Re: Sagittarius and crossbow

[Brian Eric Farnell <bfarnell@xxxxxxx>]

Yes, and I wasn't even thinking, I just always associate the
crossbow with the Holy land.  Regards,
Brian

Jim Gillogly wrote:
> 
> Brian Eric Farnell wrote:
> > For what it's worth, the Church did forbid it's use, with the
> > exception that it could be used against Moslems.  Maybe that
> > would help localize the MS origins.  I would assume whoever
> > chose to draw a crossbow in the hands of the archer thought it
> > quite a normal type of bow.  Maybe the MS originated in the Holy
> > land.  The Templars, for instance, were often quite proficient
> > at Arabic and employed Arabic scribes.  That might explain the
> > Middle Eastern flavor to the script that accompanies the very
> > Western looking illustrations.
> 
> It seems to me one doesn't need to go to the Middle East to find
> Islam in that era -- wasn't Elizabeth Bathory's Transylvania
> under Ottoman control?  This is also well before the siege of
> Vienna, which was rather close to the front lines for quite a
> while, if I recall.
> 
> --
>         Jim Gillogly
>         Mersday, 12 Afterlithe S.R. 2000, 03:46
>         12.19.7.6.6, 13 Cimi 9 Tzec, Ninth Lord of Night