"It's a bit embarrassing when you're trying to threaten someone and your bolt falls off your crossbow". Sounds like a scene from a Monty Python sketch.
@@ModernKnight I am absolutely stoked by the fact that I came across your channel. I have always loved things medieval and English and your channel has provided me with information that i would not have even considered. Wonderful content and great delivery. Thank you
@@ModernKnight Being a student of history at the university of hannover i love your content, its well researched and i like your collabs with experts on many topics to make sure you deliver valid information on what you are covering, keep up the great work!
Prose and Tea Surely there were places where you could stop by and pick up something cheap to eat, and there were definitely taverns where you could go out for a meal.
"Nor should I forget to mention that there is in London, on the river bank amidst the ships, the wine for sale, and the storerooms for wine, a public cookshop. On a daily basis there, depending on the season, can be found fried or boiled foods and dishes, fish large and small, meat - lower quality for the poor, finer cuts for the wealthy - game and fowl (large and small). If friends arrive unexpectedly at the home of some citizen and they, tired and hungry after their journey, prefer not to wait until food may be got in and cooked, or "till servants bring water for hands and bread", they can in the meantime pay a quick visit to the riverside, where anything they might desire is immediately available. No matter how great the number of soldiers or travellers coming in or going out of the city, at whatever hour of day or night, so that those arriving do not have to go without a meal for too long or those departing leave on empty stomachs, they can choose to detour there and take whatever refreshment each needs. Those with a fancy for delicacies can obtain for themselves the meat of goose, guinea-hen or woodcock - finding what they're after is no great chore, since all the delicacies are set out in front of them. This is an exemplar of a public cookshop that provides a service to a city and is an asset to city life. Hence, as we read in Plato's Gorgias, cookery is a flattery and imitation of medicine, the fourth of the arts of civic life." -- William Fitz Stephen, ca 1174-1183 users.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/florilegium/introduction/intro01.html
"Over it all the practiced cries of the street vendors ring out as they walk around with trays of food, calling out 'hot peascods' or 'Rushes fair and green,' 'Hot sheep's feet' or 'Ribs of beef and many a pie.'" The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer p. 10 This isn't a primary source, but it references an early 15th century poem "London Lickpenny," and the end of the Prologue of Piers Plowman (Cookes and heore knaves cryen "Hote pies, hote! "Goode gees and grys! Go we dyne, go we!")
Bolt misses, Lifts cross bow "O you in trouble now fam!" Holds bow gangster style "Say goodbye you Protestant cu....(Bolt falls out)......hum.....It seams we are at an impasse lad!"
Excellent point. I've read, (somewhere, sometime), that quite a few "Old West" cattle rustlers were eventually caught because of the abandoned slower cattle they left on their trail (although, I've always thought the hoof prints of the herd they'd taken, would've been a bigger give-away!). Maybe the brands gave more evidence to convict them when finally caught? And who knows, the writer may've just been full of BS!!!
@@keeristdiablo540 the environment around the cattle trails is dry, sandy or rocky, and very windy. I'm not sure how hard exactly it would be to track hundreds of stolen cattle by their hoofprints, but under those conditions it's probably harder than it sounds
Glad you are having fun with the bow and some interesting insights and thoughts. I have also pondered why they were still around and I think the damp weather direction may well be it. Enjoy
I have read that Arthur Wellesley wanted to recruit longbow men for use during the peninsular war but not enough skilled users could be found as it had fallen out of popular use. The longbow had better range, speed and accuracy then the smoothbore musket but took years to build the strength and skill needed to use it correctly. Obviously you could teach a man to fire a musket proficiently in a short time. Always thought that was an interesting notion even if it wasn't true.
@@christopherjackson3455 longbow was effective to 300yards or even beyond in the hands of a trained user and accurate enough to put through the eye slit of a knight wearing a full face helm. Equal number musket men vs equal number longbow men, the longbow men win. Twice the range and easily twice the rate of fire. In practical combat the advantage of fixing bayonet to your firearm and forming square to repel cavalry is a massive tactical advantage, effectively 2 types of troop in one. A big reason musketry in its infancy over took archery is logistics, when you lose a man you can replace a musketman much faster as it took years of training to build the strength and skill required to properly use a longbow. A good read is Bernard Cornwells Azincourt.
@@peteralund They can. It's not a guarantee but some cattle are definitely more skittish than others. Add the flash to the loud report and you've certainly got better odds of causing a stampede than a crossbow does.
When I read "drive-bys in medieval times" my first thought was "isn't that what the Mongolians did on a large scale?" Also interesting video :-) Thank you and best of luck to you.
According to the Czechs during the Hussite Wars, YES! They used crossbows, early firearms and modified pikes all on the back of a wagon. Why? Because Knights couldn't counter it.
This isn't really a comment on this particular video, but on how happy I feel when I hear the theme music. Since before and during the pandemic while I was caregiving flexibly 24/7 for an ill/dying family member, one of the few things I could do late at night was watch these videos and I'll tell you it really helped me get through this very difficult time.
I live on that border. They still call low lying fog "scotch mist" (I know it should be "Scots mist" but they call it that to take the piss) as they used to come under cover of vapour!
KamenKami Until you learn the etymology of “mist”. It used to mean “steam from dung”, but English forgot the “dung” part, whereas German forgot the “steam” part.
Okay, for some reason my mind registered the title as "Did they have drive-throughs in medieval times?" I was prepared to watch a video about roadside kiosks that served food to horsemen. I still want to believe it was a real thing.
