French Military Crossbow With Muffle 16th-17th Century Known As A Windlass - France Ancient Monarchy

Large and rare crossbow with a block called a "windlass". Straight arbor with a small shoe in fruitwood, bone table decorated with lines and adorned with coats of arms in succession. Strong bow and stirrup in wrought iron. Significant iron reinforcement fittings, cut at the front and around the nut. Nut with two hooks fixed by a pin and held by a lily-shaped reinforcement plate. The windlass and the hook with four pulleys, with double arms, fixed to the back of the arbor, sliding into a pierced iron part forming an integral part of the windlass. The rope attached to its notches will join the two pulleys of the hook, the assembly operated by a crank with two arms and two free handles in turned wood. Strong trigger with hollowed then rounded sides, bent, ending with a ball. BE France 16th / 17th century (later rope, in the old style). Rare and complete. Length: 107 cm. Bow span: 77.5 cm. Hallmark on the edge of the hooks "HM". This system appears in paintings around 1425. The crossbowman holds the crossbow on the ground by means of his foot in the stirrup. Then he operates two cranks, which by pulling pulleys, tighten the string. The block crossbow is considered the most powerful of crossbows. It was used for a long time to test armor. Until the 16th century, armor tested in this way was classified as "all-proof", while that tested with a hook crossbow or bow was called "half-proof". The crossbow windlass is a mechanical device used to arm a crossbow. It is a crank mechanism that allows the crossbow string to be pulled back with ease, increasing the accuracy and power of the shot. The use of a windlass allowed archers to shoot heavier projectiles and reach greater distances. In medieval times, crossbows were favored by knights and infantrymen. They were highly effective weapons that required less skill and physical strength than traditional longbows. The inclusion of a windlass made crossbows even easier to use, allowing soldiers to reload quickly and efficiently in the heat of battle.