The battle for the fortress is eerily quiet. There are 40 men and women inside the castle

of Shalu Shabrol in Aquitaine. Hundreds of attackers swarm outside, they're fighting

hell for leather, but their weapons of choice aren't catapults or battering rams. What

you hear on this day, just before Easter in 1199, is the creak and strain of hard-you-wood

bent taught. The thwack and twang have strong twine snapping forward. Grunts of effort

as men load and reload. The thud have small metal-tipped bolts slamming into shields. The

two sides are fighting with crossbows. These weapons are light, portable, accurate and

easy for anyone to pick up, point and shoot. They're the cult peacemakers, or AK-47s, of

the late 12th century. Unlike those modern weapons, crossbows don't make a bang when

they go off. But if a crossbow bolt catches you in the wrong place, you're in big trouble.

What's happening around Shalu Shabrol in late March 1199 is a fight no louder than a game

of laser tag. But the stakes are life and death.

In this deadly game, the attackers are led by Richard the Lionheart, King of England and

Lord of the Plantagenet Empire. For nearly five years, Richard has been fighting to win back

his lands. Land's arch rival, Philip Augustus, the King of France, stole while he was stuck in jail.

Since his release, Richard has been blasting through enemy castles and troops like their twigs.

He's been doing so well, in fact, that Philip Augustus has asked him for a truce.

As we heard last time, Richard agreed to the amnesty, but still, the Lionheart's world is large

and full of enemies. He's in Shalu Shabrol fighting an ally of Phillips who isn't protected by

the terms of the peace. That's the count of limoge, a long time thorn in the Plantagenet's side.

Richard wants to kick the count's legs out from under him, then maybe kick his head in while he's

on the ground. In military terms, that means taking the count's castles, starting with Shalu Shabrol.

...