"Mounted Crossbowmen - When did they appear?" Topic

I know mounted crossbowmen were used by many european armies during the 15th century, but when did they started to appear in europe? I'm specially interested in their beginnings in Italy and Germany.

Edward I took 200 on his first invasion of Scotland in 1296. My guess is that they were hired as a unit from the continent. They don't appear (AFAIK) in any of the other attempts to conquer Scotland by Edward I nor under Edward II or Edward III so my guess would be that they were not seen as cost-effective.

The crossbow was the weapon of choice for castle guards in England. These seem to have been a mix of household troops and mercenaries and, in both cases, are likely to have ridden on campaign if called to participate.

While I'm not saying that Edward's 200 derived from this source, it is certainly possible that they did.

Mounted skirmishers with crossbow I would have said were a different kettle of fish. I have a feeling that they were around very early in the use of the weapon in southern Italy and from there spread to the rest of the continent.

When you say "mounted crossbow" I assume that you mean used from horseback and not just riding to where the battle is and dismounting.

I wouldn't expect Germany/Italy to use crossbows from horseback any earlier than Europe generally. I'm trying to remember where I saw the marginalia illustration of a crossbow being shot "Parthian style" in an Iberian manuscript. It's in my books somewhere. Maybe I'll go take a looksee. But iirc it was 12th century or early 13th century.

Phillip I of France employed mounted crossbowmen, but again, mounted to shoot as such or just mounted to keep up with knights?

Falkes de Breauté made noted use of very effective crossbowmen, and these were undoubtedly in possession of horses. But no specific mention of them shooting from horseback exists that I have read.

And besides all of this, were mounted crossbowmen, shooting from horseback, ever used in such a capacity on the battlefield, or only in an "outrider" or raiding role?

I allow their use in wargaming because they are cool looking troops. But it must be admitted that such a use is more "fun" than it is backed by any hard evidence….

Okay, I did a quick search through my most likely picture books, and all I can find is Osprey, in particular number 200 "El Cid and the Reconquista", in which Nicolle states that crossbows used from horseback are a "rare phenomenon" and show up in Europe mostly in Central Europe and Granada. This is backed up by the "Saladin" Osprey (171) which shows mounted crossbows. So as I was trying to recall, it appears that actual use of the crossbow from horseback is mainly seen employed by Muslim/Eastern armies and rarely if at all by Western European armies.

Nevertheless, because of perceived differences, "we" allow "Spanish/Muslim", and Italian crossbow to shoot a stronger weapon from horseback and to reload at a "trot". While Franco-German armies only use a lighter weapon and must reload at a walk or standstill. They are further restricted to shooting from "open order". These are "gamey" differences, I admit, but not entirely made up from whole cloth. It seems that the more advanced reloading technology originated elsewhere than Western Europe, e.g. goats prod or cranequin, allowing the mounted crossbowman to span his weapon without having to virtually stop his horse….

You could say that mounted crossbowmen first appeared in Europe in the 2nd century AD, since Arrian mentions missiles shot from "machines", which must mean some sort of ballista, in his account of Roman cavalry training.

Druzhina has a Spanish mounted crossbowman dated 1086 at link

Crossbows were certainly the prime missile weapon for English garrisons in Scotland from 1296-1314 and again from 1333-41, but there's no sigh of hem in field armies – that said, most activity was small-ish bands of men-at-arms chasing one another around the place with.

Crossbows were used at Orewin Bridge in 1282 to shoot down Welsh spear clumps that were being fixed in position by the English cavalry.

In the 1180s Richard the Lionheart rebelled against his father and bith hired mercenary crossbowmen. However, I don't think there is any indication that they were mounted other than perhaps for movement.

Sean McGlynn, Blood Cries Afar, asserts in passing that contemporary depictions of Bouvines show crossbowmen shooting from horseback.