Were poisonous arrows used in medieval Europe?

by SilverCloud73

I have heard that the Greeks and Romans used and encountered poisonous arrows in warfare, but were these weapons used later? I know for a fact that at this time poisons were often used in foods and drinks, but I am not aware of them ever being used on arrows or other weapons.

nightsky555

Yes. In the Early Middle Ages it was a characteristic of some invading barbarians who avoided meeting their enemies in the open field and therefore had to resort to guerrilla warfare. Later on, as warfare progressed, it stopped being used as it had no real benefit in the large-scale conventional warfare of the Late Middle Ages. Here's an excerpt from the Strategikon of Maurice about the usage of poisonous arrows among Slavs in the late 6th and early 7th century:

"In addition, they use wooden bows with short arrows smeared with a poisonous drug which is very effective. If the wounded man has not drunk an antidote beforehand to check the poison or made use of other remedies which experienced doctors might know about, he should immediately cut out around the wound to keep the poison from spreading to the rest of the body."
Dennis, George (1984). Maurice's Strategikon: Handbook of Byzantine military strategy. University of Pennsylvania Press