HAFTED WEAPONS IN MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE EUROPE

HISTORYOF WARFARE

General Editor

kelly devriesLoyola College

Founding Editors

theresa vannpaul chevedden

VOLUME 31

HAFTED WEAPONS IN MEDIEVAL ANDRENAISSANCE EUROPE

The Evolution of European Staff Weapons between 1200 and 1650

BY

JOHN WALDMAN

BRILLLEIDEN BOSTON

2005

On the cover: The Kornmarktbrunnen, a potable water fountain in Basel, Switzerland. Moved from its original place near the old marketplace to itspresent location, and commemorating a local Swiss captain active at the end of the 15th century. It dates from ca. 1525.

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ISSN 13857827ISBN 90 04 14409 9

Copyright 2005 by John Waldman.

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CONTENTS

List of Illustrations .......................................................................................................... viiForeword ........................................................................................................................ xxiii

by Walter J. Karcheski, Jr.Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... xxv

Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1

Chapter One General Background and Forerunners .............................................. 7Iron .............................................................................................................................. 10

Chapter Two Halberds .............................................................................................. 17Portage of Arms by the Untitled Swiss .................................................................... 20Possible Early Halberd Forms .................................................................................. 21

Chapter Three Extant Examples of Halberds ........................................................ 33Halberds Elsewhere in Europe .................................................................................. 63Oriental Inuences .................................................................................................. 78

Chapter Four Dierent Styles in Simultaneous Use .............................................. 81

Chapter Five Fastenings, Poles, and Finishing Procedures .................................... 87

Chapter Six The Use of Halberds ............................................................................ 99

Chapter Seven Halberds: Details of Rapid Identication ...................................... 105Thirteenth Century .................................................................................................... 105Fourteenth Century .................................................................................................... 105Fifteenth Century ........................................................................................................ 105Sixteenth Century ...................................................................................................... 105Seventeenth Century .................................................................................................. 106

Chapter Eight Glaives .............................................................................................. 107

Chapter Nine Bills ...................................................................................................... 115

Chapter Ten Partizans .............................................................................................. 125

Chapter Eleven The Morgenstern Group .............................................................. 137

Chapter Twelve Ahlspiesse ...................................................................................... 151

Chapter Thirteen Axes and Axe Derivatives .......................................................... 155

\

Chapter Fourteen The Guisarme and the Bardiche .............................................. 165

Chapter Fifteen The Brandistocco, Corseke, and Related Weapons .................. 177

Chapter Sixteen Vouge and Couteau de Brche .................................................. 183

Chapter Seventeen The Military Scythe ................................................................ 191

Chapter Eighteen The Jedburgh Sta and Lochaber Axe .................................... 195

Chapter Nineteen The Doloir .................................................................................. 199

Chapter Twenty Conservation and Restoration of Polearms ................................ 203

Chapter Twenty-One The Marketplace .................................................................. 209

Postscript .......................................................................................................................... 211

List of Marks .................................................................................................................. 213Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 215Index ................................................................................................................................ 219

vi contents

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Cover: The Kornmarktbrunnen, a potable water fountain in Basel, Switzerland; movedfrom its original place near the old marketplace to its present location, and commemo-rating a local Swiss captain active at the end of the 15th century. It dates from ca. 1525.

Fig. 1. Winged spear or Bohemian ear spoon, ca. 1500. Note that the wings arise fromthe socket (see chapter 12), as opposed to the wings of partizans, which issue from thebottom of the blades. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 14.25.460.

Fig. 2. Stone age axe; the shaft and thongs are reconstructions. If used under wet con-ditions these thongs would tend to relax and loosen, allowing stress on the split uppershaft portion. Private collection.

Fig. 3. The mass of this large axe found near London, and possibly of Viking origin,hinges on the relatively small eye over the shaft making this joint unstable in a heavyblow. Lengthening the blade vertically and bringing it closer to the shaft brought with it greater stability. The guisarme, with the added feature of having the lower portion ofthe blade attached to the shaft, was probably a later example of such a weapon. (Seechapter 14.) Courtesy of the Museum of London, inv. no. 887.

Fig. 4a. A pair of rare surviving ingots of Roman iron from Swiss mines in the Jura. Theyare locally called masseln. Courtesy of the Cantonal Museum of Baselland.

Fig. 4b. Ingots of raw iron, a ground nd now in the Museum Ferdinandeum in Graz,5th to 1st century B.C. Courtesy of the Museum Ferdinandeum.

Fig. 5. Scavenging the battleeld for armor and weapons with inghting (lower right).From a panel painting of the victory of Louis the Great over the Serbs (? Turks), ca.1430, by the Master of the Votive Panel of St. Lambert (Hans von Tbingen), Cloisterof St. Lambert, now displayed in the Steiermarkisches Landesmuseum Joanneum, AlteGalerie, Graz. Note the sharpened extension of the pole above the upper eye of the hal-berd in the right foreground and compare with g. 16. Courtesy of the Cloister and theAlte Galerie, Graz.

Fig. 6. Page 172 of the Waenbuch of Hans Dring, 154455. Note the chronologicaldisparity between the arms and armor of the old man on the left and the soldiers on theright. Note also the leather wrapped shaft of the long spear, as well as the capped shaftof the halberd on the right. Private collection.

Fig. 7. German Landsknechts and their captain, with chronologically homogeneous armsand armor, in the Kriegsordnung of 1545 by Hans Dring. Private collection.

Fig. 8. A German Landsknecht (in the waning years of this profession) carrying a halberd,in the Kriegsordnung of 1545 by Hans Dring. Private collection.

Fig. 9. Chinese dagger axe known as a ji. Bronze Age, but designated halberd inmodern times. Private collection.

Fig. 10. A very early halberd closely related to a guisarme. Excavated in Alsace, nearBasel, middle to second half of the 13th century. Note that the upper end of the bladeis not yet particularly suited for thrusting, but a beak is already present, and welded tothe upper eye. Courtesy of the Historical Museum of Bern, inv. no. 13741.

Fig. 11. Betrayal and Arrest of Christ, Psalter, Germany, early to mid-thirteenth cen-tury. MS. Lat. 17961, folio 113 verso. Note the halberd in the hands of the soldier onthe left resembling the ones in Bern and Basel (gs. 10 and 25). Courtesy of the BibliothqueNationale, Paris.

Fig. 12. Detail of a wall painting in the chapel of St. Nicklausen, Canton Obwald,Switzerland, ca. 1375. The halberds shaft is capped, that is, the superior eye is inte-gral with the upper back portion of the blade and is closed on top.

Fig. 13. Betrayal and Arrest of Christ, Trs Belles Heures de Notre Dame, 13801413,France. Note that the left halberd, although resembling the one in the St. Lambert panel(g. 5), is more slender and has no sharpened and protruding wooden shaft at the upperend. These forms coexist with the more developed forms such as in g. 14. Courtesyof the Bibliothque Nationale, Paris, MS. Nouv. Acq. Lat 3093 folio 181 recto.

Fig. 14. Reduced modern impression from the right hand wood block (one of the originalthree) called the Bois Protat, ca. 137080. The halberd is capped as in g. 12 but appearsto have a longer shaft. The original woodblock is in the Paper Museum of the city ofBasel, Switzerland. Private collection.

Fig. 15. Early halberd blade resembling that in the foreground of the St. Lambert Panelin Graz (g. 5) and mounted on a new shaft. Note that the St. Lambert halberds shaftextends above the upper eye and is sharpened to a point, that is, into a wooden spike.Private collection.

Fig. 16. Swiss warrior carrying a halberd with a (presumably) sharpened extension of theshaft above the blade and resembling that of gs. 5 and 15. Mid 16th century Swiss chron-icle of Johan Stumpf. It is probable that the woodcut itself is from a slightly earlier period,that is, early 16th century, but the halberd itself is of 15th century manufacture. Courtesyof Karl Mohler, Basel.

Figs. 17a and b. Two representations from the Passion in Codex 339 Mystisches Traktatzum Leiden Christi, Luzern, 1396, in the library of the Benedictine Cloister in Engelberg,Switzerland. The halberd in the doorway of the building in 17b is a pure Sempachform; the one in the right of 17a is described in the text as the capped form with thespike in line with the shaft. Courtesy of the library of the Cloister.

