Archery in Europe had been around for almost all of its history. The earliest longbow known from England, found at Ashcott Heath, Somerset, is dated to 2665 BC it was mostly used for hunting. Hunting bows were smaller than war bows and easier (not easy) to shoot. Archery as a war tool was almost exclusively used by England and Wales. Warbows reached high popularity in the 1300s and early 1400's. They were very effect and were key to victory during several key battles during the hundred years war Battle of Agincourt being one. They were accurate at a range of about 300m and with a bodkin arrow head, had a fast rate of fire and were able to punch through even the most expensive plate armor. As for accuracy, a properly trained archer could put an arrow through the eye slits of a helmet at long distances. There were many reasons that they did not gain popularity throughout all Europe in spite of being such a valuable addition to the battlefield. English archers started training at around 10yo and took about 8-10 years to become proficient. It took so long for a few reasons. The draw strength of a warbow was thought to be between 90-100 pounds on average. It would take many years to develop the kind of upper body strength required to shoot such a bow accurately and at a sustained rate. To the best of my knowledge the bows were not aimed by looking down the arrow or by any sort of sight. The bow was drawn back behind the ear before being released. It was all brain power and muscle memory having shot so many tens of thousands of arrows in a lifetime they just knew where the arrow would land. As far as their skill compared to the rest of the world, they were probably as deadly with a bow as anyone could be considering everyone is limited by the laws of physics. Modern longbows have a draw strength of 60 lbs and do not require unusual strength to shoot. Many improvements have been made to modern bows as far as materials, strings, perfectly straight arrows, fake feathers and so on that make modern bows effective in all weather and providing consistency. The invention of compound bows made bows even more effective for those that don't have ten years to learn a new skill. Compound bows use a system of pulley like wheels to increase the power of a bow without requiring great strength.