On the cusp of the midpoint of the year 2023 in the bright sun and warm breeze of May a small cadre of the Archduchy of Esperance gathered for our monthly tournament.
First stop was our archery tournament which was an "assassinate the nobles" shoot. Niccolo Machiavelli was born in May 1469. Among other things he espoused a ruthless political practice with advice like "It is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong." Assassination of rival nobles would be par for the course.
As accidents do happen, archers who accidentally shot their own supporters increased the score of their opponents.
Due to having a short list, the bowmen shot with the huntsmen and, as it turned out, one of our bowman list archers, Sofonisba, was the most effective and ruthless politician.
After archery we retired to the park and setup under some shade for an arts project involving the construction and use of staff slings. These are simple in nature but highly effective with subtleties arising from both the construction techniques and usage.
As seen in the following period text, the staff sling was used to some effect in period warfare. The staff sling could be used to hurl bottles of something, likely noxious, flammable, or both as well as rocks. The mechanical advantage offered by this simple stick, rope, and cloth is so effective that even a small child was able to launch projectiles a good 40 feet.
Above the small child, is a drawing by Matthew Paris showing the naval battle off the coast of Sandwich where the forces of Louis VIII of France were destroyed August 24 of 1217.
To the right we have a drawing from the Roda Bible (Spain, 11th Century) depicting fighting around Bethulia with staff slings in use at the top.
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