Fig. 18. Partial view of the Swiss army in the large woodcut Dorneck 1499. Note theprofusion of Sempach type halberds with the spike point in front of the shaft axis.Courtesy of the Kupferstichkabinet, Basel.

viii list of illustrations

Fig. 19. Thrusting with the halberd spike of a weapon contemporary with the woodcut.Dorneck 1499. Courtesy of the Kupferstichkabinett, Basel.

Fig. 20. Dorneck 1499. Thrusting with a halberd. Courtesy of the Kupferstichkabinett, Basel.

Fig. 21. Dorneck 1499. Overhead swing with a halberd. Courtesy of the Kupferstichkabinett,Basel.

Fig. 22. Dorneck 1499. Sideswing with a halberd and decapitation. Courtesy of theKupferstichkabinett, Basel.

Fig. 23. Martin Schongauer, Christ Taken from the engraved passion, ca. 1480. Notethe non-contemporary halberd shafted by eyes and the slightly forward curved spike.Courtesy Vassar College.

Fig. 24. Early halberds in the Landesmuseum, Zurich. From an illustration in the 1928article by E.A. Gessler on the development of the halberd. The individual blades are dis-cussed in the text, and numbered left to right.

Fig. 25. This 13th century halberd in Basel (inv. no. 1873.24, neg. no. 12375) measures47cm in length and has a greatest width of 6.5 cm. It is almost identical to the rst hal-berd in g. 24, including the triangular top eye. Courtesy of the Historisches Museum,Basel.

Fig. 26. Halberd #2 in g. 24, late 13th century, found near Rorbas, Canton Zurich. Itmeasures 42 cm. in length and has a greatest width of 7 cm. The upper eye is almostcompletely broken o. Note that the blade back is now straight and useful for thrusting.Courtesy of the Landesmuseum, Zurich, inv. no. 4327.

Fig. 27. Halberd #3 in g. 24. It is the rst to show a real indent between the blade andthe spike. The length is 43 cm., the spike is 15 cm., and its weight is 960 g. It was foundamongst the vine roots in Cormondrche near Neuchtel. Courtesy of the Landesmuseum,Zurich, inv. no. LM6345.

Fig. 28. Halberd of about 130020, very similar to the one in g. 27. Note that bothedges of the spike are sharpened as well as the rear blade edge between the eyes. Courtesyof the Historisches Museum Bern, inv. no. 3463.

Fig. 29. Halberd blade with a broken spike probably used at the battle of Morgarten in1315 and excavated there in the 1860s. Note how compact and massive the weapon is.Courtesy of the Landesmuseum, Zurich, inv. no. 13153.

Fig. 30. Reconstructed drawing of the halberd in g. 29, Landesmuseum, Zurich, inv. no. 13153.

Fig. 31. Halberd blade closely following the Morgarten blade of g. 29 of ca. 1330,(?).Note the very long lower eye. Ex. collection Charles Boissonnas, found in the river Broyein the 19th century. Photo courtesy of Landesmuseum, Zurich.

list of illustrations ix

Fig. 32. Halberd blade on a new pole somewhat after the one in g. 31 (ca. 1350?). Itis larger and more slender. The blade is slightly drawn in at the base. Ex collection CharlesBoissonnas. Found in the river Thile in the 19th century. Photo courtesy of the Landes-museum Zurich.

Fig. 33. Halberd blade of the middle of the 14th century, found in 1985 in 5 meters (16 ft.) of water in the Greifensee (Switzerland) near the shore. Two small pieces of thesta were trapped in the eyes but were lost during the process of conservation. It mea-sures 37 cm. in length; the spike is 14.2 cm. and its weight 578 g. Courtesy of theLandesmuseum, Zurich, inv. no. KZ 11476.

Fig. 34. Halberd blade found in the excavation of the castle of Hnenberg, Canton Zugin 1945. Length 39.5 cm., weight 590 g. Second third of the 14th century. Displayed inthe Landesmuseum, Zurich, inv. no. Dep. 3453. Courtesy of the Landesmuseum Zurich.

Fig. 35. Halberd blade on a replacement sta and with a separate beak, the latter show-ing the weld mark. End of the 14th century. The thick curved dorsal langet appears atabout this time (see also g. 37), the anterior one is sometimes a later addition. What isnovel in this weapon is that the spike point is in line with the shaft because of its slightbackward lean. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 14.25.35.

Fig. 36. Halberd blade on a new sta with distinct and partially dehiscent weld marks. Aposterior rounded langet is present as well as a small beak as part of the upper eye. Notethe slight forward curve of the beak edge of the at spike (vaguely like g. 23). This isone of the last halberds before the change in hafting from eyes to a socket. Courtesyof the Historisches Museum, Bern.

Fig. 37. Halberd of ca. 1400 with a long narrow blade and an angled convexity leadingto the spike which also leans backwards slightly so that the point as in g. 35 is in linewith the shaft. The spike tip is clearly reinforced and the last 3.5 cm. are quadrangular.The blade measures 43.8 cm. in length. Only a short rear langet is present. It has possi-bly the oldest surviving shaft, and one of the last of a round diameter, which measures181 cm. in length and has a diameter of 3.8 cm. just below the langet. The shaft betweenthe eyes measures 3.1 cm. in diameter and appears to be made of a soft wood such aspine. It is also among the last halberds before the appearance of sockets, but as shownthroughout this book, such types were probably made and used until late in the 15th cen-tury and are shown in illustrations of ca. 1500 alongside later forms. Private collection.

Fig. 38. Schematic diagram illustrating the method of creating the eyes on a 14th cen-tury halberd. A mandrel would have been inserted during the nal bending of the eyeand during the hammer welding process. The Morgarten blade in Zurich (g. 29) wascreated in this way. Hardened steel might have subsequently been welded on the cuttingedges of the blade, the spike point and the beak, if there was one.

Fig. 39. Two photographs of the lower eye of the early Basel halberd in g. 25. Theretouched one shows that there is a single weld of a strap bent as in g. 38. The upper(triangular) eye is welded on both sides.

x list of illustrations

Fig. 40. Detail of the hammer weld of the left side of the upper eye of the Morgartenhalberd in Zurich (g. 29). The eye is not welded on the right side, indicating that it isa strap bent as in g. 38.

Fig. 41. Another view of a strap with a weld on the right side of the blade. It is similarin appearance to the one in g. 39, but is of a later date.

Fig. 42. Detail of the weld on the bottom eye of the halberd in g. 37, which representsa fusion of the two blade halves (see the diagram in g. 38).

Fig. 43. A 14th century halberd with a lower eye welded on both sides, showing earlydehiscence. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 14.25.35.

Fig. 44. The two blade halves, welded together over the top eye. Halberd in g. 37, ca.1400. Private collection.

Fig. 45. Schematic diagram of the construction of the halberd in g. 37.

Fig. 46. Weld seam of lower eye of right side of blade on the halberd in g. 35, afterthe brazing repair to close it. The faint scratch marks on the blade and seam area arenot old. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 14.25.35.

Fig. 47. Corroded halberd found in 1908 on the shore of the Rhine near Rheinfelden,13901400. The blade is double-leafed (see g. 44); it has the earliest socket and ange.Courtesy of the Historisches Museum, Basel, inv. no. 1910.93. Negative no. 12373.

Fig. 48. 15th century halberd (perhaps middle) showing the rather rare at spike with theaxis behind the shaft line. The mandrel used to form the socket was inserted fully to thetop of the blade. The nished halberd shows therefore a small hole on the upper bladeedge. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 52.208.8.

Fig. 49. Halberd, probably from the third quarter of the 15th century, showing large pro-portions and mass. An identical one is present in the Museum Altes Zeughaus, Solothurn.Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 42.50.17.

Fig. 50. A mid-15th century halberd. Note the elongate blade approximately twice as highas wide. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 42.50.18.

Fig. 51. On the left: detail of the top mandrel opening, in this case between the spikebase and the top of the beak, as in g. 52. Visible in the photo on the right are the topof the wooden shaft and the weld mark between the hardened point of the beak and thebeak body. Private collection.

