Editing English longbow (section)

==== Bowstave ====

[[File:Self and composite longbows-blank.jpg|thumb|Self (bottom) and laminated (top) bows for comparison]]

The preferred material to make the longbow was [[Taxus baccata|yew]],<ref>{{cite web|title=It had to be yew|publisher=Field and Roving Archery Society|first=Gavin|last=Banks|date=January 2010|url=http://www.fieldandrovingarcherysociety.co.uk/infopage.php?page_id=8|access-date=14 March 2023|archive-date=14 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314194603/http://www.fieldandrovingarcherysociety.co.uk/infopage.php?page_id=8|url-status=dead}}</ref> although [[Fraxinus excelsior|ash]], [[elm]], and other [[hardwood]]s were also used. [[Gerald of Wales]] speaking of the bows used by the Welsh men of Gwent, says: "They are made neither of horn, ash nor yew, but of elm; ugly unfinished-looking weapons, but astonishingly stiff, large and strong, and equally capable of use for long or short shooting".{{sfn|Oakeshott|1960|p=294}} The traditional way of making  a longbow requires drying the yew wood for 1 to 2 years, then slowly working it into shape, with the entire process taking up to four years. The bow stave is shaped to have a ''D'' cross-section. The outer "back" of [[sapwood]], approximately flat, follows the natural growth rings; modern [[bowyer]]s often thin the sapwood, while in the ''Mary Rose'' bows the back of the bow was the natural surface of the wood, only the bark is removed. The inner side ("belly") of the bow stave consists of rounded [[heartwood]]. The heartwood resists [[compression (physics)|compression]] and the outer sapwood performs better in [[tension (physics)|tension]]. This combination in a single piece of wood (a [[self bow]]) forms a natural "laminate", somewhat similar in effect to the construction of a [[composite bow]]. Longbows last a long time if protected with a water-resistant coating, traditionally of "wax, resin and fine [[tallow]]".

The trade of yew wood to England for longbows was such that it depleted the stocks of yew over a huge area. The first documented import of yew bowstaves to England was in 1294.{{sfn|Hageneder|2007|p= }} In 1470 compulsory practice was renewed, and [[hazel]], ash, and [[laburnum]] were specifically allowed for practice bows. Supplies still proved insufficient, until by the [[Statute of Westminster 1472]], every ship coming to an English port had to bring four bowstaves for every [[Tun (unit)|tun]].<ref>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lKU3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA408 |quote=...because that our sovereign lord the King, by a petition delivered to him in the said parliament, by the commons of the same, hath perceived That the great scarcity of bowstaves is now in this realm, and the bowstaves that be in this realm be sold as an excessive price... |title=Statutes at Large |volume=3 |year=1762 |page=408|last1=Britain |first1=Great }}</ref> [[Richard III of England]] increased this to ten for every tun. This stimulated a vast network of extraction and supply, which formed part of royal monopolies in southern Germany and Austria. In 1483, the price of bowstaves rose from two to eight pounds per hundred, and in 1510 the Venetians obtained sixteen pounds per hundred.

In 1507 the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] asked the [[Duke of Bavaria]] to stop cutting yew, but the trade was profitable, and in 1532 the royal monopoly was granted for the usual quantity "if there are that many". In 1562, the Bavarian government sent a long plea to the Holy Roman Emperor asking him to stop the cutting of yew and outlining the damage done to the forests by its selective extraction, which broke the canopy and allowed wind to destroy neighbouring trees. In 1568, despite a request from Saxony, no royal monopoly was granted because there was no yew to cut, and the next year Bavaria and Austria similarly failed to produce enough yew to justify a royal monopoly.

Forestry records in this area in the 17th century do not mention yew, and it seems that no mature trees were to be had. The English tried to obtain supplies from the Baltic, but in this period [[History of archery#Decline of archery|bows were being replaced by guns]] in any case.{{sfn|Hageneder|2007|pp=105-106}}