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The book of the crossbow, a fine text that I own, happens to devote a chapter to the subject under discussion- in the 15th century, a steel bowed military crossbow elevated to 45 degrees shot 370 to 380 yards- the longest the author got from extant museum pieces was 390 yards - in the Dunstable chronicle Henry V is described approacing rouen within 40 rods or within the shot of a crossbow (that works out to 220 yards) and is the best historical context I could find....note that there is a big difference between max range and effective range, and a lot of assorted physics on how and why.... i was just supprised that they did use the term at all too, figgured it for an invention.....
btw As to the longbow, - yes the english citizenry were ordered to practice at 200 yards, but maximum range for the weapon was only 280- 290 yards, reason for the long range practice was that it was a saturation weapon, and was nescessary for them to hit the same area at extreme range to have the desired effect- the author of the crossbow book covers this very heavily, also there are many other sources- the average poundage for a longbow was only 75 to 80 pounds- this is backed up in numerous modern sources, cause the longbow and crossbow have both aquired a mystique that has muddied the waters a lot recently- all the new data comes from tests of extant pieces and scientific study- not dissing the longbow, as it was damn effective in its day, but its not superman....
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Thought the harder, Heart the bolder,
Mood the more as our might lessens
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