Fig. 52. Halberd of last quarter of 15th century. Note the pronounced concavity of theupper and lower blade edges and the beginning slant of the cutting edge. This line ofdevelopment eventually leads to the 16th century triangular forms. Courtesy of theMetropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 14.25.74.

list of illustrations xi

Fig. 53. Sketch of what is possibly the earliest halberd with a shaft socket (HistorischesMuseum, Basel, no. 1910.93). The dotted lines show the edges of the corroded right leafof the blade as well as the welded joint line at the front edge of the spike.

Fig. 54. Sketches of four halberd blades, displayed in the Landesmuseum, Zurich, show-ing from right to left, the transition from the eye-shafting method to the socket form. Theblade on the left is roughly a decade later than the Basel halberd in g. 47. (Drawingsnot to scale). Courtesy of the Landesmuseum, Zurich.

Fig. 55. Sturmhalbarte from the arsenal of the city of Vienna. The spike of this mas-sive weapon is hollow-ground. Its great weight required skill and strength to manipulate.Courtesy of the Museums of the City of Vienna, inv. no. 126011.

Fig. 56. Late 15thearly 16th century halberd with a at sword-like spike showing a strongcentral rib. This type, commonly depicted by Drer in his woodcuts and engravings, maytherefore be of German rather than Swiss design and manufacture. Courtesy of the Metro-politan Museum of Art, inv. no. 25.135.7.

Fig. 57. Woodcut by Hans Wechtlin (1480after 1526): Christ Before Anna, from theseries entitled The Life of Jesus Christ, 1508. Note the halberd like those in gs. 50,52, and 56, as well as the Hngelaschen (hanging plates) covering the shoulders andattached to the collar of the Maximilian-style helmet. (See page 147.) Private collection.

Fig. 58. Albrecht Drer: The Crucixion from the engraved Passion of 1511. Note thehalberd with a at spike on the right which appears to be more popular in Germany thanin Switzerland. Private collection.

Fig. 59a. A halberd in the Altes Zeughaus in Solothurn showing signs of use and wear,and without 17th century marks, distinguished also by a dierent smithing technique, andconsistent with a 15th century date. Halberds like this one may have served as a modelfor the 17th century types such as in g. 59b. Courtesy of the Museum Altes Zeughaus,Solothurn.

Fig. 59b. 17th century halberd by Lamprecht Koller of Wrenlos, canton of Aargau,166381, until fairly recently classied mistakenly as 15th century and called a Sempachhalberd. The shafting nails are sunk in conical holes in the langets and ground at. Privatecollection.

Fig. 60. A halberd of ca. 1500 marked with a cross of St. Andrew on the right side ofthe blade, probably German or Flemish (Burgundian) and of the type shown in g. 61.Private collection.

Fig. 61. Woodcut by Wolf Huber for the Triumphal Arch of Maximilian, 15121515.The Swiss and Imperial forces meet during the Swabian war of 1499. Note the halberdsand longspears on both sides, as well as the cross of St. Andrew and the Helvetian cross(St. George) marking clothing and ags. The ready position of the longspears in theforeground is also interesting. Private collection.

xii list of illustrations

Fig. 62. Large decorated Italian halberd, probably end of the rst quarter of the 16thcentury and made for the bodyguard of the Emperor Charles V. (Several have survived)Courtesy of Galerie Fischer, Lucerne.

Fig. 63. Italian halberd of about 1500. Both edges of the spike are sharpened down tothe beak-spike. Note the scorpion mark. Private collection.

Fig. 64. Italian scorpion of about 1530. Note that although the weapon is quite func-tional, there are already many small attempts at decoration. The weld mark of the midback spike is shown in the detail photo of the scorpion mark. Courtesy of the MetropolitanMuseum of Art, inv. no. 14.25.360.

Fig. 65. Italian halberd ca. 1500 with punctuate decorations on both faces. This side showsa dog barking at a rabbit (the right world) as opposed to the other side, which shows afox barking at a dog (the world upside down). The at spike with the prominent rib issimilar to the one in g. 56. Courtesy of the Historiches Museum, Basel, inv. no. 1905.4142.

Fig. 66. Halberd of ca. 151020 with a quadrangular thickening of the beak tip (similarto the spike tip). Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 42.50.20.

Fig 67a. Early 16th century halberd with a convex cutting edge. The mandrel opening ispresent between the base of the spike and the beak. Private collection.

Fig 67b. Typical triangular bladed halberd of ca. 1520, with a sharply drawn in cut-ting edge. The spike is massive, as is the beak. Private collection.

Fig. 68a. Halberd of ca. 1520 with a concave cutting edge and a broken superior tip aswell as a weakened lower tip. The blade as usual is constructed of two leaves weldedtogether. The langets measure 76 cm. in length. Private collection.

Fig. 68b. Halberd of ca. 1520 with an unusual socket and central straight vertical ribabove it that is entirely solid. Probably German. Private collection.

Fig. 69a. Halberd of ca. 153040 showing ame shaped langets on an original ash shaft.Private collection.

Fig. 69b. Detail of A. Drers The Great Cannon iron etching of 1518 M. 96. Thehalberd held by the Landsknecht leaning against the cannon, though slightly indistinctagainst the roof of the house, is typical during a relatively long span of time in the 16thcentury. Private collection.

Fig. 70. Ash shaft of halberd showing a rough cut, as well as rened mark, 5. Theupper gure is possibly the arsenal mark itself. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum ofArt, inv. no. 42.50.20.

Fig. 71. Saber-halberd, probably 19th century. The spike blade is too exible for eectivecutting and is not very useful for thrusting. The mass of the halberd head is not at the

list of illustrations xiii

end of the weapon, thus also reducing its impact. Although these weapons are well made,they are in all probability products of 19th century romanticism. Courtesy of the MetropolitanMuseum of Art, inv. no. 25.188.2.

Fig. 72a. Thrusting Styrian halberd of about 1575 by Peter Schreckeisen of Waldneukirchen;the beak is still functional appearing, the blade less so. Courtesy of the Landeszeughaus,Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz.

Fig. 72b. Etching by Jacques Callot of the Crucixion scene, ca. 1640. Note the halberdas well as a morgenstern, roncone, and true pikes. Callot worked extensively in Italy, andat this time, Italian halberds resembled those from elsewhere. Private collection.

Fig. 73. Detail of the bottom illustration of folio 28 recto by Drer in the EmperorMaximilian Is Book of Hours. This scene shows a remarkable mixture of sta weaponsof diering epochs (see text). Courtesy of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, L impr.membr. 64.

Fig. 74. Detail of the bottom illustration of folio 55 verso by Albrecht Drer in the Bookof Hours of the Emperor Maximilian I. The contrast of the armamentation of the com-battants is striking. It speaks volumes on the reversal of roles and warfare in general.Courtesy of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, L impr. membr. 64.

Fig. 75. Right hand page of The Battle of Grandson 1476 from the Diebold SchillingLucerne Chronicle of 1513, folio 100. As stated in the text, armamentation is with 15thand 16th century equipment though some of the halberds shown are even earlier. Courtesyof the Korporations Verwaltung der Stadt Luzern.

Fig. 76. A rear langet of an early 16th century halberd, both in place and by itself. Notethe small claw-like upper portion which anchors itself in the throat of the socket between theange leaves (and the blade leaves in case of the front one). It also wedges itself betweenthe cheeks of the socket, thus forming a rigid box and stabilizing the whole structure.Private collection.

Fig. 77. A rapid and inexpensive method of stabilizing the union between the halberdhead and the shaft. The lower part of the socket, consisting mostly of a broad langet, ishammered around the square shaft. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Fig. 78a. Opposing nails driven straight through and in two instances emerging throughthe opposite hole and bent over, under the opposing nail head. Early 16th century halberd.Private collection.

Fig. 78b. Nails driven against the opposing inner face of the langet and bent over for upto 1 cm. This radiograph is of a Lucern hammer. Private collection.