@@ragnkja Fastfood industry was huge in medieval times, good percentage of houses in big towns didn't have dedicated cooking place which suggests that people eat in taverns and such every day. Or at least used to buy bakery on their way to work.
in modern day times it's not rare to find small market stalls set up on highways going to popular routes selling certain fruits and drinks and such, so I'd imagine something of the sort would've been around for quite a while along the popular highways of old, catering to the wealthy merchant sort they'd have probably made a fair bit of money.
@@indianasquatchunters Shoot comes from Old English sceotan, of which one of the meanings was to hurl missiles, among other things. From far before guns. Fire though, would be incorrect in the context of bows indeed. One would say loose.
2:15 : The phrase we are looking for is “catastrophic self-disassembly”. Regarding modern military use, IRCC the French Foreign Legion used to have a vertical-prod crossbow for (in theory) taking out sentries. No idea if their special units ever actually used it outside of training. The only image I ever saw of it was taken during a training exercise, and may have explained the vertical prod: the soldier was shooting from behind and braced against the trunk of a small tree. As for accuracy, I expect these reaver crossbows only needed enough to be effective at hitting a man from just outside the reach of his longest melee weapon or hand tool. They may have been more about keeping men at bay while cattle/horses were rustled than any more aggressive role.
Unfortunately that lack of exact knowledge affects a lot of medieval weapons. Other prime examples being the zwiehander and the swordbreaker. A "verbal threat" weapon sounds likely for this smaller crossbow, though
My reasoning was that for actual skirmishing under raiding conditions (cover of darkness, fog) a short, light-draw bow or even darts/javelins would serve better. Under these conditions, what advantage does a short range crossbow, a more complex and expensive weapon, actually have? The only answer I find is that a crossbow can project its missile instantly, with only the movement of a finger - and that anyone you point a crossbow at is going to know that. It follows that the idea was not to skirmish, but to execute a hold-up.
Gossamer really is a beautiful girl. And she didn't seem to mind you playing with a new toy up there. She seemed aware, but not concerned. Lovely video. Thank you.
At night, a burning slowmatch might also be visible from a distance, too. If it's from that era, that might be another reason to prefer crossbows for night raiding.
Gossamer is far from common; she's stunningly beautiful. I love watching Jason with his horses and even the mule-with-no-name. You can see the mutual trust and affection between them. It's beautiful to watch.
I miss my DnD group...in-person meetups not a great idea at my age, and we tried a Zoom one-off, and it wasn’t the same. By summer my 20-sided will roll again!
LizzieDripping Both Abraham and Sampson address each other as “you” in that scene, while Sampson and Gregory (who both work for the Capulets) address each other informally earlier in the scene.
I'm envious of jason, every other day he gets to get up and talk about his favourite thing. You can really feel the passion in the videos, 10/10 keep it up :D
Between yesterday and today I watched you more than tv. No fillers, no useless information, you’re just humbly telling us about history and you always show us what you are talking about. I absolutely love it!
01:30 "Made by Tod of Tod´s Stuff" This was the moment i felt extra respect and love for this channel. Showcasing tod´s excellent reproductions on your channel? I tip my hat, good sir, i tip my hat.
When the Portuguese sent expeditions in Brazil, they sent soldiers armed with arquebuses and crossbows. I mean that, in the same "unit", they mixed soldiers armed with crossbows and gunpowder weapons Which is interesting because we see that armies still utilized crossbows even after the use of gunpowder. Not only, but they often mixed them together in their units
Crossbowmen can shoot over the Pikemen and Musketeers to hit the enemy The long-paced nature of sieges and battles still made crossbows viable Crossbows are much easier to reload than a musket-pistol
early firearms certainly needed the help from other types of troops. it was only once the flintlock came along and became widespread, which dramatically improved reliability and usability over simple match and doglocks and decreased the cost and complexity over wheellocks that firearms finally made most other weapons obsolete.
If you had 5 or 10 blokes with those on horseback you could really give a farmstead a hard time. With a little bit of planning and communication you could keep 2-3 people 'on' the house (riding by, shooting in windows, setting fire to shit, hurling insults, ect) at basically all times if every time someone rode off to reload someone else comes in. That way you always have eyes on the surrounding roads and countryside looking out for trouble when you've reloaded and have time to patrol around and catch your breath before the signal to tap in comes.
Listen to me, brotha I'm a borda reava Give us all your cattle We're ready for battle Gonna do a ride-by Fools who try to resist Or run off in the mist In ten seconds they die! (I don't listen to much rap, and certainly never write any, so forgive me if this sucks, I was just inspired by Jason's awesome video to have a bit of fun :P)
Check out Todd, of Todd's Stuff, and more recently Todd's Workshop and Todd's Cutler(y), here on youtube, if Jason Kingsley is a modern knight, then Todd is a modern dwarf, toiling away on works of absolute art. The practical history buffs of youtube almost all owe so much to Todd.
Siôn Roberts : Less a question of stealthiness and more a question of how far a sound carries. A gunshot report tends to carry much farther than a man’s screams.
Siôn Roberts might want to handle the reins with one hand and traditional bow makes that pretty much impossible, also a bow may be harder to hide than the crossbow?
I can honestly say I never thought about medieval drive-bys, but now that you have gone into it, I can see it's potential enrichment of a little tale or two.
Back in the late 70's when I was a deputy sheriff I was sent to a call of a burglar being held by the owner of a business. Upon arrival I found the suspect sitting in a chair with the owner holding a cross bow pistol on him! It was a small cross bow, probably a novelty but it did the trick.
You can sense his passion for this historical time period. Ever since I started watching this channel, I have learned so much and find it even more interesting than I did before.
