I've been reading up on medieval siege tactics and weapons and I came across a page that said crossbowmen would often coat their bolts in beeswax.
Is there any historical accuracy to this or is it just another myth?
The reason given was that it would cause the bolts to more often bounce or slide off shields but I can't find any other sources that support this claim.
>>1038789
Why would they want them to slide off shields?
>>1038800
Theoretically to fly into helmets and other areas of the body.
>>1038789
I think it is prevent wear and tear on the crossbow.
>>1038814
I remember reading that archers would coat their strings in beeswax to help make them water resistant but crossbow bolts?
Sounds like a logical thing to do since a crossbow / arbalest works as such that when the string is released the bolt is pushed along in a groove on the body of the crossbow which creates friction, so by coating the projectile in a lubricant such as beeswax (which was a readily available and widely used lubricant in medieval times) the friction would be reduced, the bolt would achieve a higher velocity and the wear on the body of the crossbow would be reduced. The theory about bouncing off of shields sounds very strange because if the bolt would hit a wooden shield straight on it would stick to the shield and if it would hit the shield at an angle then the beeswax would do little do deflect the bolt away. Even on a metal surface the beeswax would not do much to change the way the bolt behaved on a direct hit.
But i'm buying the idea though, bullets for firearms were coated with beeswax to reduce friction up until very recently in history when i believe the coating was changed to a petroleum based product.
>>1038818
thats true for archers and crossbows but im not going to prove it just take it at face value
>>1038896
This theory makes a lot of sense to me and I'll support it.
This is the page in question I was talking about, probably should have posted it earlier.
http://strolen.com/viewing/The_Sigurdian_Bowgun
The reduced wear sounds like something professional crossbowmen or mercenaries would do regularly even if it didn't help the bolt deflect off of shields.
>>1038930
And once more for a real link.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempires/trebuchet/archers.html
I once heard that the bowmen or crossbowmen would coat the 'caps' of their bolts or arrows in beeswax so that when it hits someone if they try to yank it out the cap falls off and remains inside the body.
There seems to be a lot of theories revolving around beeswax and shit.
>>1039041
I heard the crpytokikes who write history are trying to pc things to make africanized honey bees more adapted
>>1038789
no, they attached the steel points of the crossbow bolts to the wood of the bolt with beeswax.
It's sticky and worked as a glue. Also, when entering a human body, the wax would soften, meaning pulling out the bolt would leave the head in the body, which is a bad thing.
