Toy crossbows in 15th -17th century

This post is a compilation of information from two Polish posts - first one written in 2016 and one recently about toy crossbows.

In a 1571 Polish edition of Pietro de Crescenzi „Opus ruralium commodorum libri XII”. This version is not direct translation and some parts were adapted to 16th cent. reality.  In a part about hazel tree original states that its wood is good enough for bows ("arcus ad saggitandum satis boni"). Polish version is a bit different. It states that it is good for crossbows for children to play with them ("takież samostrzały dzieciom ku krotochwili"). So what writes the translator of Crescenzi work is that in his times hazel was probably not used for bows any more, but it was still used for crossbows for children.

Apart from this source we do have some remnants of toy crossbows. First one is a toy crossbow from Hamburg City Museum (Stadtmuseum Harburg):

It is a small crossbow with peg-lock (Ger. Zapfenschloss) dated to 15th century
In Poland, during excavations in Elbląg 3 children crossbows, dated to 15-16th century were excavated. They are 23-28 cm long and each one is different.

Children crossbows from Elbląg. Mirosław Marcinkowski, Zabawki dzieci elbląskich, w:  Dawne i współczesne zabawki dziecięce, 2010, p. 55

In Poland playing with crossbows survived quite long time. Polish ethnographer Kazimierz Moszyński seen them in early 20th century in remote parts of the country - deep in woods of Polesie and between Vistula  and San rivers. Unfortunately he wrote that they are not interesting and so he doesn't made any drawings.

Apart from texts and some extant examples there are numerous depictions of toy crossbows on paintings and etchings depicting kermises in Flemish art. Here are just two of them:

Toy crossbows. Left: Boerenkermis met een opvoering van de klucht ‘Een cluyte van Plaeyerwater’, Peeter Baltens, ca. 1570, Right: Boerenkermis, Nicolaes de Bruyn, naar David Vinckboons (I), 1642 - 1665

As we can see crossbows were popular toys in 15th -17th century and later. Some were made by childrten or their parents, some were made by toymakers and sold during festivals - just like modern wooden toy crossbows :) 

I decided to make one by myself. Stock  and lock mechanism is made according to Elbląg examples, using some scrap wood (alder). Bow is made from split stick of hazel wood and fastened to the stock with hemp string. Hemp was also used for a bowstring. Crossbow is small - it measures 24,5 cm which is in the middle of dimensions of crossbows from Elblag. 

Maybe later I will paint it red - like the ones seen on Flemish paintings.

There is also great DIY from Tods Workshop showing how to make simple crossbow, similar to the one from Hamburg:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8pivOifGFQ&t=559s

Rafał Szwelicki