Thanks very much for your channel. It's unpretentious and has all the great curiosity and content without the baggage that comes with a lot of other TV and online shows at the moment. It stands out a mile 👌
6:30 - It's fascinating to think about why an object survived for hundreds of years and can be viewed in a museum today. This goes for clothing too: if it was a well-loved clothing item, it likely would have been worn out and destroyed over time - and we wouldn't be able to see it today. I'd love to listen to the thoughts of people who were alive when a given object was created. Would they say "Oh yeah, we used that all the time. See how useful it is!" or "Ugh, that invention was a complete failure. Let me show you what actually worked, and why..." or "Yeah, people loved that thing for a while. But then that fad was over and we moved on to a more practical solution."
Jason I love your videos as a horse and history lover it really is such a cool niche. My favourite thing is watching how incredibly gentle you are with your hands and always hold the reins in such quiet hands. Wonderful horsemanship that's really special to watch.
Well, unless this is a euphemism, dry firing is a thing you do once and never again; not only does it destroy your equipment it also does a number on your body.
Hey, Mr Kingsley. i just want to send my love for your channel. I only recently discovered it, but it's one of the most interesting channels I've ever watched. The armour you wear, the weapons you have, the horses you keep, the information you give out. It's all exactly the kind of thing I would like to collect/reenact/research (and quite frankly, play with) if I ever had the money. I just want you to know how much I appreciate your channel. Easy to digest information on a wide range of topics, all presented in a fun fashion. I've noticed that on a few of your videos over the years you've responded to quite a few overly negative comments. I hope you know that there are far more of us who love your videos than those negative people. You're amazing, keep up the good work! Much love from a Welshman.
Just here to applaud you giving Gossamer her due credit at the end. She's an excellent actress, I can hardly tell she's not actually a horse from the middle ages. A true tour-de-force performance by a one-of-a-kind performer. Thank you Gossamer, you magnificent animal.
Glad to see this channel has started to upload again! really missed it. Being a sub since it was less than 10k subscribers, and look it now, this channel is getting the love it deserves! Godspeed!
Like the way you discuss this throughout! Clear, considered, easy to follow the processes and aspects involved. Thank you and Tod and of course Gossamer!
though out the explanation of what the crossbow could be used for, I was imagining two families on opposite sides of the border stealing the same cow over and over again.
About what? Horse archery was never much of a thing in Europe beyond Byzantium and certainly not in Britain because they generally lacked composite bows. And it wasn't they didn't know how to make them, it's they couldn't because the rainy environment wouldn't let the necessary glue set strong enough for its use in bows, along with other reasons. So they were left with self bows, which are cumbersome to use on horse, and crossbows. The Mongol armies would have had a difficult time lasting long in Western Europe, just as the Moorish armies did in the 8th and 9th Centuries once they moved out of the arid regions of the Mediterranean. When the Mughals conquered India they had a really weird set of rules and almost like religious practices for storing their composite recurve bows to keep them from the humidity.
@@damienomen68 This makes me think you don't know much of the history of the Mongols, really. The Mongols were just about to crush Europe when they were called back to vote on a new ruler when the previous one died. Europe got lucky and thought the Mongols were afraid of them, when really the Mongols were able to wipe out most of the resistance they met with just a glorified scouting party.
More fascinating medieval weaponry. How about a comparative demonstration between the crossbow and the longbow? Off Topic: How's Big Ears doing in his training? Named him yet?
@@frankrebind4483 Definitely worth doing, I've been using dried marrowfat peas, soaked overnight. Chop an onion and fry it off with a little oil then add stock and the peas plus any other herbs and seasoning you fancy before bringing it up to a low simmer for an hour or so. I've also been throwing in the left overs from the fridge, spuds, bacon, that sort of thing. Bit of bread and butter on the side and you're good to go :-)
It sounds like it would make a useful addition to light screening cavalry. I can imagine small groups of horsemen on a medeval battlefield approaching the Heavy Cavalry, loosing off a few bolts and retiring again and again until discipline breaks down and they make a disordered charge.
Fabulous video! I'm glad to see Gossamer again as well. She's so lovely and calm. I had a good chuckle when you were saying how she would be all wrong for a reavers' purposes, and her ears started to look a little bit upset - and then she got happier after you called her showy! Though I won't deny that I love any of your videos when we get to see or visit with your horses. They're all of them spectactular!
13:20 I play a lot of M&B Bannerlord, normally as a Vlandian(who are mainly Norman inspired, with great cavalry and Genoese crossbowmen ranged troops), so when I figured out that a perk allowed you to use any heavy crossbows as well while on horseback, I maxed out crossbow skill and started drive-bying looters and mainly Battanians, as the two kingdoms seem to have a great rivalry, anyway, as always a great video!
I think the threat of the latchet crossbow was worth more than the actual lethality; after all if your raid goes according to plan, then your opponents wont be armed. Failing that, whilst the range isn't impressive, it's still gonna out-range a sword/spear/pitchfork. If you did come up against superior firepower you'd just ride away, maybe fire a parting shot to keep their heads down?
Jason, the original that Tod copied is in a private collection, not a museum (as correctly stated by Tod in his video on the crossbow). The original is slightly different to Tod's copy in that it has a press button trigger and the 'prod' has a draw weight of around 350 -400 lbs.....maybe a little more. The body of the crossbow has an internal iron re-inforcement to cope with such power. The original is of very high quality with inlayed 'stringing' and is very elegant. The Border Reiver' idea is perhaps speculation as, as far as I am aware, the original is the only one known. The wooden knob on the end of the original could easily be fitted to a leather strap and hung from the saddle. It would have belonged to a relatively rich man, not the average farmer.
