The Church Banned the Crossbow as Too Deadly
A medieval council declared the crossbow so murderous that Christians were forbidden, under threat of anathema, to aim it at fellow Christians.
In 1139, the Second Lateran Council, convened in Rome under Pope Innocent II, issued a sweeping condemnation of one of the era’s most feared weapons. Canon 29 branded the work of crossbowmen and archers a “deadly and God-detested art” and forbade it, under penalty of anathema, from ever again being turned against Christians and Catholics.
“We forbid under penalty of anathema that that deadly and God-detested art of slingers and archers be in the future exercised against Christians and Catholics.”
The ruling reflected a moral panic: a crossbow bolt could punch through armour and kill a mounted knight from a safe distance, upending the chivalric ideal that battle should be a contest between trained warriors. Crucially, the prohibition applied only among Christians — the weapon remained sanctioned against so-called infidels.
The popularly cited date of August 30, 1146 is spurious; the council met during Lent of 1139. Enforcement was feeble, depending on local bishops and rulers with little reason to disarm. Kings ignored it, and the crossbow dominated European battlefields for centuries.
Sources & references
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