Fig. 79a. A mid to late 16th century halberd fastened with hammer-driven screws. Privatecollection.

xiv list of illustrations

Fig. 79b. A radiograph of the halberd in g. 37. Note the long dorsal nail through thelanget which has been driven into an ironed plate or an anvil applied to the front of theshaft so that the nail curves back on itself to lock into place. Private collection.

Fig. 80a. A Lamprecht Koller halberd of the 17th century with peened over nail tipsground ush with the langet surface. Private collection.

Fig. 80b. In this halberd the boltheads and the peened over points are not ground down.Private collection.

Fig. 81. Halberd of ca. 1500, octagonal ash shaft with a shaft makers (?) mark burnedin at the base of the shaft. Private collecion.

Fig. 82. Halberd of ca. 1510 with two sets of opposing (three) marks burned into the topof the shaft sides. They appear to be a letter M with a bar across the top. Private collection.

Fig. 83. A shaft maker of the Eschental turning an ash shaft in a metal cutting die. Slotsare present either for various diameters or possibly to shape the sections of split ash sap-plings gradually from square to round. From the Swiss Chronicles of Johan Stumpf,1586, Book 9, p. 554. Courtesy of Karl Mohler, Basel.

Fig. 84. Detail of an early 16th century halberd showing th original grinding (polishing)marks as well as the smiths mark, an 8-pointed star. Private collection.

Fig. 85. Huge head wound on a fallen German (Imperial) soldier most likely caused bya halberd. From the woodcut Dorneck 1499. Courtesy of the Kupferstichkabinett, Basel.

Fig. 86. Another detail of the woodcut Dorneck 1499 (during the battle) showing howquickly bodies were stripped, but with possible exaggeration of the number of injuriessuered (13). Courtesy of the Kupferstichkabinett, Basel.

Fig. 87. Three skulls from the battle of Dorneck in 1499 recently studied and restored(stabilized). These fatal wounds were probably inicted by halberds. Courtesy of the MuseumAltes Zeughaus, Solothurn.

Fig. 88. From folio 10 recto of the Maciejowski Bible. The soldier at the left border car-ries a relatively short-shafted glaive. Courtesy of the Pierpont Morgan Library, M 638.

Fig. 89. From folio 10 verso of the Maciejowski Bible. The mounted gure in the centerforeground ( Joshua) is using a short-shafted glaive. Courtesy of the Pierpont MorganLibrary, M 638.

Fig. 90a. Sketches of two long-shafted glaives from an illustrated prayer book prayer bookof ca. 1380. They are carried by footsoldiers in scenes from the Passion, along with aprofusion of other sta weapons. Parma MS Pal. 56.

list of illustrations xv

Fig. 90b. An early Italian glaive, mid to late 15th century, the forerunner of the glaivepictured in g. 92. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 14.25.259, giftof Wm. H. Riggs, 1913.

Fig. 91. Two knights ghting at close quarters with a vouge Franaise and a glaive. Notethe roundels at the blade bases for protecting the hands. From the Caesar Tapestry, ca.1470, taken as booty from the Burgundian camp in 1476. Courtesy of the HistorischesMuseum, Bern, inv. no. 8.

Fig. 92. The most widespread form of glaivean Italian weapon of ca. 150020. Its over-all length is 270 cm. (8 ft. 10 in.). It is possibly a guard weapon, but could clearly beused for thrusting and cutting in the eld. Private collection.

Fig. 93. Venetian glaive, end of 16th century. Although the weapon is somewhat similarto the one in g. 92; it is longer, more elaborate and has non-functional additions whichdistinguish it from weapons of war. Its great length also makes it impractical to manipu-late in a crowded eld of battle. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no.04.3.103.

Fig. 94. This purely ceremonial glaive was meant mostly to impress and is also Venetian.Itwas a type used by palace guards of such important gures as the Doge, has lost its thrust-ing function and can merely cut. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no.04.3.102.

Fig. 95a. Roman securis or roncola, with a tang instead of the usual socket which wasopen on one side (see g. 95b). Other forms had a small upward-facing rear hook. Theshortest of these were purely tools and worn tucked into the belt. Private collection.

Fig. 95b. A Roman Securis recently excavated near Jerusalem, from between the end ofrst to the fourth century A.D. The inside of the socket contains fragmentary remnantsof the short wooden shaft and its securing nail. This grip was probably no longer thanca. 12 cm. (4.5) Private collection.

Fig. 96. The Italian type of Roncola arma pictured here is also found in Merovingian gravesin the North. The actual weapon shown here is probably much younger, by virtue of themarks. The original forms were made, more or less unchanged, until the 15th century.Private collection.

Fig. 97. The Ronca, a much more rened weapon that the preceding Roncola arma, is fullycapable of both cut and thrust action and is widespread throughout Europe. It still showsthe presence of an open-throated socket for its shaft. Private collection.

Fig. 98. A Welsh bill which is described as a weapon, but appears to be too delicate andfrail to be successful as such. Its function is more likely to have been a symbol of author-ity in the hands of a constable or watchman. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum ofArt, inv. no. 14.25.155.

xvi list of illustrations

Fig. 99a. A fully developed Roncone of early 16th century Italy, similar to the contempo-rary Rossschinder of the Germans. This Italian specimen has typical eyelash marks alongthe lower rear blade. Private collection.

Fig. 99b. Closeup of another roncones eyelash marks. Private collection.

Fig. 100. An English bill of ca. 1500. Note the typically open socket which is a foldedtriangle, the weld marks of the beak joints, as well as the grain of the blade steel atthe bifurcation of the spike and the bill hook. This last indicates that the smith split theblade down to the bifurcation to separate the hook and the spike. Courtesy of the Boardof Trustees of the Royal Armouries, inv. no. VII-1493.

Fig. 101. Late 15th century spear with a heavy and elaborately worked head, resemblinga partizan. Courtesy of the Museums of the City of Vienna, inv. no. 686, from the oldcity arsenal.

Fig. 102. 15th century Italian partizan stamped with a Gothic 4 and without langets.The base of the blade is drawn in towards the socket at approximately 90. The blade is55 cm. long and 10 cm. wide. Private collection.

Fig. 103. Early 16th century partizan with small side wings at the base of the blade anda strong central rib. The blade, without socket, is 78 cm. long; the width without thewings is 11 cm. Private collection.

Fig. 104. Partizan or lingua di bue, ca. 1500, probably Venetian. Two round brass inlayswith seven perforations are present on the blade. The socket is hexagonal, and the tasselsare probably a later addition. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no.1425.119.

Fig. 105. Spiedi da guerra, probably Bolognese, end of 15th century. Courtesy of theMetropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 04.3.76.

Fig. 106. The emperor Maximilian I, asleep in his chamber, about to be attacked by sol-diers bearing various sta weapons. In this largely ctionalized book, his life guards whowere said to carry Austrian partizans, are not present. From the 5th edition of Theuerdank,M. Schultes, 1679. Private collection.

Fig. 107. Austrian partizan, end of the 15th century, said to have been carried by thebodyguard of Maximilian I. Note the solid construction and the ogival arch-like upperend of the blade point, which it has in common with the Venetian types. This examplehas a simple socket in the manner of an early ronca, but others in this group have care-fully constructed hexagonal sockets. None have langets. The shafts, which are not origi-nal, have a hexagonal shape. Courtesy of the Hofjagt- und Rstkammer of the HistorischesMuseum, Vienna, inv. no. A117.

Fig. 108. Partizan of the second half of the 16th century, whose socket shows a nodusbetween it and the base of the blade. Private collection.

list of illustrations xvii

Fig. 109. Partizan or Langue de buf , 17th century, appearing to have been altered bydrawing in the top of the blade (the slight asymmetry would suggest a post-manufacturealteration). The weapon has a width-to-length ratio of 1 to 5.5. Courtesy of the MetropolitanMuseum of Art, inv. no. 14.25.90.

Fig. 110. Sponton or spontoon from Brunswick, Germany, 1718th century. The weaponis still clearly a short partizan with basal wings and added lower portions. Although itsprimary function is rank associated, it could still be used as a weapon. Private collection.

Fig. 111. Sponton-halberd. This late weapon, a combination of a short partizan (sponton)and a small halberd, is highly decorated. Although it was either a parade weapon or asso-ciated with military rank, it could still have been used as a weapon. Courtesy of theMuseums of the City of Vienna.