I know that with modern handguns with a little practice you can get reasonably good at point shooting (not using the sights) at close range. I imagine the border reavers got a good bit of practice with their crossbows
*STRAIGHT OUTTA CAMBRIDGE*
Best comment so far!
BWA!
Brittons with attitude.
th-cam.com/video/Bj7J7vXCf5w/w-d-xo.html
Well played.
🤣 u stupid
"It's a bit embarrassing when you're trying to threaten someone and your bolt falls off your crossbow". Sounds like a scene from a Monty Python sketch.
And too often life is like a Monty Python sketch!
Holy crap, I just thought this while watching the video.
Give me all your lupins!
"Your mother was a hampster and your father smelt of elderberries!"
Dennis moore riding though the night,,,,, 😁
Everyone gangsta till Jason Kingsley whip out his crossbow & do a drive-by on a horse.
Lol!
@@ModernKnight I am absolutely stoked by the fact that I came across your channel. I have always loved things medieval and English and your channel has provided me with information that i would not have even considered. Wonderful content and great delivery. Thank you
"There should be an *OBE* in there somewhere!"
(Anybody got that? Anyone with me? No? :/ )
@@ModernKnight Being a student of history at the university of hannover i love your content, its well researched and i like your collabs with experts on many topics to make sure you deliver valid information on what you are covering, keep up the great work!
@@ModernKnight there is a Method to Glue the Bolt on With Bow String Wax .
I couldn’t shake the idea of a Middle Ages McDonald’s bc I was thinking drive through, but I’m still delighted by the video we got
Prose and Tea
Surely there were places where you could stop by and pick up something cheap to eat, and there were definitely taverns where you could go out for a meal.
In very high traffic areas, 100% there were "drive thrus" where you could just pull your horse up to the vendor and buy a pie etc
"Nor should I forget to mention that there is in London, on the river bank amidst the ships, the wine for sale, and the storerooms for wine, a public cookshop. On a daily basis there, depending on the season, can be found fried or boiled foods and dishes, fish large and small, meat - lower quality for the poor, finer cuts for the wealthy - game and fowl (large and small). If friends arrive unexpectedly at the home of some citizen and they, tired and hungry after their journey, prefer not to wait until food may be got in and cooked, or "till servants bring water for hands and bread", they can in the meantime pay a quick visit to the riverside, where anything they might desire is immediately available. No matter how great the number of soldiers or travellers coming in or going out of the city, at whatever hour of day or night, so that those arriving do not have to go without a meal for too long or those departing leave on empty stomachs, they can choose to detour there and take whatever refreshment each needs. Those with a fancy for delicacies can obtain for themselves the meat of goose, guinea-hen or woodcock - finding what they're after is no great chore, since all the delicacies are set out in front of them. This is an exemplar of a public cookshop that provides a service to a city and is an asset to city life. Hence, as we read in Plato's Gorgias, cookery is a flattery and imitation of medicine, the fourth of the arts of civic life." -- William Fitz Stephen, ca 1174-1183 users.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/florilegium/introduction/intro01.html
"Over it all the practiced cries of the street vendors ring out as they walk around with trays of food, calling out 'hot peascods' or 'Rushes fair and green,' 'Hot sheep's feet' or 'Ribs of beef and many a pie.'"
The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer p. 10
This isn't a primary source, but it references an early 15th century poem "London Lickpenny," and the end of the Prologue of Piers Plowman
(Cookes and heore knaves cryen "Hote pies, hote!
"Goode gees and grys! Go we dyne, go we!")
Prose and Tea Same 😂
"Break thyself, heathen!"
*shoots crossbow sideways*
Bolt misses, Lifts cross bow "O you in trouble now fam!" Holds bow gangster style "Say goodbye you Protestant cu....(Bolt falls out)......hum.....It seams we are at an impasse lad!"
@In Hoc Signo Diliget I found it funny...
@In Hoc Signo Diliget Uggh. Yet another super serious stiff that reees 'cringe' at anyone else having any fun anywhere
@In Hoc Signo Diliget its acttualy kek
Lmao
-Oh, look at that strangely clad fellow up on that fine black mare. What is he holding?
-Stand and deliver! Your cattle or your life!
It's almost harvesting season
Less talking! More raiding!
Um gunna break yer legs, noice and slow!
That's a nice head you have on your shoulders.
I vill drink from jor skall!
They can only go as fast as the slowest cow they are stealing.
Excellent point. I've read, (somewhere, sometime), that quite a few "Old West" cattle rustlers were eventually caught because of the abandoned slower cattle they left on their trail (although, I've always thought the hoof prints of the herd they'd taken, would've been a bigger give-away!). Maybe the brands gave more evidence to convict them when finally caught?
And who knows, the writer may've just been full of BS!!!
@@keeristdiablo540 the environment around the cattle trails is dry, sandy or rocky, and very windy. I'm not sure how hard exactly it would be to track hundreds of stolen cattle by their hoofprints, but under those conditions it's probably harder than it sounds
@@ProjectThunderclaw Just follow the poop :D
@@ProjectThunderclaw You've not been to Northen England/southern Scotland have you? Mud upon mud,upon mud, upon mud....
ProjectThunderclaw You could probably just follow the trail of cowpats tbh
Glad you are having fun with the bow and some interesting insights and thoughts. I have also pondered why they were still around and I think the damp weather direction may well be it. Enjoy
Thanks Tod, wonderfully made by you. Next I have to shoot it at speed!
Don’t discount the it is nice and quiet factor Tod's Workshop.
Or the reusability of the ammunition.
I have read that Arthur Wellesley wanted to recruit longbow men for use during the peninsular war but not enough skilled users could be found as it had fallen out of popular use.
