Probably invented in 12th-century Wales, the longbow was a good six feet in length, made of the highly tensile wood of the Ash tree. The arrows were about 36-40 inches -- much longer than previous bows and arrows. The Long-Bow could pierce armor at a hundred yards. This meant that a heavily-armored, mounted knight (who had to be trained some 5-10 years at great expense) could be beaten by a peasant with a strong arm and six weeks' training.       The English kings were first to utilize this weapon on a large scale. They saw the advantage in rejecting the traditional military method of using armies brought by feudal lords. Instead, kings allied themselves with the growing cities, taxed them, protected them from the agrarian, feudal lords, and used the taxes to hire mercenaries to use the Long-Bow.        In terms of a defense budget, this arrangement worked much more efficiently than relying on aristocrats, the natural competitors of kings. For a tiny investment, kings freed themselves of feudal lords, and were now in a military position to challenge to power of these lords with mercenary armies armed with the longbow. This process did not happen overnight (but eventually it helped to solidify the power of kings over subordinates) -- it took a couple centuries to complete.        Knights and country nobles did not adapt even that quickly. They remained ensconced in their estates, and in a way of life that was dying out. Perhaps it was pride, isolationism, conservatism, or the feudal psychology of remaining free 'lords of their own castles' that hindered them from seeing that technology and social relationships were passing them by. They remained in a kind of Ga-Ga Land, romanticizing days-gone-by in tournaments and in the fading glitter of the castles' Great Halls, reliving the past when knights and petty feudal lords had a great deal of power and influence.         The impact of these changing times on feudal lords can best be seen in Johan Huizing's brilliant book, The Waning of the Middle Ages.          One has to wonder to what extent, and how quickly, Modern Society will adapt to the rapid changes coming, and already in place (e.g., computers). If the past can teach anything here, it is that one should not live (or bury one's head) in the past. Of course, no History Teacher would be guilty of this....