The eagle's left head

[Avrorrange]

Speaking of the Cretans, are the Cretans of this time still as famed for their archery as their ancestors did in the antiquity?

 

[X Oristos]

Speaking of the Cretans, are the Cretans of this time still as famed for their archery as their ancestors did in the antiquity/

If a 16th century Englishman described the Cretans as good archers,that's a high praise indeed!

The cretan bow was a composite one, reinforced with horn from kri-kri ibexes. They had been tinkering with these bows since antiquity and continued to improve them. Even though they had access to crossbows they didn't replace their composite bows. That will be an interesting showdown: cretan vs turkish composite bows.

 

[nickmn]

If a 16th century Englishman described the Cretans as good archers,that's a high praise indeed!

The cretan bow was a composite one, reinforced with horn from kri-kri ibexes. They had been tinkering with these bows since antiquity and continued to improve them. Even though they had access to crossbows they didn't replace their composite bows. That will be an interesting showdown: cretan vs turkish composite bows.

That englishman's last sentence is a pretty apt description of Cretans today as well.

 

[galileo-034]

Then it is the matter of naval power. It is true that the Byzantines holding Gallipoli after the Savoyard Crusade didn't accomplish anything. However, they held just the city itself, not the whole peninsula and they had no ability whatsoever to use Gallipoli as an offensive base. But if Alexandros Philanthropenos captures the whole peninsula, restores the 6km justinian wall at the neck and uses is as an offensive base? That's a whole different thing.

Besides, neither the Savoyards nor the Byzantines had a fleet that could sustainably interdict passage across the Straits, but the Lascarids do have one that do just that.
Lascaris, replying to a point on the question earlier in the thread, noted that cutting the Straits to Turkish shipping and cutting the Ottoman realm in two was actually a an attempted strategy during the Nicopolis crusade, so I suppose he has already considered the idea.