The longbow had better range, speed and accuracy then the smoothbore musket but took years to build the strength and skill needed to use it correctly. Obviously you could teach a man to fire a musket proficiently in a short time. Always thought that was an interesting notion even if it wasn't true.
No Pikers, I read something similar.
@@christopherjackson3455 longbow was effective to 300yards or even beyond in the hands of a trained user and accurate enough to put through the eye slit of a knight wearing a full face helm. Equal number musket men vs equal number longbow men, the longbow men win. Twice the range and easily twice the rate of fire.
In practical combat the advantage of fixing bayonet to your firearm and forming square to repel cavalry is a massive tactical advantage, effectively 2 types of troop in one. A big reason musketry in its infancy over took archery is logistics, when you lose a man you can replace a musketman much faster as it took years of training to build the strength and skill required to properly use a longbow.
A good read is Bernard Cornwells Azincourt.
You forgot to mention the noise of gunpowder is likely to stampede cattle. Sheep and cattle hate loud noise.
Good point
Not to mention horses. Though if you're a professional raider, you probably could make your horse get used to it.
No they dont , Where did you get that idea?
Also muzzle flash can alert others too.
@@peteralund They can. It's not a guarantee but some cattle are definitely more skittish than others. Add the flash to the loud report and you've certainly got better odds of causing a stampede than a crossbow does.
I love that Jason put the horse in the credits. That's awesome.
If you binge-watch videos with horses in them, that particular horse is listed in the credits 😄.
Well, to be fair, the horse certainly played a prominent supporting role LOL
Don't mess with the Horse Teamsters
When I read "drive-bys in medieval times" my first thought was "isn't that what the Mongolians did on a large scale?"
Also interesting video :-) Thank you and best of luck to you.
yeah sounds like if drive by is your thing bow and arrows might be the better way to go.
Exaclty! LOL They'd drive by till they provoked the rival gang then the heavy homeboys would rush in and finish the job. LOL
Does drive-by apply to animal-drawn carriages?
This is the only channel that I have notifications turned on. The quality of production is superb.
Ride-by.
Trot-shot
Well the Hussite War Wagon was basically a bunch of guys with early firearms thrown into a wagon that used hit and run tactics. So yeah?
According to the Czechs during the Hussite Wars, YES! They used crossbows, early firearms and modified pikes all on the back of a wagon. Why? Because Knights couldn't counter it.
Czech here passing by: the wagons were stationary during battles, so not really drive-by :-(
This isn't really a comment on this particular video, but on how happy I feel when I hear the theme music. Since before and during the pandemic while I was caregiving flexibly 24/7 for an ill/dying family member, one of the few things I could do late at night was watch these videos and I'll tell you it really helped me get through this very difficult time.
I live on that border. They still call low lying fog "scotch mist" (I know it should be "Scots mist" but they call it that to take the piss) as they used to come under cover of vapour!
Scotch mist. Sound like a cool name for a alcoholic drink.
KamenKami
Until you learn the etymology of “mist”. It used to mean “steam from dung”, but English forgot the “dung” part, whereas German forgot the “steam” part.
"Scotch mist? What's scotch mist..?" Not often there’s potential for a Garth Merenghi’s Darkplace reference
@@urbanpkrider31 "If an Englishman meets a Scotsman or vice versa; 50/50 they are going to get along, and that's a very encouraging statistic"
Okay, for some reason my mind registered the title as "Did they have drive-throughs in medieval times?"
I was prepared to watch a video about roadside kiosks that served food to horsemen.
I still want to believe it was a real thing.
Bassem B.
There were fast-food shops in Pompeii, so why not in medieval England?
@@ragnkja Fastfood industry was huge in medieval times, good percentage of houses in big towns didn't have dedicated cooking place which suggests that people eat in taverns and such every day. Or at least used to buy bakery on their way to work.
@@steirqwe7956 Ye Olde MacDonalds even?
in modern day times it's not rare to find small market stalls set up on highways going to popular routes selling certain fruits and drinks and such, so I'd imagine something of the sort would've been around for quite a while along the popular highways of old, catering to the wealthy merchant sort they'd have probably made a fair bit of money.
Genuinely me too >.
Gossamer is a drop dead beautiful horse. Thank you for raising her well.
Drive-by-shooting? More like Ride-by-loosing.
Reality Vanguard There we go. Somebody knows what’s up. Fire/shoot before guns doesn’t seem as plausible as loose.
This needs to be top comment lmao
@@indianasquatchunters Shoot comes from Old English sceotan, of which one of the meanings was to hurl missiles, among other things. From far before guns. Fire though, would be incorrect in the context of bows indeed. One would say loose.
When you ride through da hood and some peasant makes you loose it.
@@indianasquatchunters Well this particular weapon came after "guns", its the first thing he said in the video.
2:15 : The phrase we are looking for is “catastrophic self-disassembly”.
Regarding modern military use, IRCC the French Foreign Legion used to have a vertical-prod crossbow for (in theory) taking out sentries. No idea if their special units ever actually used it outside of training. The only image I ever saw of it was taken during a training exercise, and may have explained the vertical prod: the soldier was shooting from behind and braced against the trunk of a small tree.
As for accuracy, I expect these reaver crossbows only needed enough to be effective at hitting a man from just outside the reach of his longest melee weapon or hand tool. They may have been more about keeping men at bay while cattle/horses were rustled than any more aggressive role.
Unfortunately that lack of exact knowledge affects a lot of medieval weapons. Other prime examples being the zwiehander and the swordbreaker.
