These Incredible Warbows were Preserved Inside a Tudor Shipwreck

In this video for History Hit, Ray Mears discovers how a Tudor shipwreck has shaped our understanding of archery in the later medieval period. Raised from the bottom of the English Channel in 1982, the Mary Rose was a carrack-type warship in the English fleet during the reign of King Henry VIII. When it sank in battle against the French in 1545, the Mary Rose took down hundreds of seamen and soldiers with their weapons. The incredible archaeological remains include dozens of perfectly preserved longbows, showing these weapons were still used even as gunpowder became prevalent on the battlefield. Watch the full documentary ’Ray Mears The Bow: The Making of Medieval Europe’ on History Hit TV: Also in this video, Ray meets up once again with Tod of Tod’s Workshop and professional archer and bowyer Joe Gibbs, to test whether a longbow with a heavy draw-weight could really pierce plate armour. Sign up to History