Achilles’ heel, Philipp of Macedon’s right eye, Penelope’s three suitors, Saint Sebastian, the apple on Walter Tell’s head, the shoulder of Richard the Lionhearted, George Armstrong Custer - these are some of history’s most famous archery targets. From the walls of Carthage to the fields of Agincourt the bow has been central in military history, and through its deadly power kingdoms rose and fell for millenia. In 1900 Albert de Bertier, V. Cordier, A Guglielmini published this book, Le Tir à l’Arc, as a tribute to the bow’s special place in history with specific emphasis on the ancient Archery Companies of France. These “Knights of the Bow” began as village militias dating to a time before Charlemagne, and they continued to play a key role in the martial history of that nation until the musket rendered them wholly obsolete - and yet the Archery Companies lived on. Even to the present day these confraternities gather at their “archery gardens” in northern France and Belgium to practice in largely the same manner as their ancestors did one thousand years ago. This book is both a broad history of the art of the bow and a manual for archery as it was practiced around 1900, especially in France and in England which the authors consider to be the land of bowmanship par excellence. It draws upon source materials from the medieval period, most notably the mid-14th century work entitled King Modus’ Hunting Book which instructs the reader as follows:

Number one, the bowstring had to be of silk (green or otherwise) for three reasons: First, it was strong enough to last long without breaking, second, when well made it is tough enough to send “a sayette (arrow) or boujon (bolt) further and could provide a better shot than any other cordage. Third, when a string is of silk one can make it as thin as one pleases.

Number two, if you want to shoot straight you must be sure that the arrow points at what you want to hit and take care that the fletching is flat relative to the bow, otherwise it will strike the bow at the moment of release and “il y ferait bosch et la sayette n’yrait mit droict” or “there will be a bump and the arrow won’t go straight.”

Number three, you must draw the bow with three fingers and hold the nocked arrow between the index and middle finger.

Number four, if the head of the arrow is light, let the fletching be of lesser height and length, and if the head is heavy, let the fletching be higher and longer.

Number five, the arrowhead must be affixed to the shaft such that it is right in line with the groove of the nock.

Number six, the arrow must be ten palms long (about 70cm) from the nock to the barbs of the head.

Number seven, the bow must be in good condition and between the top string notch and the bottom one there should be a distance of 23 palms (about 1.55 meters).

Number eight, when the bow is strung there must be a space of “a full palm and two fingers” between the bowstring and the body of the bow.

Number nine, the bowman must draw the bow with the right hand and hold it with the left hand…

A second source from 1387 entitled The Pleasures of the Hunt by Gaston Phebus cautions: “Also it is very perilous to shoot straight out to the side, for often one misses the beast and if the arrow does not simply pass by it can kill or injure one of the companions who is standing in the rank beside you, and in such a case I have seen Messire Godefroy de Harcourt become crippled in his arm.” Sound advice for hunting with any projectile weapon!