Fig. 112a. Detail of the front carving on the Courtrai Chest showing the Flemish burgerscarrying their sta weapons, Godentacs or Planons Picot, with which they defeated theFrench chivalry. Courtesy of the Warden and Scholars of New College, Oxford andBridgeman Art Library International.

Fig. 112b. Morgenstern from the arsenal of the City of Vienna, probably mid-16th century,now in the depot. Courtesy of the Museums of the City of Vienna, inv. no. 126.207.

Fig. 113. This all-steel headed Morgenstern is from the arsenal of the City of Vienna. Thecraftsmanship is striking and the weapon is well balanced. Courtesy of the Museums ofthe City of Vienna.

Fig. 114. Detail of the Morgenstern in g. 113 showing the intricate smithwork used to pro-duce a relatively light but stable and strong steel head.

Fig. 115. An all-steel headed morgenstern in the hands of a eeing soldier in Ariovistussarmy ( Julius Caesar is the mounted knight in the upper left corner, spearing an oppo-nent). Detail from the Caesar Tapestries of Charles the Bold. Courtesy of the HistorischesMuseum Bern, inv. no. 8.

Fig. 116. Holy-water sprinkler, probably English, early 16th century. This type of weaponwas very popular in England and was certainly made by expert smiths, probably in largeseries. Courtesy of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Armouries, inv. no. VII-1642.

Fig. 117. Morgenstern, 15th16th century, probably Swiss. The shaft is pine. A weapon suchas this could have been made by a blacksmith. Private collection.

Fig. 118. A carefully constructed kettenmorgenstern probably 15th16th century, Germanor Swiss. The pole, of ash, is worn between the top retaining band and the lower partof the langets, which is the area that can be touched by the spikes. Private collection.

Fig. 119. A Kettenmorgenstern and a regular morgenstern, from a line drawing of a 15th cen-tury polyptych fragment, possibly Czech. Note the similarity of the kettenmorgenstern to theone in g. 118.

xviii list of illustrations

Fig. 120. The knight Debile in mortal combat with Philippe of Burgundy. Detail froman anonymous woodcut of about 1485 in the poem Le Chevalier Dlibr by Olivierde la Marche (Chiswick Press, 1898, London). Note that the knight has, slung over hisleft shoulder, two Morgensterns, one almost identical to the one in g. 118 and the otherlike in g. 119. Note also that he is about to strike with a dart. Private collection.

Fig. 121. Detail of a woodcut out of the Nuremberg Chronicle of Hartman Schedel,1493, German edition, showing the Pharaohs army being covered by the Red Sea. Note,among the many and interesting sta weapons, the military ail. Private collection.

Figs. 122a and b. Two ahlspiesse, probably Austrian, second half of the 15th century. Threemarks are stamped into one at at the base of the spike, which is the usual place formarks. The spike is usually longer than one meter and is sti (rigid). The rounded contourlangets are rough and unpolished. The presence of the roundel guard and its seatinggrooves distinguish the ahlspiess from the breach pike or breschspiess (see text). Fig. 122a.Courtesy the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 14.25.396. Fig. 122b. Courtesy of theHofjagd- und Rstkammer, of the Historisches Museum, Vienna, inv. no. A85.

Fig. 123. Detail of the roundel guard of an Ahlspiess set into the special grooves at thebase of the spike. Courtesy of the Museums of the City of Vienna.

Fig. 124. Top view of the roundel guard of an Ahlspiess. Courtesy of the Museums of theCity of Vienna, one of a large unnumbered lot.

Fig. 125. 15th century pollaxe with inlaid brass punched and chiseled decorations. Therear facing hammer head has a central steel quadrangular beak. The head is fastened tothe sta by laterally screwed in side lugs. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,inv. no. 14.25.288.

Fig. 126. Gilt and etched early 16th century pollaxe. The axe-hammer head is fastenedunderneath the carefully constructed langets with pyramidal side lugs. Courtesy of theMetropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 25.135.21.

Fig. 127. Anonymous German woodcut of ca. 146070 showing a long shafted mordaxt.A roundel guard is present a short distance below the blade. Private collection.

Fig. 128. Detail of the Caesar Tapestry in the Historical Museum of Bern adjacent to themorgenstern in g. 114. The knight swings a mordaxt bearing a roundel guard which doesnot appear to be steel (leather?). Courtesy of the Historisches Museum, Bern, inv. no. 8.

Fig. 129. Detail of the woodcut Dorneck 1499 showing a veteran Swiss soldier swing-ing a short version of a fussstreitaxt. It cannot properly be called a fussstreitaxt eventhough it has a hammer in back of the blade, because of its length, which appears to beonly a meter (39 in.) or so. Courtesy of the Kupferstichkabinett, Basel.

Fig. 130. Late 16th century fussstreitaxt by the Swiss weaponsmith Lerchli. The weaponis part of a series delivered to the Zurich arsenal between 1585 and 1591. Note that the

list of illustrations xix

only dierence between this axe and the one in g. 127 is its length (ca. 1.5 m.) and thepresence of langets. Courtesy of Landesmuseum, Zurich, inv. no. K21263.

Fig. 131. A dierently shaped fussstreitaxt also of the same time period as the previousone and in the Zurich arsenal. Courtesy of Landesmuseum, Zurich, inv. no. K2601.

Fig. 132. Bec-de-corbin or Lucerne hammer with a massive beak measuring 13 cm. inlength. End of the 15th century or 1500. The shaft is oak and is an ovalized octagon.Private collection.

Fig. 133. Italian Martello darme or Fussstreitaxt ca. 1500. Note the three-prongedhammer with the single prong on top. The solid langets t over the central hammer andbeak portion, which is slotted to receive them. Courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art,inv. no. 14.25.465.

Fig. 134. The classic Lucerne hammer which persists without much change from the early16th century into the 17th century. Note the L on its side on the base of the spike.Private collection.

Fig. 135. A very large Russian guisarme of 1530, whose blade alone is more than a meterin length. It is fastened to the shaft by an elaborate system of nails which are themselvesdecorated. Courtesy of the Tjhusmuseets, Copenhagen, inv. no. C50 (45).

Fig. 136. A near Eastern or Russian guisarme with a thrusting point and geometric par-tially gilt decoration. Courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 04.3.100.

Fig. 137. A somewhat smaller but still massive guisarme on what is likely the original staand showing a complex pattern of geometrically arranged marks (see text). The upperpoint of the blade is broken o. Courtesy of the Kung. Livrustkammeren, Stockholm, inv.no. 691020.

Fig. 138. A guisarme, Swedish or Russian, 15th century or earlier. Weapons similar tothis one are seen in illuminations as old as the 13th century. Courtesy of the Kung.Livrustkammeren, Stockholm, inv. no. LRK GN 2403.

Fig. 139. Excavated guisarme blade with a variant of a rear-facing hammer and langets.The inferior blade point is broken o but appears to have reconnected with the shaft inthe standard manner of a guisarme. Courtesy of the Danish National Museum, Copenhagen.

Fig. 140. Variant of a guisarme-like weapon with a long attened top spike. Courtesy ofthe Kung. Livrustkammeren, Stockholm, inv. no. LRK GN 06:12.

Fig. 141. A Russian bardiche, possibly on the original sta and fastened to it by meansof the front blade extension and leather thongs. Rear perforations, almost a hallmark ofthis weapon, are present. Courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 14.25.463.

Fig. 142a. A 15th century cut and thrust weapon without a name and appearing to beunique, it may or may not be related to the roncone, or an equally nameless weapon in

xx list of illustrations

the Maciejowski bible described in the text. Courtesy of the Danish National Museum,inv. no. 212.

Fig. 142b. Detail of 142a, showing marks and the prole of the topspike.

Fig. 142c. Drawing of a vaguely similar weapon said to be early 14th century in a pri-vate collection, and pictured in Trosos book Le Armi in Asta. It has no forward fac-ing beak as in 142a. The blade and socket are 107 cm. long. Marks are not described.

