Medieval Archery

In the medieval period, the place where archery was practiced was called as the "Butts". Thus, Butts was the name of the archery field. These Butts were situated on the borders of towns of villages on common land. A place was chosen where archery practice could be done without any interruption.

Butts
The Butts were made of a level flat area of land that had a length of about 200 meters. Initially, these were made up of several round flat topped and turf covered target mounds. The dimensions of the mounds were as follows – the diameter was 2 meters to 8 meters and height was 1 meter to 3 meters. Around the mound, there could be a small ditch from where the soil to build the mound was taken.

Laws
In medieval archery, it was made compulsory for all males starting from the age of seven, to undergo archery training. During the 14th and 15th centuries, several laws were passed which prohibited many field sports and other games. The objective was to enhance regular archery practice. Edward IV has issued a law regarding archery.

Act
In 1542, an Act was passed regarding archery distance. As per this Act, the minimum target distance was 220 yards for anybody who was aged minimum 24 years. The longbow had a maximum range of almost 400 yards. A trained archer was supposed to be capable of two issues. All those aged 16 to 60 were morally bound to protect the country in the time of crises. The English army of Edward III in the battle of Crecy in 1346 had a total strength of 19000 men out of which there were 7000 to 10000 archers.