A "verbal threat" weapon sounds likely for this smaller crossbow, though
My reasoning was that for actual skirmishing under raiding conditions (cover of darkness, fog) a short, light-draw bow or even darts/javelins would serve better. Under these conditions, what advantage does a short range crossbow, a more complex and expensive weapon, actually have? The only answer I find is that a crossbow can project its missile instantly, with only the movement of a finger - and that anyone you point a crossbow at is going to know that. It follows that the idea was not to skirmish, but to execute a hold-up.
Gossamer really is a beautiful girl. And she didn't seem to mind you playing with a new toy up there. She seemed aware, but not concerned. Lovely video. Thank you.
Legendary quote at 6:50
_" May be it didn't worked so put in a museum."_
At night, a burning slowmatch might also be visible from a distance, too. If it's from that era, that might be another reason to prefer crossbows for night raiding.
And it needs to be kept lit in the wind and rain possibly for hours on end, unlike a crossbow that could be readied in seconds.
Gossamer is far from common; she's stunningly beautiful.
I love watching Jason with his horses and even the mule-with-no-name. You can see the mutual trust and affection between them. It's beautiful to watch.
Thanks
Heh DnD fodder right here.
Thank you for such wonderful insights into the world from the past!
Glad you like it, and thanks for your support.
I miss my DnD group...in-person meetups not a great idea at my age, and we tried a Zoom one-off, and it wasn’t the same. By summer my 20-sided will roll again!
Ultra underrated channel, this is quality
Fr. You can see the effort for every video
3 men pull up on a wagon one playing a violin very loudly:
"do you quarrell with us sir"
"yes I do sir"
Arrows fly from ye classic strap
Just playing a lute singing nwa fuck the police
Should be "dost thou", or alternatively "we do" ;)
Steinhauer
“Thou” is informal and familiar, so probably not how you would address someone you had a quarrel with.
Doesn’t thou bite thy thumb at us ? Insult in Shakespearean Verona 🤪
LizzieDripping
Both Abraham and Sampson address each other as “you” in that scene, while Sampson and Gregory (who both work for the Capulets) address each other informally earlier in the scene.
I'm envious of jason, every other day he gets to get up and talk about his favourite thing. You can really feel the passion in the videos, 10/10 keep it up :D
Thanks, we really enjoy making these, even the ones in the snow or heat.
I like how Gossamer got lead in the Credits
He's carrying the host
Between yesterday and today I watched you more than tv. No fillers, no useless information, you’re just humbly telling us about history and you always show us what you are talking about. I absolutely love it!
The perfect history channel doesnt exi---
Glad to see Tod getting some recognition, especially after his channel was hacked. Great vid!
Just today I watched his video about this exact crossbow! Had to do a double-take.
01:30 "Made by Tod of Tod´s Stuff"
This was the moment i felt extra respect and love for this channel.
Showcasing tod´s excellent reproductions on your channel? I tip my hat, good sir, i tip my hat.
Have you thought about doing a crossover with Shadiversity? I’m sure he’d like to discuss medieval armor, weapons, castles, and edict.
HE PINNED IT
have you been watching "The Curse of Silverthorne" on Shad's Game Knights channel?
When the Portuguese sent expeditions in Brazil, they sent soldiers armed with arquebuses and crossbows. I mean that, in the same "unit", they mixed soldiers armed with crossbows and gunpowder weapons
Which is interesting because we see that armies still utilized crossbows even after the use of gunpowder. Not only, but they often mixed them together in their units
Spanish also mixed pikemen with arquebusers
Crossbowmen can shoot over the Pikemen and Musketeers to hit the enemy
The long-paced nature of sieges and battles still made crossbows viable
Crossbows are much easier to reload than a musket-pistol
early firearms certainly needed the help from other types of troops. it was only once the flintlock came along and became widespread, which dramatically improved reliability and usability over simple match and doglocks and decreased the cost and complexity over wheellocks that firearms finally made most other weapons obsolete.
Huh! As a half-brazilian I find this interesting.
Weather will fuck with the gunpowder. Specifically if you are in a jungle you would probably have a bunch of misfires with any firearm
If you had 5 or 10 blokes with those on horseback you could really give a farmstead a hard time. With a little bit of planning and communication you could keep 2-3 people 'on' the house (riding by, shooting in windows, setting fire to shit, hurling insults, ect) at basically all times if every time someone rode off to reload someone else comes in. That way you always have eyes on the surrounding roads and countryside looking out for trouble when you've reloaded and have time to patrol around and catch your breath before the signal to tap in comes.
Hurling insults lol
He tells the audience that Gossamer is a fine horse and I swear she almost replied ‘of course I am’ as she turned her head to the camera.
Listen to me, brotha
I'm a borda reava
Give us all your cattle
We're ready for battle
Gonna do a ride-by
Fools who try to resist
Or run off in the mist
In ten seconds they die!
(I don't listen to much rap, and certainly never write any, so forgive me if this sucks, I was just inspired by Jason's awesome video to have a bit of fun :P)
Too bad we never see him shoot it. That would have been interesting.
I feel sorry for you
Check out Todd, of Todd's Stuff, and more recently Todd's Workshop and Todd's Cutler(y), here on youtube, if Jason Kingsley is a modern knight, then Todd is a modern dwarf, toiling away on works of absolute art. The practical history buffs of youtube almost all owe so much to Todd.
@Siôn Roberts I mean they're not stealthy but compared to a firearm a crossbow is no where near the level of noise.
Siôn Roberts : Less a question of stealthiness and more a question of how far a sound carries. A gunshot report tends to carry much farther than a man’s screams.
