content_output-035_2 (Q5991)

The arbalist or cross-bow was a clumsy weapon; it fired a variety of missiles, mostly of the type termed quarreaux—that is, square bolts, later known as quarrels. These, by reason of their barbed heads and their great weight, caused dangerous wounds; they pierced armour, and not infrequently they were poisoned. An ordinary wound was not easily cured, owing to the clumsy surgery of those days;