Why did the crossbow become extinct on the battlefield?
On Museum Secrets: Inside the Royal Ontario Museum we tell you the story of a rare and deadly 15th Century crossbow that was the pinnacle of weapons technology before it disappeared from the battlefield.
This special weapon is kept behind closed doors in the ROM’s vault, but we got the rare opportunity to learn more about it from ROM curator, Corey Keeble.
Even better than that, we went with Corey to meet up with Chris Warrilow, a medieval weaponry expert who builds custom weapons, armor and props in Toronto. We wanted to learn about why the crossbow was replaced by the rifle – it’s not what you’d expect – and so Chris built an incredible replica of the ROM’s crossbow. What use is a replica if you don’t get to test it out on the range?
Watch this video to for a sneak preview of the crossbow in action and then tune in to Museum Secrets to find out what happened! The series premieres on History Television, January 6th.
