Longbows weren't a "pleb" weapon.
Linemen required quite a bit of skill and training.
The much to use crossbow was much more a pleb weapon.
What the French frowned upon was that the Longview gave people that weren't part of the chivalric tradition the ability to mesa with their knights.
Supposedly that's where the British flashing the v comes from.
The French would remove the fingers of captured bowmen. Ones that still had them would flash them as a sign of spite.
(, Sat 1 Nov 2014, 12:35, Share, Reply)
historians often say that the crossbow was frowned upon because it gave any tom, dick or harry, with little training, the ability to take down a knight
the v sign origin story is largely seen as a myth
bshistorian.wordpress.com/2007/07/02/two-fingers-up-to-english-history/
(, Sat 1 Nov 2014, 12:58, Share, Reply)