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Originally Posted by Swordfish
Hi David,
This is an other drawing than I remembered, but it looks clearly like a Zapfenschloss. Unfortunately I'm no expert for medieval fashion, therefore I can say nothing to the dating. But as I assumed, probably an outmoded type of crossbow was still in use at this time. The same can be observed on early target rifles of the first half of the 17th century, which still had a matchlock at a time where hunting rifles were already equipped with a wheellock since some decades.
Best
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Hi David ,
surveying the drawing once again, I noticed that the tiller and the bow are very slender and not very large. The depicted scene therefore may be a target shooting at short range at a funfair. The depicted crossbow is possibly a special type used for such purposes, not very strong and cheap. The same can be observed at funfairs today, where no war-weapons were used, but special air-guns.
I still belive that in the second half of the 15th century no war-or hunting crossbows were made new with a 'Zapfenschloss', but this is only an assumption, proofs are hard to find.
Best