaeological evidence from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, dated to around 500 BC, included bronze crossbow triggers, confirming their early use. Chinese texts mention the weapon even earlier, potentially dating to the 7th century BC

Chinese crossbows consisted of a wooden stock, a bow (prod), a trigger mechanism, and a bronze or wooden latch system.

The Chinese crossbow, called the “nu” (?), became a revolutionary military technology.

What made it so significant was its ability to be mastered quickly, unlike traditional bows which required years of training. A crossbowman could become effective with minimal instruction, allowing rulers to field large armies of ranged troops without extensive training periods.

This was the initial innovation which made the crossbow so powerful. A skilled archer with a bow was still more lethal than someone firing a crossbow. So, at least the early crossbows, weren’t about building a better product.

It was about creating something you could put into the hands of farmers and peasants, which would allow them to contribute to an army with almost no training.

Becoming a skilled archer took time. You needed to physically develop the muscles to pull back a bow with a heavy draw weight. If you could develop those skills, you could fire more arrows with more accuracy.

Crossbowmen, on the other hand, couldn’t fire nearly as rapidly. Pulling the drawstring back usually had to be done with a tool or with their feet. Once it was pulled back, however, you could lock it in place, which didn’t require the strength of a bow.

So, as the old adage goes, quantity has a quality all its own.

By the time of the Han Dynasty in the 3rd century BC, Chinese armies were using mass-produced crossbows in large formations. These weapons were instrumental in military campaigns, including those against the Xiongnu nomads.

The crossbow didn’t stay in China for long. It eventually spread to Southeast Asia.

The spread of the crossbow to Southeast Asia likely occurred through multiple avenues, including trade, warfare, and cultural exchange. Given that China had already developed advanced crossbow technology by the Warring States period, its influence likely extended southward through trade routes and military campaigns, particularly during the expansion of the Han Dynasty into Vietnam. Southeast Asian cultures, such as the Chams and Burmese, adapted crossbow technology for hunting and warfare.

While China was developing its crossbow tradition, similar weapons appeared independently in the Mediterranean world. The ancient Greeks created the “gastraphetes” or belly-bow, around the 4th century BCE. This early crossbow required the user to brace it against their abdomen to draw the string using their body weight—hence the name.

I’ve seen some theories that the crossbow came to Greece via India from the conquests of Alexander the Great, however, the preponderance of evidence points to an independent discovery in Greece.

The Romans later developed their version called the “arcuballista” or “manuballista,” though it never became as central to their military doctrine as it did in China.

The Romans did take the basic idea to create torsion-based siege engines, such as the ballista and scorpio, but did not widely use handheld crossbows in battle.

One possible reason for this lack of crossbow use by Romans might have been because the Romans had a professional army with full-time soldiers and didn’t rely on part-time soldiers as much as the Chinese did.

The Byzantine Empire maintained and improved upon Roman crossbow designs. Their military manuals describe crossbows as important defensive weapons, particularly for naval warfare and fortress defense. The Byzantines implemented mechanical spanning mechanisms that increased both power and rate of fire.

Crossbows became widely adopted in Western Europe around the 10th century. Much of the reason for their adoption was the exact same reason they were popularized in China over a thousand years earlier.

Their prevalence grew dramatically during the Norman Conquest period. The Normans used crossbows during the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The Bayeux Tapestry, created in 1070, depicts crossbowmen in the Battle of Hastings, revealing their tactical importance by this time.

By the 12th century, the use of crossbows had grown so much, and the crossbows had become so powerful that it became a concern.

In 1139, the Second Lateran Council, convened by Pope Innocent II, issued a ban on the use of crossbows in warfare between Christian forces, declaring the weapon “hateful to God.” This decision stemmed from concerns over the crossbow’s lethality and ease of use, which allowed relatively unskilled soldiers to kill heavily armored knights from a distance, undermining the traditional chivalric order of medieval warfare.

Unlike swords or longbows, which required years of training and personal skill, the crossbow was a powerful equalizer, threatening the dominance of the knightly class that formed the backbone of feudal military structures.

Despite the official ban, crossbows continued to be widely used across Europe, particularly in conflicts such as the Crusades, where the prohibition was largely ignored against non-Christian adversaries. Ultimately, the decree failed to curb the weapon’s use, as crossbows remained a staple of European warfare until the 16th century.

Technical developments from the 12th to the 15th centuries made the crossbow more powerful and even easier to use.

The Stirrup was a metal loop attached to the front of the bow where the user could place their foot while drawing the string, enabling greater tension.

The Goat’s Foot Lever was a mechanical device that made drawing easier, increasing both power and the user’s ability to reload quickly.

The Cranequin was a sophisticated rack-and-pinion mechanism that could generate tremendous tension, resulting in crossbows capable of penetrating plate armor at close range.

