Hello everyone! I’m not exactly new round these parts, but for those who may not know I’m Dr. Stuart Ellis-Gorman!

I did my PhD on the development of bows and crossbows in late medieval Europe, and I’ve recently completed my first book – a new introductory history to the crossbow called The Medieval Crossbow: A Weapon Fit to Kill a King (https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/The-Medieval-Crossbow-Hardback/p/21280), now available for pre-order at a discounted price. Here’s the publishers’ blurb:

​

The crossbow is an iconic weapon of the Middle Ages and, alongside the longbow, one of the most effective ranged weapons of the pre-gunpowder era. Unfortunately, despite its general fame it has been decades since an in-depth history of the medieval crossbow has been published, which is why Stuart Ellis-Gorman’s detailed, accessible, and highly illustrated study is so valuable.

The Medieval Crossbow approaches the history of the crossbow from two directions. The first is a technical study of the design and construction of the medieval crossbow, the many different kinds of crossbows used during the Middle Ages, and finally a consideration of the relationship between crossbows and art.

The second half of the book explores the history of the crossbow, from its origins in ancient China to its decline in sixteenth-century Europe. Along the way it explores the challenges in deciphering the crossbow’s early medieval history as well as its prominence in warfare and sport shooting in the High and Later Middle Ages.

This fascinating book brings together the work of a wide range of accomplished crossbow scholars and incorporates the author’s own original research to create an account of the medieval crossbow that will appeal to anyone looking to gain an insight into one of the most important weapons of the Middle Ages.

I’m here primarily to answer any and all questions you may have about the history of the crossbow, but I’m also happy to tackle more general questions about medieval archery or medieval warfare. I’ve also gotten sucked into a bit of a board wargaming rabbit hole, which I’m currently documenting on my website at https://www.stuartellisgorman.com/blog/category/Wargame, and I’m happy to field obscure questions about how wargames try to model medieval warfare!

I’ll be around for the next few hours – until around 6:00 GMT – and I’ll check in intermittently afterwards. Let’s be honest, it’s a bit late in the game to pretend I’m not an AskHistorians addict, so if you ask it I'll try to answer it eventually!

Edit: I'm going to have to run off for a little bit now! My toddler needs her dinner and to be put to bed, but once she's settled I'll come back and answer more questions! Hopefully I'll be back around 8:30-9ish GMT.

Edit #2: Okay, it's almost midnight here and I've been answering questions on and off for about 10 hours. I'm going to sign off for the night but I'll pop in for a bit tomorrow morning and see how many I can answer. Thank you to everyone who's asked a question and apologies if I don't manage to answer yours! There are so many!