Although these days the longbow is generally thought of as an English weapon, it was the Welsh who employed the longbow in battle long before the English adopted it or Wales was conquered by England. While bows and arrows have been around since Paleolithic times, the first confirmed use of the Welsh longbow was in 633 AD, in a battle between the King of Gwynedd, Cadwallon ap Cadfan, and the Northumbrians. An arrow shot from a Welsh bow killed Ofrid, son of Edwin of Northumbria. During this time, Saxons were not known for their archery in battle. Ralph, the Earl of Hereford, describes an expedition he led against the Welsh king, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn in 1055. His horsemen, who’d ridden into the Welsh mountains, were ambushed by archers shooting so accurately and strongly that, according to the Abingdon Chronicle, ‘the Read more…