Siôn Roberts might want to handle the reins with one hand and traditional bow makes that pretty much impossible, also a bow may be harder to hide than the crossbow?
Just luv' the horse looking backwards, when he is loading: "Now what on earth is this silly human up to now?!" :)
I can honestly say I never thought about medieval drive-bys, but now that you have gone into it, I can see it's potential enrichment of a little tale or two.
Back in the late 70's when I was a deputy sheriff I was sent to a call of a burglar being held by the owner of a business. Upon arrival I found the suspect sitting in a chair with the owner holding a cross bow pistol on him! It was a small cross bow, probably a novelty but it did the trick.
You can sense his passion for this historical time period. Ever since I started watching this channel, I have learned so much and find it even more interesting than I did before.
Next video: Jason goes cattle raiding and shows us how it would have been done in older days.
A bright spot in my day, THANK YOU!
Thanks very much for your channel. It's unpretentious and has all the great curiosity and content without the baggage that comes with a lot of other TV and online shows at the moment. It stands out a mile 👌
Thanks. We try, and it's fun to make these.
6:30 - It's fascinating to think about why an object survived for hundreds of years and can be viewed in a museum today. This goes for clothing too: if it was a well-loved clothing item, it likely would have been worn out and destroyed over time - and we wouldn't be able to see it today. I'd love to listen to the thoughts of people who were alive when a given object was created. Would they say "Oh yeah, we used that all the time. See how useful it is!" or "Ugh, that invention was a complete failure. Let me show you what actually worked, and why..." or "Yeah, people loved that thing for a while. But then that fad was over and we moved on to a more practical solution."
6 bolts per minute is 3 times the fire rate of matchlock twice the fire rate of flintlock.
But did the yell "Westside!!" or something similar while doing it?
"Doth thou hast a problem with mine clan and Lord, fool?"
"Indeed, villian"
*arrows fly from 1164 model carriage*
villain, I have done thy mother
@@Yora21 Nay, thou
The love he has for his animals is wonderful to see. I like seeing how well he takes care of them.
Jason I love your videos as a horse and history lover it really is such a cool niche. My favourite thing is watching how incredibly gentle you are with your hands and always hold the reins in such quiet hands. Wonderful horsemanship that's really special to watch.
The North of England is generally wet, even in summer...
I grew up there...
Makes so much sense...
Cheers
Love your vids
Plus, black powder smoke can give your position away if there is enough light to see.
I love how the man's first explanation is to never dry fire. Always lubricate. That's some real experience right there.
Well, unless this is a euphemism, dry firing is a thing you do once and never again; not only does it destroy your equipment it also does a number on your body.
This quality content is what keeps me coming back with every notif
Hey, Mr Kingsley. i just want to send my love for your channel. I only recently discovered it, but it's one of the most interesting channels I've ever watched. The armour you wear, the weapons you have, the horses you keep, the information you give out. It's all exactly the kind of thing I would like to collect/reenact/research (and quite frankly, play with) if I ever had the money.
I just want you to know how much I appreciate your channel. Easy to digest information on a wide range of topics, all presented in a fun fashion. I've noticed that on a few of your videos over the years you've responded to quite a few overly negative comments. I hope you know that there are far more of us who love your videos than those negative people. You're amazing, keep up the good work!
Much love from a Welshman.
Thanks for your support, I try to reply when I have time, and also try to correct people's errors, I should probably ignore them really.
Just here to applaud you giving Gossamer her due credit at the end. She's an excellent actress, I can hardly tell she's not actually a horse from the middle ages. A true tour-de-force performance by a one-of-a-kind performer. Thank you Gossamer, you magnificent animal.
Glad to see this channel has started to upload again! really missed it. Being a sub since it was less than 10k subscribers, and look it now, this channel is getting the love it deserves! Godspeed!
Thanks for supporting us from early on, it's appreciated. Been busy with work related stuff.
Thank you Jason for another amazing video!! xxx
Nearly half a million subs is not enough. This channel is awesome and top quality. Absolutely love it.
Thanks, and thanks for the support
Missed your videos! Glad you’re back!
A drive-by bolting.
Ty Lockton
Ride-by shooting.
This is one of the best channels on youtube
If I'm walking home one night and a guy wearing a See ye Jimmy hat, toting a crossbow comes along I will tighten my grip on my corned beef sarnies!
Like the way you discuss this throughout! Clear, considered, easy to follow the processes and aspects involved. Thank you and Tod and of course Gossamer!
Thanks for another very interesting video. Best wishes to you, your family and Rebellion staff during the current virus outbreak.
though out the explanation of what the crossbow could be used for, I was imagining two families on opposite sides of the border stealing the same cow over and over again.
The Mongolians would like to have a word with you
About what? Horse archery was never much of a thing in Europe beyond Byzantium and certainly not in Britain because they generally lacked composite bows. And it wasn't they didn't know how to make them, it's they couldn't because the rainy environment wouldn't let the necessary glue set strong enough for its use in bows, along with other reasons. So they were left with self bows, which are cumbersome to use on horse, and crossbows. The Mongol armies would have had a difficult time lasting long in Western Europe, just as the Moorish armies did in the 8th and 9th Centuries once they moved out of the arid regions of the Mediterranean. When the Mughals conquered India they had a really weird set of rules and almost like religious practices for storing their composite recurve bows to keep them from the humidity.
@@gf4670 r/woosh
@@gf4670 Fascinating, but r/woosh.
@David Price When they weren't shifting loyalties as usual.Typically tribal~ scared fringes of Europe for a hundred years.
