The Developing Law of Weapons

Extract Introduction It is often suggested that weapons law has a long history. Ancient bans on the use of poison are, for example, frequently mentioned to support this view. Weapons were also famously a source of mediaeval controversy. The English victories against the much more numerous French forces at both Crécy in 1346 and Azincourt in 1415 were delivered largely by the longbow, regarded as a good example of a paradigm shifting technology ushering in what some have referred to as a 'revolution in military affairs'.2 That phrase may be an exaggeration, but the longbow certainly signalled the end of the dominance of mounted knights over infantry. The French at Crécy had, in contrast to the English, deployed Genoese crossbowmen. The winding mechanism of the crossbow resulted in bolts fired with greater force than the arrows fired from longbows. In a comparison of rates of fire, however, the longbow won by a substantial margin, with an expert longbowman able to fire between ten and 20 arrows per minute compared with a mere two shots from a crossbow. Importantly, both could pierce armour. Whether it was the sheer quantity of arrows fired by the longbowmen or the extra armour piercing quality of the crossbow fired bolts, each weapon posed a serious threat to the noble or aristocratic mounted knights and esquires.

Political science · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Law and Human Rights · Law · Military and Defense Studies

• Human/Machine(-Learning) Interactions, Human Agency and the International Humanitarian Law Proportionality Standard

  Open Access•Taylor Woodcock•Global Society•2023

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