Fig. 143. Detail of an altarpiece by Dieric Bouts of about 1450 showing the taking ofChrist. Note the weapon to the right of the aming torch which is almost identical tothe Copenhagen weapon in g. 142a and b. Courtesy of the Alte Pinakothek, Munich,and Artothek.

Fig. 144. Small bardiche on a broken shaft. The shaft might have been short to beginwith, suggesting the possibility that this was a horsemans weapon. Possibly 15th century.Courtesy of the Kung. Livrustkammeren, Stockholm, inv. no. LRK GN 5729:12.

Fig. 145. Early 16th century runka, also called brandistocco, with etched decorations at thebase of the blade and wings. The thick blade has a strong central rib. Courtesy of theMuseums of the City of Vienna.

Fig. 146. This large corseke, also called furloni as well as spetum in the North, althoughdating to about 1500, is too long for eld combat. It was probably used against civil unrestor for guard duty, and is Italian. Private collection.

Fig. 147. Friuli spear of the later 16th century. Note the long slender quadrangular spikeand the needle-like wing tips. Courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 29.156.38.

Fig. 148. This Chauve-souris, or Pipistrello, is probably Italian, ca. 153040, and from theVeneto region. It measures 246 cm. in length and the steel head is 59 cm. long. Theblade is thin but rigid because of the strong central rib. Courtesy of the MetropolitanMuseum of Art, inv. no. 25.135.9.

Fig. 149. Military fork, or Sturmgabel, Austrian, early 16th century. The fork has a tanginserted into the top of the shaft which is prevented from breaking by the presence of awide metal retaining band surrounding that portion of the shaft. Courtesy of the Museumsof the City of Vienna, inv. no. 410.

Fig. 150. A Vouge franaise of about 1500, on what may be the original shaft. Note theheavy gauge of the steel blade. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no.14.25.272.

Fig. 151. Massive vouge franaise, showing decorative nails in the upper shaft. Early 16thcentury. Private collection.

Fig. 152. Couteau de brche, or Couse, end of the 15th century, with nailed-on langets. Notethe thin at blade. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 14.25.260.

list of illustrations xxi

Fig. 153. A sturdy but roughly made weapon of the early 16th century, somewhat betweena Vouge and a Couteau de brche. It has what would be unique for either of these weapons:a beak. From the old arsenal of the City of Vienna. Courtesy of the Museums of the Cityof Vienna, inv. no. 126094.

Fig. 154. A Gusya late 16th century weapon delivered in substantial numbers to thearmory in Graz by Peter Schreckeisen. The word relates to couse, but the blade is reallya vouge franaise, thus blurring the distinction. Coutesy of the Landeszeughaus, LandesmuseumJoanneum, Graz.

Fig. 155a. Trabantenkuse of the Archducal guard of Ferdinand, King of Bohemia (1617),King of Hungary (1618) and Emperor (1619). It has an overall length of 2.53 m. (8 ft. 4 in.). Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 14.25.383.

Fig. 155b. Trabantenkuse (also called Gardekuse) of the Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria.Courtesy of the Hofjagd- und Rstkammer of the Kunsthistorisches Museun, Vienna, inv.no. A 673.

Fig. 156. War scythe, 16th to 17th century. Note the rough workmanship and the crudepunched decorative pattern on the blade. One of a great number still preserved. Courtesyof the Landesmuseum in Zurich.

Fig. 157. Special war scythe for cutting ships rigging or other rope fastenings. From oneof the Caesar Tapestries. Courtesy of the Historical Museum of Berne.

Fig. 158. Jedburgh sta, 15th to 16th century. Note the resemblance to 14th century hal-berds and the prominent hook replacing the beak of a halberd, and welded to the uppereye. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 29.156.10.

Fig. 159. Lochaber axe, 16th to 17th century. It is distinguished from the Jedburgh staby the more crescent-shaped blade, smaller lower eye and the hook that is mostly insertedby a tang into the top of the shaft. The lower eye has been modied into two ear-likelobes that are nailed to the front of the shaft, and a full length anterior langet is present.Courtesy of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. Inv. no. 925.49.9.

Fig. 160. Doloir or wagoners axe of ca. 15001550. Note the heavy hammer head andthe broad oset blade with punched decorations and initialed cartouches. The blade mea-sures 44 cm. (17 in.) in length. Private collection.

Fig. 161. Detail of a woodcut by Albrecht Altdorfer out of the series The TriumphalProcession of the Emperor Maximilian, 1517, showing a short shafted doloir carried bya non-combatant accompanying a wagon train, who is probably a carpenter trained inwagon repair. Private collection.

xxii list of illustrations

FOREWORD

Walter J. Karcheski, Jr.

Of the wide array of medieval European and Renaissance weaponry the category com-prised of those arms with oensive elements axed to poles of various lengths is the oneof which there has been the least research and publication. Variously known as polearms,hafted, shafted or sta weapons, these form an extremely varied, historically importantand intriguing family of arms. These include the spear, perhaps the oldest of all of Mansoensive weapons, with roots that date back half a million years, and which in one formor another has been used almost universally the world over.

Despite this great potential interest and historical importance, the study and publicationof European sta weapons has lagged greatly when compared to that of other weapons,especially as regards those works published in the English language. Even in his monu-mental, ve-volume magnum opus, A Record of European Armour and Arms through Seven Centuries,Sir Guy F. Laking devoted only two quite modest chapters to his study of the weapons.In the mid-1930s Charles Buttin prepared a series of important articles for the Muse delArme in Paris. While these covered many of the weapons and provided much usefulinformation that drew upon a number of primary sources, Buttins articles were not well-illustrated, were available only via a limited circulation, and were published only in French.Since the nineteenth century many articles have appeared in the specialist literature ofarms and armor journals and periodicals. However, these tended to focus on single typesof sta weapons, often focusing on a single aspect of their history, or military use. Sucharticles were largely in languages other than English, limiting their value and usefulnessto many contemporary readers, who are also often without ready access to these relativelyobscure and often hard-to-nd works. In more recent years there has been only the occa-sional, limited monographic study, and the only attempt at a serious overall survey, MarioTrosos Le armi in asta delle fanterie europee (10001500), was written in Italian, and hard toobtain. Some historians also appear to have considered sta weapons to be of secondaryinterest. This was perhaps due to the fact that with few exceptions, they were not knightlyarms, and thus were perceived as less worthy of serious study. However, the role andimportance of certain sta weapons such as the halberd and the long spear or pike in therebirth of professional infantry forces in Europe during the fteenth, sixteenth and earlyseventeenth centuries has been long recognized. This makes the need for a sound, English-language monographic study of European medieval and Renaissance sta weapons evenmore critical.

The fact that sta weapons were for the most part the arms of the common foot sol-dier, and sometimes of irregular troops or even the peasantry, adds to the complexity oftheir study. A particular weapon might be referred to by several names, or erroneouslyassociated with another type, with the error perpetuated by generations of students andscholars. Over the years many collectors and students of military history, and some English-speaking arms historians have expressed their desire to see the subject dealt with in detailin the form of a monographic study, and the fog of misunderstanding and misinforma-tion lifted. Dr. Waldman is the rst to have taken on the task head-on. He has drawnupon the best of the secondary source literature, but most importantly, the primary sources,

both written and artistic, and coupled this with his extensive personal knowledge of theactual weapons themselves. He has consulted with curators and collectors internationally,and visited the major (and some minor) public collections in the Americas and in Europe.Many of the reference sources and images of the arms in use are little-known outside ofspecialist circles, or have never been examined in this context. As evidenced in the chap-ters of this well-researched, well-written and extensively illustrated book, he has, for manyreaders, lifted the veil of the lack of knowledge of the development, manufacture anduse, and the period nomenclature of a great many sta weapons. He modestly states thathis is not the denitive work on the subject. Nonetheless, this important book will proveof considerable value and interest not only to collectors of antique arms and armor, butalso to social and military historians, those interested in the historical technology of metal-working, and art scholars of the medieval through Early Modern periods. Focusing on thegolden age of sta weaponsthose centuries of the Later Middle Ages until the dawnof the seventeenth centuryHafted Weapons in Medieval and Renaissance Europe will be a valu-able reference work to libraries, museums and a range of audiences.

