The European adoption of the crossbow around 1100 AD significantly transformed military tactics and warfare. This weapon allowed infantry soldiers to penetrate armor more effectively than traditional bows, leading to debates within the Church regarding its morality and lethality. The crossbow's widespread use changed the dynamics of battles, contributing to the decline of knightly cavalry and altering the course of medieval warfare.

The European adoption of the crossbow in 1100 was reflected in chivalric romances that contrasted knightly honor with the rise of mechanical weaponry. Poets of the time, such as those in the Arthurian tradition, grappled with the implications of this technological shift on notions of valor and heroism.