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MEDIEVAL MYSTERIES
Crafts and Guilds on Stamps
BOWYER
In this miniature, a bailiff (in white surcoat) holds a cross bow while another client examines what appears to be a short bow. A target for testing the accuracy of the bowyer's weapons is set into the wall at the right. An arrow-making machine is behind it in the middle ground.
The bowyer, or maker of bows and arrows, was a busy craftsman during the Middle Ages for this skill was in demand by hunter and warrior alike.There were specialties within this craft as anyone named Fletcher can attest. A fletcher was skilled in affixing feathers to the shafts of arrows.