Walter J. Karcheski, Jr.Chief Curator of Arms and ArmorFrazier Historical Arms Museum

Louisville, Kentucky, USA

xxiv foreword

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am deeply indebted to a large number of people for their help and encouragement.Among them are, Jrg A. Meier, conservator and curator of the collection of the castleof Grandson, Arms and Armor expert for Sothebys Zrich and formerly of Galerie Fischerin Lucerne, whose scholarship is well known and who has provided me with valuableinformation on early pieces, and taken the time to read and critique the manuscript,Donald J. La Rocca and Stuart Pyhrr of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for their tire-less cooperation and permission to examine the non-exhibited sta weapons at the museum,and especially to Mr. La Rocca for his highly constructive comments and criticism on thisproject, as well as his material contribution of articles and for facilitating the use of pho-tographic material for the book. I am beholden to him also for proofreading portions ofthe manuscript, and adding his very helpful and sobering comments. Ian Eaves, whom Imet through Mr. La Rocca, is a storehouse of information and encouragement. DirkBreiding, also of the Metropolitan Museum was responsible for the connection with BrillPublishers and supplied me with art references with which I was not familiar. ClaudeBlair, whom I had the great pleasure of meeting, pointed me towards some important ref-erence sources that I was unaware of. The kindness of Matthias Senn of the Landesmuseumin Zurich, in allowing me to examine and photograph the wonderful early pieces in thecollection, is very much appreciated. I wish to thank Marianne Berchtold, the curator ofthe weapons collection in the Historical Museum of Bern for her time and cooperation,also Franz Egger, curator of arms and armor of the Historical Museum of Basel, for per-mission to examine and photograph groundnds in storage; and particularly Martin Sauter,restorer in the Basel museum, for his time and patience in locating the o-site items, andnding archival photographs with their histories. The kindness and continued cooperationof Franziska Heuss in the Kupferstich Kabinet of the entliche Kunstsammlung Baselis much appreciated, as is that of Dr. Marco A.R. Leutenegger, director of the MuseumAltes Zeughaus in Solothurn and his permission to use the museums photographs pro-duced by its restorer and photographer. It was a great pleasure to meet and talk with Dr.Sylvia Mattl-Wurm of the Historische Museum der Stadt Wien through whose eorts Iwas able to see and photograph parts of the vast collection in storage (with the help ofthe custodian, Herr Gapp). Dr. Gnter Driegl, the director of the museum was instru-mental in connecting me with Dr. Mattl. Thanks also to Dr. Christian Beaufort-Spontin,the director of the Hofjagd- und Rstkammer in Vienna for his suggestion to contactMatthias Pfaenbichler, curator in the same institution, who shared his knowledge andthe museums inventory with me. I appreciated the cooperation of Dr. M.L. Schaller of theZentralbibliothek Luzern, whom I persuaded to send me its photograph of a page of theDiebold Schilling Chronicle. Dr. Alfred Geibig, director of the Veste Coburg, althoughnot personally present, had the kindness to ask Mr. Wernhofer, the museums restorer tohost me during my visit. K. Corey Keeble, curator of Western Art and Culture at theRoyal Ontario museum in Toronto, was most kind, helpful and encouraging. Ms. CarlaPirani of the Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe in Bologna gave me her time in locat-ing original engravings containing sta weapons. Mr. Jonathan Cotton, curator of prehis-tory at the Museum of London, suggested relevant sources for Bronze Age halberds.Mr. Walter Karcheski formerly of the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, and currently

chief curator of the Frazier Historical Arms Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, opened theWorcester collection for me, and gave his valuable time and comments, and introducedme (by letter) to Dr. Peter Krenn, director of the Landeszeughaus Graz, who was mostcooperative during my visit there. To him also, I owe special thanks for reading the nalmanuscript for the Leiden, Netherlands publishing house, Brill, and oering invaluableadvice and numerous corrections. Mr. Julian Deahl, Senior Acquisitions Editor for Brill,was the rst to take interest in my work, and Mrs. Marcella Mulder, Assistant Editor, waskind enough to walk me through the lengthy publication process. Ms. Barbara Edsall, reg-istrar of the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, kindly supplied me with an impor-tant photograph and information. Mr. Kent dur Russell, director of the Higgins, was mostcooperative as was Dr. Jerey Forgeng, its curator. Ms. Sue Reid and Ms. Page Hamiltonof the department of prints and drawings in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston werehelpful in locating relevant prints for my use. Father Sigisbert, the librarian of the Benedictinecloister library in Engelberg, Canton Obwald, Switzerland, located codex 339 for me andpermitted the reproduction of illustrations from it. In the Scandinavian countries, Mr. NilsDrejholt, curator of Arms and Armor at the Livrustkammaren in Stockholm was graciouswith his time, information on Swedish arms manufacturing and photographs, as was Ms.Nina Heins in the department of photography for producing new ones. Mr. Fred Sandstedtof the Armmuseum also in Stockholm provided printed materials, information on mili-tary history and les on the collection, which was temporarily closed for restoration. Icould not avail myself of Mr. Bengt Kylsbergs oer to visit the collection at SkoklosterCastle for lack of time. In Copenhagen, Ms. se Hjlund Nielsen, curator of the medievalcollection at the Danish Nationalmuseet, helped me obtain photos of an unusual weaponin that collection. Mr. Michael Hielscher, director of the Tjhusmuseet in Copenhagen,arranged in his absence, access to sta weapons, and permission to use a photograph inthis book. Magister Karin Leitner of the Alte Galerie in the Joanneum in Graz helpedme secure an important photograph. Ms. Francesca Consagra, curator of prints and draw-ings at Vassar College provided material for my use. Mr. Ian Ashdown of the Center forRestoration and Conservation, in his capacity as restorer for the collection in the Castleof Grandson, kindly showed me the weapons in the storage area and the main collection.

A debt of gratitude is due to my friend Evelyne Tiersky, who translated letters, dis-cussed the text and made it more readable. My friend Dr. George Snook is partly respon-sible for the inspiration to write this book, and has never failed in the early days, to prodme into activity when I have lagged. His wife, Lee, was of help in locating books andarticles in libraries both near and far. Christine Pratt, of Dark Horse Photographics, devel-oped and printed many of the black and white photos. Last but not least, the book wouldsurely not have been acceptable for publication without the careful editing by both WalterKarcheski (as I previously mentioned), and Dr. Kate Sampsell, whose commands of theEnglish language, composition and history are profound.

xxvi acknowledgements

INTRODUCTION

This book deals primarily with the origins of hafted weapons and their development dur-ing the expansionist and turbulent period in European history shortly after the turn of therst millennium. Some of the facts relevant to this period can be summarized, if only ina brief way, leaving out specic political-historical references and emphasizing the socialand demographic ones.

Geopolitical changes during the period under discussion were rapid in the small andnot-so-small dynastic states, while population sizes, despite natural setbacks such as reduc-tion by wars, the plague, and adverse climatic changes, were increasing. For example, thepopulation of the Helvetic tribes in what is now Switzerland doubled between the earlyand late Middle Ages, from about 400,000 in the tenth century to 800,000 in the four-teenth.1 It is at this time that major eorts of intentional primeval deforestation were occur-ring, and the resulting emergence of farmlands with their increased food supply, alongwith increased utilization of the mining of ores as well as the improvement of trade routes,helped to bring about these population growths and related migrations.

One nds already at about 1100 A.D. a rapidly improving infrastructure for travel, thatis, reasonably good roads that were physically safe from natural hazards in the mountains,bridges to cross torrents, rivers, and chasms, and an evolving system of hostels and tav-erns for comfort. These amenities decreased the high risk of traveling, especially for tradersand merchants. The newfound advantages were, however, somewhat oset by the institu-tions of tolls initially set up to pay for improvements made, and soon corrupted by thelocal lords or landowners as a means of monetary gains, with often no actual improve-ments being made. Companies of bandits and armed robbers from all levels of social lifealso constituted an ever-present danger to tradesmen, travelers and pilgrims on these routes.

