From
*http://www.theenglishwarbowsociety.com/warbow_EN.html
<http://www.theenglishwarbowsociety.com/warbow_EN.html>*

"The power of these medieval War bows was breathtaking.  Detailed analysis
of the War bows recovered from the Tudor warship Mary Rose, which sank in
battle in 1545 with an almost complete inventory including hundreds of bows
and thousands of arrows, show the draw weights ranging from 80lbs to 180lbs
with the most prolific being in the 140lb range.  The draw weight is
defined as the amount of force, expressed as a weight, which needs to be
applied to the string in order to bend the strung bow to its full extent.
When speaking of war bows the full draw length is usually taken to be 32”,
which does not mean that the archer will draw it to that length; it may
vary by a few inches.   As a comparison a modern target longbow of the type
promoted by the British Longbow Society will have a draw weight in the
region of 35lbs to 60lbs measured at 28” draw. These Victorian style bows
are also different in their profile, cross-section and tillering. It is
important to distinguish between the two - an English War bow is a Longbow,
but a longbow is rarely a war bow!"

best wishes,

Mike Lynd