The archers always began the battle at a distance, as the artillery do in modern warfare, to disorganise the enemy before the main bodies came to actual hand-to-hand fighting. The cross-bow, or arbalest, had been used in sport for many years, but in the 12th century it came to be employed in warfare, though its use was forbidden by the Pope as “being unfit for Christian warfare.” It was driven out of use by the long-bow in England at the end of the 13th century. In the Continental armies, it continued to grow in use in preference to the long-bow, so that in time the long-bow became essentially an English arm. There were several kinds of cross-bows, which may be classified accordingly as the string was drawn back (1) by hand, (2) by means of a lever, and (3) by means of a wheel and ratchet. The missiles shot from the cross-bow were short and stout, and had heads of different forms, and were called quarrels or bolts. There were several reasons why the cross-bow was superseded by the long-bow: (1) A good bowman could shoot about six arrows while a cross-bowman was winding up his bow and making one shot. (2) The penetrative power of the arrow, and the distance which it could travel, were quite equal to those of the quarrel from the cross-bow. (3) Long-bowmen, using their bows when held in a vertical plane, could stand more closely together than cross-bowmen, who had to discharge their weapons while holding them in a horizontal plane. (4) Greater skill and strength were required in handling the long-bow with precision than was the case with the cross-bow; consequently, more practice was necessary, and more enthusiasm and confidence developed with the use of the former than with the latter. Of the archers who took part in the Hundred Years’ War, Boutell says: “In those days, the archers of England were the best infantry in the world; but then their famous long-bow acquired its reputation, in no slight degree, from the fact that, in peace, archery was the favourite pastime of the English yeomanry.” Crecy, Poitiers, Agincourt--indeed, most of the great victories gained over the French--mainly resulted from the unrivalled skill of the English long-bowmen. All our old writers are agreed upon the vast superiority of our English bowmen over those of other nations. The Scotch depended on their pikemen and the French on their men-at-arms. The English archers were held in high esteem and trust by the English nobles, and it was the custom for some English barons and distinguished knights always to join the archers in battle, fighting side by side with them in their own ranks. On the other hand, the French nobles were very arrogant, and despised the common people, who were, consequently, made unfit to become good soldiers. But the reputation of English archers rose so high that several foreign princes, in the 15th century, deemed their armies materially reinforced if they could retain 200 or 300 English archers in their service.