Crossbow tensioner (assistant)

Crossbow tensioners or tensioners for short are called auxiliary workers who tension crossbows.

A crossbow tensioner is a person who loads and pretensions crossbows for the archer. The purpose of this auxiliary activity is to increase the rate of fire of a more qualified shooter when using several crossbows. The rifle tensioner also developed from this activity as a result of developments in weapon technology. Crossbow tighteners also gained special importance in the 16th century as servants of court society. If crossbow tensioners were still described as participants in military conflicts up to the 15th century, from the 18th century onwards they were only found as helpers in the context of hunting or in rifle clubs.

Crossbow tensioners can be found in artistic representations from 1475 onwards. In addition to various panel paintings for example by Martin Schongauer "Zwei Armbrustspanner", drawn around the year 1475, or in Domenico Tintoretto's "Die Eroberung Konstantinopels" from 1598. In fiction, crossbow tighteners are for example with Heini the arbrustspanner of Count Oswald by Julius Wolff 1929 or Gino the crossbow tensioner mentioned in The Raven from 1984.

In French-language descriptions from the time, crossbowmen are sometimes referred to as Cranequeniers (crossbow tensioners ), derived from the tension winch (fr. Cric á manivelle) also called Cranequin .

Crossbow stretcher with winch on a Cologne panel painting from 1493–1494
Crossbow tensioner with tension belt (dressed in white) behind crossbowmen on an Upper Bavarian panel painting around 1475

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Stefan Selzer: The hunt as a courtly festival on a panel painting from the Ernestine court (1540) . In: Communications of the Residences Commission of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, special issue 6 . 2003, ISSN 1617-7312 , p. 79 ( gwdg.de [PDF]).
^ Wilhelm Riistow: Military hand dictionary. Edited from the standpoint of the latest literature and with the support of experts. and edited, Volume 2 . F. Schulthess, 1859, p. 257 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
↑ Crossbow tensioner Johann Gottfried Bödler makes gunsmith work and the locksmith trade brings legal action . Court record , Leipzig 1775 ( leipzig.de ).
^ Richard Sternfeld: Karl von Anjou as Count of Provence (1245-1265) . R. Gaertner's publishing house, 1888, p. 230 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
↑ pen drawing by Martin Schongauer owned by the British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings (inventory number: 1848,1013.128); Description according to John Rowlands: Drawings by German artists and artists from German-speaking regions of Europe in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum: the 15thC & 16thC by Artists born before 1530 , Volume 1, London, British Museum Press, 1993 , No. 6: “Two archers spanning crossbows; with separate studies of a belthook and a double hook for a windlass "; Object description of the British Museum .
^ David Klemm: Italian Drawings 1450-1800 (The collections of the Hamburger Kunsthalle - Kupferstichkabinett) . Böhlau, Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-412-20261-3 , pp. 347 f. (No. 530) ( limited preview in Google Book search).
^ Julius Wolff: The Hochkönigsburg . Reprint edition. Forgotten Books, 2018, ISBN 978-0-364-95242-9 , pp. 8 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
↑ The Raabe . Issues 5-6 edition. Hoffmans Verlag, 1984, p. 69 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
↑ August Demmin: The weapons of war history: Of spears, slingshots and swords: An encyclopedia of armory. Reprint of the original edition from 1893 edition. Edition Militaris, 2018, ISBN 978-3-96389-002-4 , pp. 102 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[Nr._8-1] Stefan Selzer: The hunt as a courtly festival on a panel painting from the Ernestine court (1540) . In: Communications of the Residences Commission of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, special issue 6 . 2003, ISSN 1617-7312 , p. 79 ( gwdg.de [PDF]).

[Nr._1-2] Wilhelm Riistow: Military hand dictionary. Edited from the standpoint of the latest literature and with the support of experts. and edited, Volume 2 . F. Schulthess, 1859, p. 257 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[Nr._2-3] Crossbow tensioner Johann Gottfried Bödler makes gunsmith work and the locksmith trade brings legal action . Court record , Leipzig 1775 ( leipzig.de ).

[Nr._7-4] Richard Sternfeld: Karl von Anjou as Count of Provence (1245-1265) . R. Gaertner's publishing house, 1888, p. 230 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[Nr._5-5] rawing by Martin Schongauer owned by the British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings (inventory number: 1848,1013.128); Description according to John Rowlands: Drawings by German artists and artists from German-speaking regions of Europe in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum: the 15thC & 16thC by Artists born before 1530 , Volume 1, London, British Museum Press, 1993 , No. 6: “Two archers spanning crossbows; with separate studies of a belthook and a double hook for a windlass "; Object description of the British Museum .

[Nr._3-6] David Klemm: Italian Drawings 1450-1800 (The collections of the Hamburger Kunsthalle - Kupferstichkabinett) . Böhlau, Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-412-20261-3 , pp. 347 f. (No. 530) ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[Nr._4-7] Julius Wolff: The Hochkönigsburg . Reprint edition. Forgotten Books, 2018, ISBN 978-0-364-95242-9 , pp. 8 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[Nr._6-8] The Raabe . Issues 5-6 edition. Hoffmans Verlag, 1984, p. 69 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[Nr._9-9] August Demmin: The weapons of war history: Of spears, slingshots and swords: An encyclopedia of armory. Reprint of the original edition from 1893 edition. Edition Militaris, 2018, ISBN 978-3-96389-002-4 , pp. 102 ( limited preview in Google Book search).