The Windlass was a crank-operated device that could produce the highest tension of all medieval spanning methods, creating extremely powerful weapons.

The biggest innovation, however, was probably the development of steel prods. By the 15th century, all-steel crossbow limbs came into use, dramatically increasing power and range.

The steel prod crossbows were some of the most powerful handheld ranged weapons of their time, with draw weights ranging between 700 and 1,500 pounds

To put that into perspective, the historical heaviest draw weight of a longbow was somewhere around 150-180 pounds. The highest draw weights of modern compound bows are usually only around 80 pounds.

These heavy crossbows were powerful enough to pierce full plate armor worn by knights, which provided a huge check on the other technology of the era.

The Genoese crossbowmen were among the most renowned mercenary units of medieval Europe, highly sought after for their exceptional skill in using the crossbow. Originating from the Republic of Genoa, these soldiers were extensively trained and often employed by various European powers, including the French, Holy Roman Empire, and Papal States, particularly during the 12th to 15th centuries.

They played a crucial role in major battles, such as the Battle of Crécy in 1346, during the Hundred Years’ War, where they faced the English longbowmen but suffered heavy losses due to poor battlefield conditions and a lack of proper support. Genoese crossbowmen were known for their discipline and the use of large pavise shields, which provided cover while they reloaded their slow but powerful crossbows. Unlike regular infantry, they were often well-equipped with armor, making them resilient in combat.

Here too, a trained longbowman was far more deadly than a crossbowman, but becoming an expert at the longbow took a very long time. If you remember back to my episode on the English longbow, the entire nation of England was structured around developing longbowmen, which took an enormous amount of work and coordination.

A trained longbowman could fire between 6 to 12 arrows per minute, whereas a crossbowman could only fire about two bolts per minute.

While Europe was refining mechanical crossbows, China continued its own parallel development path. The Song Dynasty, which existed from the 10th to the 13th centuries, produced sophisticated crossbows.

The Chinese repeating crossbow, known as the Chu-ko-nu, was a unique and innovative weapon that allowed for rapid-fire shooting by utilizing a lever-action mechanism. Unlike traditional crossbows, which required manual reloading after each shot, the Chu-ko-nu featured a box magazine mounted on top of the bow, which fed bolts into the firing mechanism as the user operated a lever.

This allowed soldiers to fire multiple projectiles in quick succession, making it an effective weapon for suppressive fire rather than precision strikes. Though its individual bolts lacked the power to penetrate heavy armor—partially due to its relatively low draw weight—it was highly effective in skirmishes and ambushes, especially when used with poisoned bolts to increase lethality.

The Chinese multiple-bolt crossbow was a specialized siege weapon designed to fire multiple projectiles simultaneously, making it an effective tool for defensive fortifications and battlefield suppression. Unlike standard crossbows, which fired a single bolt at a time, these weapons featured wide prods and multi-slot mechanisms that allowed them to launch several bolts in one shot, covering a broader area and increasing the likelihood of hitting multiple targets.

The Chinese continued to use crossbows well into the 19th century.

The 14th and 15th centuries represented the crossbow’s golden age in Europe. Professional crossbowmen were essential components of any serious military force. With steel prods and mechanical spanning devices, these weapons reached their technological apex.

However, technology changed and the age of the crossbow eventually came to an end.

Guns gradually replaced crossbows due to their superior power, range, and ease of use, marking a fundamental shift in military technology. Early firearms, such as the arquebus, began appearing in Europe and China during the 14th and 15th centuries, and despite their initial drawbacks—such as slow reload times, inaccuracy, and vulnerability to wet conditions—they offered distinct advantages over crossbows.

One of the key reasons for this shift was that firearms required less training than crossbows, which, although easier to use than traditional bows, still demanded considerable skill to reload efficiently in battle. In contrast, a musket could be mass-produced and operated effectively with minimal training, allowing armies to field large numbers of conscripted soldiers.

Additionally, the penetrative power of gunpowder weapons far exceeded that of even the strongest steel crossbows; a musket ball could pierce plate armor that crossbow bolts struggled to breach. As gunpowder technology improved, firearms became more reliable, faster to reload, and deadlier at longer ranges, making crossbows obsolete in most military contexts by the 17th century.

Today, crossbows are still around. They are popular in hunting and target shooting, although they are not nearly as popular as compound bows.

Many modern crossbow designs use compound bow technology for enhanced power and accuracy.

Some special forces and law enforcement units still use crossbows for silent operations.

The Chinese military has reportedly equipped some units with modern tactical crossbows.

The crossbow represents one of history’s most important cases of military technology transfer and parallel development. That similar designs emerged independently in different civilizations demonstrates how certain technological principles can arise multiple times when solving the same problem.

Ultimately, the biggest impact of the crossbow was democratizing warfare—allowing minimally trained soldiers to threaten heavily armored elites—upending the dominance of wealthy, armored knights.