EUROPEAN CROSSBOW BOLT 11th-13th CENTURY

3 7/8" (3.93”) length of slender proportions with thickened diamond section point. Stable excavated condition with some areas of the original surface. Made for use against leather and mail armor, these were sometimes known as "horse killing bolts" as they could bring down a charger, inadvertently or not whereas they could sustain an arrow wound and fight on. Recovered at Königstein Castle, Hesse, Germany, between Frankfurt and Wiesbaden. Iron with diamond section point and tapered tang. With a copy of the original find/collection note. The castle ruins stand today with the earliest portions reduced to the ground floor in the 14th century and rebuilt and fragmented several times thereafter with several buildings in the town of Königstein constructed from the castle stone. Rarely encountered with such specific and historic information.