Dear Mr. Cornwell,

I just returned from London and finished you latest, 1356. I am a traditional archer, though I started shooting FIFA Olympic recurve at a young age. I appreciate your descriptions of how the equipment of the period was built, shot, and maintained. For years I have been building archery equipment, and these days I am I am mostly devoted to traditional and primitive archery.

Even in the most primitive archery circles today there is a great attention to the physics and math which go into building and shooting a bow. I assume this is due to advances in science and technology and education. My question is: How aware do you believe 14th century archers to these specifics? Do you believe archers of the time were aware of such things as the “Archer’s Paradox”, or the importance of wood densities in an arrow spine? Or did it all become intuition after decades of an individual’s practice? Since arrows (and bows) were mass produced, did they adhere to a strict standard?

Sorry it’s not the most creative question; I thought since you’ve spent so much time in the head of a period archer you might have a creative answer!

Thanks!
James Byron