It seems to be fairly beleived (and I cannot offer a substantive opion either way) that the leather discs found on the Mary Rose are spacers from arrow bags, however I have never seen in pictures of archers wearing arrow bags from the 14th and 15th C leather spacer discs or wicker rings to hold the bags away from the fletchings in anyway. They llok to be open ended bags at either end, closed by drawstrings.

Any thoughts?

Tod

Another example of a medieval quiver. This one is rare. A knight on horseback.

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Interesting picture, thanks.

Armour is not quite my thing but that looks to be about 1150-1200 or so? and I thought that a knight would rather be seen dead than use a bow for war. I guess this came from a crusades location and that it was a bit of 'when in Rome do as the Romans do'

Tod

Archery was on the list of knighly skill (along with horsemanship, music and chess, among other things); I think the notion of a knightly aversion towards archery is a later idea.
Quite likely, it could be part of the english nationalistic exaltation of the longbow as the "weapon that made men equal" and the "bane of french chivalry". (The french, however, kept their heavy cavalry-focused way despite the longbow, only abandoning it when faced with musket gunlines...)
It is quite probable that knights hated ARCHERS, but this is not the same as shunning bows.

Thanks guys, I guess I read too much Bernard Cornwell.

Quote:

Richard Fay wrote I've seen images of medieval crossbow quivers covered in some sort of hair or fur (I think one may have been wolf's fur), but I couldn't find any of these on-line. There is one image of these in a colour plate in Robert Hardy's Longbow. This late medieval illustration is from the Hours of Catherine of Cleves, circa 1440. It shows longbows, crossbows, a centre-shot bow, arrows, bolts, quivers, and bolt bags(?). I think what are called quivers here may be quivers for the crossbow bolts, not necesaarily the longer arrows. Whichever they may truly be, they are definitely covered in a grey fur of some sort.

I have no reference pictures to drop in I am afraid, but Leeds Armouries certainly has a hairy quiver and they seemed pretty popular as they are seen in artwork and museums. The Leeds one is listed as being covered in Badger fur, though boar seemed the most common and there are some I have seen that are clearly deer. They are a pig to make.

Tod