Arbalest

The arbalest (also arblast), a variation of the crossbow, came into use in Europe around the 12th century.

[1] The arbalest was a large weapon with a steel prod, or bow assembly.

A skilled arbalestier (arbalester) could loose two bolts per minute.

Modern French uses the word arbalète, which is linguistically one step further from the stem (disappearance of the s phoneme in the last syllable, before the t).

In some cases, the word has been used to refer to arbalists, the people who actually used the weapon.