@@damienomen68 This makes me think you don't know much of the history of the Mongols, really. The Mongols were just about to crush Europe when they were called back to vote on a new ruler when the previous one died. Europe got lucky and thought the Mongols were afraid of them, when really the Mongols were able to wipe out most of the resistance they met with just a glorified scouting party.
A title I did not expect, but happy to receive
Simply the best! Outstanding content!
More fascinating medieval weaponry. How about a comparative demonstration between the crossbow and the longbow? Off Topic: How's Big Ears doing in his training? Named him yet?
SteamPunk5250 Yes, how is your mule coming along?
Really happy there's a new episode! I can only re-learn what peasants eat so many times in my life!
It's still amazing looking fish every time!
Lol this is so relatable
I've been making potage on a regular basis ever since seeing that video.
@@gwtpictgwtpict4214 so it is as tasty as it looks then?
@@frankrebind4483 Definitely worth doing, I've been using dried marrowfat peas, soaked overnight. Chop an onion and fry it off with a little oil then add stock and the peas plus any other herbs and seasoning you fancy before bringing it up to a low simmer for an hour or so. I've also been throwing in the left overs from the fridge, spuds, bacon, that sort of thing. Bit of bread and butter on the side and you're good to go :-)
Why is this man and his team not on the TV!! It's so well done and put together!!
As anyone who has ever played Mount and Blade knows this is the perfect setup for the humble hero out to hunt some looters
I love how gossamer was the first name in the credits 🥰 fabulous as always!!
I've tried to credit my horses first!
A bit worried at how many times you mentioned robbing a neighbor's cattle.
I love that he always includes the horses in the credits. He appreciates their hard work.
Hurrah, a new one!
Good to have you back! I've missed your videos!
It sounds like it would make a useful addition to light screening cavalry. I can imagine small groups of horsemen on a medeval battlefield approaching the Heavy Cavalry, loosing off a few bolts and retiring again and again until discipline breaks down and they make a disordered charge.
This is such an underrated TH-cam channel. Deserves way more views.
I've been waiting for a new video, drive by arrow shooting, superb 😁
That horse (and all others under your care) is stunning, great job to you and everyone involved!
Very cool and informative channel! Immediately subscribed!!
Thanks for your support.
@@ModernKnight You're welcome! We also do quite a lot of sword tests, if you have the time feel free to check out our channel as well.
I will look now, thanks. Presumably I search for Aliengoboom?
Interesting targets! I wonder what a sharp lance could do, or a sword from horseback?
@@ModernKnight We can defenitely talk about a collaboration 🗡️👽 send me a email if you want. aliengoboom@gmail.com
Excellent. I've been wondering about this kind of mechanism but haven't really know what to look for. Thanks, MHTV.
"Maybe your friend will come and rescue you... Maybe not." LOL this made me laugh so much
Fabulous video! I'm glad to see Gossamer again as well. She's so lovely and calm. I had a good chuckle when you were saying how she would be all wrong for a reavers' purposes, and her ears started to look a little bit upset - and then she got happier after you called her showy!
Though I won't deny that I love any of your videos when we get to see or visit with your horses. They're all of them spectactular!
I love that Gossamer gets top credit!
My horses come first.
Just discovered this channel, I'm obsessed. I know what I'll be binge watching for the next 14 days!
I love this channel. Cheers n Beers, my good Sir.
I just discovered your videos. As a history (particularly medieval) and horse lover, I'm so thrilled with these! Thank you! ❤
Thanks and welcome
I already watched this channel, but I wasn't expecting "medieval drive-bys" at 3:30 a.m.
His knowledge and how it conveys it is amazing, and he is great with the horses. Every upload has had my attention. Keep up the great work!
Thanks, will do!
Ah, "drive-by." As was said: "There's nothing new under the sun." LOL
Well, it'd be a "ride-by," but it's the same thing really.
@@NateB Just semantics, really.
13:20 I play a lot of M&B Bannerlord, normally as a Vlandian(who are mainly Norman inspired, with great cavalry and Genoese crossbowmen ranged troops), so when I figured out that a perk allowed you to use any heavy crossbows as well while on horseback, I maxed out crossbow skill and started drive-bying looters and mainly Battanians, as the two kingdoms seem to have a great rivalry, anyway, as always a great video!
Post-medieval sawn-off crossbow. Very gangsta!
In self-isolation watching TH-cam videos, not expecting the title of this video. Great video.
Thanks and good luck.
I think the threat of the latchet crossbow was worth more than the actual lethality; after all if your raid goes according to plan, then your opponents wont be armed. Failing that, whilst the range isn't impressive, it's still gonna out-range a sword/spear/pitchfork. If you did come up against superior firepower you'd just ride away, maybe fire a parting shot to keep their heads down?
Jason, the original that Tod copied is in a private collection, not a museum (as correctly stated by Tod in his video on the crossbow). The original is slightly different to Tod's copy in that it has a press button trigger and the 'prod' has a draw weight of around 350 -400 lbs.....maybe a little more. The body of the crossbow has an internal iron re-inforcement to cope with such power. The original is of very high quality with inlayed 'stringing' and is very elegant. The Border Reiver' idea is perhaps speculation as, as far as I am aware, the original is the only one known. The wooden knob on the end of the original could easily be fitted to a leather strap and hung from the saddle. It would have belonged to a relatively rich man, not the average farmer.
Thanks for the information.
I know that with modern handguns with a little practice you can get reasonably good at point shooting (not using the sights) at close range. I imagine the border reavers got a good bit of practice with their crossbows
Good point MrMorgan58.
You don't even have to hit with a weapon for it to be useful. Many times, just having the weapon and not even shooting it makes a huge difference.
Makes one admire the mounted archers' skill and expertise even more.