Concerning the question > -Did any contemporaries actually take note of the ruling? Like any ruling, some did, some didn't. From an article at [MilitaryHistoryNow][1] (emphasis mine): > But while the church frowned on Christian-on-Christian use of the > crossbow, religious authorities of the day had no problem when the > weapons were being pointed at non-believers, heretics and heathens. As > such, the weapons featured prominently in Crusader armies. Yet back in > Europe, they were controversial. **Both the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad > III and the Kingdom of Flanders abided by the holy ban** in European > wars and sent their own crossbow men packing; other continental powers > skirted the rules when they could. But even with their prohibition, > crossbows continued to be widely used. Another source, [International Encyclopedia of Military History edited by James C. Bradford](https://books.google.com/books?id=xq_lCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT360&lpg=PT360&dq=holy+roman+empire+conrad+3+crossbow+ban&source=bl&ots=MfbufhMbcL&sig=U76lh4odzsPxiU874JH5exW8LYQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiboLffnt_YAhVL3WMKHcQ5DoIQ6AEISDAJ#v=onepage&q=holy%20roman%20empire%20conrad%203%20crossbow%20ban&f=false) confirms that [Conrad III][2], Holy Roman Emperor from 1138-1152, > condemned their use in his domains (The same source mentions that the Magna Carta in 1215 banned the use of crossbows specifically.) Conrad III is also mentioned in an article which appeared in The Nation, (in 1961), entitled '[UNILATERAL DISARMAMENT: 1139 A.D.][3] - - by Jack Rothman', > > "So, moved by humane considerations, the Lateran Council, which > advised the Pope on secular affairs, in 1139 declared the crossbow 'a > weapon hateful to God.' The ban was observed unilaterally by Conrad > III of Germany, who forbade its use in his armies for thirteen years, > meanwhile trying to persuade other powers to do likewise. He failed, > and by 1152 Conrad's soldiers were again using the crossbow." So it appears that Conrad only was able to uphold this ban for 13 years, and then resumed using the crossbows as well. No information here concerning the inclusion or not of long bows, and this article seems to also interpret the papal ruling as mainly directed at crossbows. ---------- Concerning Flanders, which was another area mentioned as banning ranged weapons, this is brought up in the book [Archery and Crossbow Guilds in Medieval Flanders][4], 1300-1500 By Laura Crombie. In this text,it states: > In England all men were required, from 1363, to practice archery at > the local butts each week. In contrast, Flemish towns passed laws > *against* anyone using bows or crossbows, and later guns, within their > walls... It later mentions that shooting outside the city walls was allowed, so it seems this was not a ban on the use in war such as canon 29, but just local ordinances to make it safer *in the city limits*. (The presence of archery and crossbow related guilds there would also seem to agree that military use was still allowed). So the above Flanders reference, though it did include bows, seems to have little relation to the ban from the Second Council of the Lateran. ---------- So some (the Holy Roman Empire under Conrad III, who took power in 1138) did try to follow the ruling (which was in [in April 1139][5]), though for only a limited time, while others 'skirted the rules'. Most information seems to be treating this as a crossbow ban, and I have not found any mention of inclusion of long bows (beside the Flemish cities reference) in this ban, as of yet. [1]: http://militaryhistorynow.com/2012/05/23/the-crossbow-a-medieval-wmd/ [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_III_of_Germany [3]: https://books.google.com/books?id=zdZNAQAAIAAJ&q=unilateral%20disarmament%201139AD&dq=unilateral%20disarmament%201139AD&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwixifSupN_YAhUBXK0KHXjYD0wQ6AEIKzAA [4]: https://books.google.com/books?id=BCcbDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA64&dq=flanders%20crossbow%20ban&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjr4O3S1N_YAhUI6GMKHQkfCx8Q6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=banned&f=false [5]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Council_of_the_Lateran