When did archers start splitting arrows?

Around the 17th century. In fiction, that is: It’s unclear whether splitting an arrow from nock to tip in the manner depicted in Brave and other films and stories is possible at all in real life. Archers do plant arrows in the back of other arrows—it’s a rare but not uncommon occurrence called “telescoping” or shooting a “Robin Hood,” that seems to be on par with a hole-in-one in golf—but there’s no evidence that it’s possible to sail one arrow straight through another.