07-17-2009, 09:13 AM
Quote:Looking at the bodkin style ... is there any source which indicates that it was designed as a mail penetrator?
It seems to me that it might be just a simple form of arrow head to form in forging...easier to hammer out that other types ... maybe cheap to produce when you need 1000s for military operations.
Yes...I recall a mention of a purchase made by representatives of Philip II Augustus in 1205 (as I recall it) in Bruges. Alongside about thirty thousands close combat weapons and close to ten thousand pieces of armour and helmets, they purchased around 2000 crossbows with over half a million quarrels. This was in wartime, during the 1202-1214 "War of Bouvines" so some expediency must have been required!