In short, where in the early middle ages cities, towns, and hamlets were relatively iso-lated, separated by vast forests, rivers, and mountains that were dicult to traverse, a fewhundred years later, with signicant reductions of those barriers, trading prospered. In thelate Middle Ages; circa 1400, the inhabitants of these rural and urban centers could nowcount on an adequate food supply from the new farmlands created out of forests that nowproduced opportunities for both agriculture and animal husbandry. Central Europe hadat last undergone the same changes that the classical world had, more than a millenniumbefore, and as a consequence of these changes, Europeans could look from the problemsof subsistence to those of expansion and might.

The major urban centers of the late middle ages began to accumulate vast wealth fortheir ruling classes, who, impressed with their own power, expressed their greed for expan-sion with military campaigns against neighboring states. One of the most typical examplesof such expansionist desire occurred in the latter part of the fteenth century in the duchyof Burgundy under one of the richest men in the world; Charles the Bold. What Charlestried and failed to do by armed conquest, his son-in-law Maximilian did by politicallyadvantageous marriages. Maximilian was far more successful than Charles in accumulatingterritory, despite the fact that he was constantly at war and on the verge of bankruptcy.

1 Meyer, W., Hirsebrei und Hellebarde, Walter-Verlag, A.G., Olten, 1985, p. 42.

The political maneuvers typied by Charles and Maximilians ambitions necessitated theuse of armed force: in the period under discussion, Europe in one location or another,was almost constantly at war. The empires of Alexander the Great and Charlemagne attestto the fact that warfare and military conquest were not new to Europe, but that in theearly part of the second millennium, technology had reached a somewhat greater degree ofsophistication and craft in which the development of arms and armor was no mean part.

The war machine had evolved by circa 1350 from the pre-medieval and medieval formof feudalism where landed knights had been led by nobility who had little regard, if notutter contempt, for the concept of a peasant infantryto one in the later middle agespowered mainly by a respected infantry. That infantry model provides the framework ofthis book; it discusses the weapons most favored, and found most eective, by the footsoldier. As the importance of the infantry increased, the peasant foot soldier and hisweapons, specically sta weapons, eclipsed the sword-and lance-wielding knightly horseman.

The book also concerns itself with not only the sta weapons impact on the structureof armies, but also with their use and forms, and relies on the study of the survivingobjects, as well as texts and illustrations found in chronicles, manuscripts, and books.

As with many other objects throughout history, cultural artifacts change with time associety itself changes. The purpose, and therefore the signicance of sta weapons, wasmodied continuously from their inception throughout their rise and decline. During thelatter period, most of the weapons became ceremonial, that is, symbolic; they are knownfor their decoration and the great variety. These surviving and mostly late forms are inmodern times much publicized and prized for their artistry and visual impact, both bycollectors and museums. They are not, however, the subject of this book, which will focuson the often confusing nomenclature, military signicance, techniques of manufacture, andabove all chronological development of sta weapons, especially halberds, where this isdiscernible, in the period up to circa 1650.

By far the greatest diculty, in writing a book of this sort, is the association of aweapons name to a given illustration. That is to say that manuscript or other illustra-tions, almost never have an accompanying text to identify or describe the particular weaponin question. It is usually by the association of known historical facts with a contemporaryillustration, and series of similar illustrations that the rational identication of a given armis made. Even the best descriptions in the modern literature on sta weapons are usuallynot specic enough to make positive identication, and often a work will add what pre-vious authors consider synonyms at the end, thus muddying the waters even more.

When a reasonable association has been made, as is attempted in this book, one canthen work both forward and backward, relying on specic changes in the weapons mor-phology that are expected, knowing general stylistic trends, and the related history. Usingthis methodology, the book tries to be as specic as possible. Past works are quoted notmerely because they are in print, but to make a point and to extract from them signicantobservations.

Only the most widely used types of weapons are discussed. Many subtypes exist, whichare not really insignicant, but found limited use in battle, and lack the military impor-tance of the major weapons which comprise the greatest volume in this work. So, forinstance, the sponton-halberd which is a very late combination of a diminutive partisanand a halberd, having use only in the military ranking system of the seventeenth centuryand later, is given little more than mention, as it has no real combative use, and as withall other sta weapons of that period, had become obsolete in the eld of battle.

2 introduction

The arms that will be discussed most fully, are those used by the Swiss. This has tworeasons; the rst is that Swiss hafted arms have been the principal focus of personal studiesfor many years. The second is that because of their particular political and geographichistory, the Swiss were at their greatest power using these arms against their continuouslyinvasive neighbors, the Habsburgs (as well as, early on, against each other), and much ofthe development of some of the most important types of sta weapons occurred in thisvery centrally located part of Europe. One must not, however, think of Swiss in themodern concept; as in the formative years of the confederation that we are dealing with,these tribes were anything but homogeneous, either geographically or politically, and oftensections (cantons) of the modern country were on opposite sides of the strife. The nuclearstates of the later nation, bound together by a treaty in 1291, added on additional statesfor mutual protection over several centuries.

In theory, at least, a critical survey of all extant sta weapons in the world would ndno two to be identical, minor variations being evident in weapons even from the sameworkshops. If this sounds unreasonable, it should be remembered that all weapons of thisperiod were literally hand made, portions by master craftsmen, parts by apprentices orjourneymen, in workshops perhaps within one city, or perhaps hundreds of miles apart.

Countless small towns throughout Europe have small exhibitions in town halls or localmuseums dealing with local history and mostly but not always using archaeological nds.Those near castles, ruined or not, as well as those near sites of battles, or on the banksof rivers are even more likely to have excavated ground or river nds of, among otherthings, weapons. Although many of these weapons have been published, there is as yetno mechanism by which these objects can be collated and studied as a group.

One would have to spend years traveling to see them all. The author has not gone tothis length, of course, but has made an eort to personally examine as many as possibleof these lesser-known but often very important examples. Early specimens in private col-lections are important also, but are often inaccessible and their origins are mostly obscure;doubtless they are not much more than a fraction of the material in the collective townexhibits.

The length of chapters in this book is an indication of the assessment of both the impor-tance of the weapon, and of the amount of surviving documentary evidence, includingcontemporary pictorial material. This is not to say that other weapons were not impor-tant, just that there is less available evidence concerning them, as well as fewer of the sur-viving arms themselves. They may have been dropped from use, or been converted, withchanges, into guard or parade arms. Their importance in civil life is enhanced however,because they often became a vehicle for the decorative arts, involving masters of not onlycrafts such as goldsmithing, but also of the arts of engraving, damascening, etching andsilver inlayoften on blue black metallic ground.2 Some of these masters; Daniel Hopferof Augsburg for example, were also skilled in the graphic arts on paper.

The principal weapon discussed is the halberd, because itin conjunction with thelongspear (Langspiess in German) was one of the primary weapons used by the armiesinvolved in the wide-ranging shifts of power that occurred across Europe between 1250

2 Niello; a technique dating back to the Romans and consisting of mostly linear decoration of metallic sur-faces using both physical and complex chemical procedures, appears in Turkey and Russia in the period underdiscussion. Axes decorated with the Niello technique are present in the State Armoury of the Kremlin inMoscow.

introduction 3

and 1550. Firearms, to be sure, which were developing during the last half of this timeperiod, overshadowed hafted weapons by the mid-sixteenth century, although longspearsin a somewhat shortened version, at this time known as pikes, were used in the early sev-enteenth century to protect the marksmen during the reloading maneuver.

Conservatives, nonetheless clung tenaciously to the belief that hafted arms as well assome other non-rearms should be stocked in the town arsenals, and so in present timeswe see some strange bedfellows in surviving arsenals such as in Graz, Austria and Solothurn,Switzerland: halberds of a fourteenth century form alongside longspears of the fteenthand sixteenth centuries 5 meters (16 feet) in length, matchlocks, wheellocks, intlock pis-tols, and long arms of various periods, not to mention mail shirts and armor whose datesof manufacture span more than a hundred years.

This all to our good fortune, as in so many other instances, intentional destruction ofoutdated or archaic objects deemed useless, occurs, and we are left only with pictorialand occasional written references to those objects.

Documentary evidence by such persons as ambassadors and other observers exists, towhat would appear to be large numbers of specialized weapons. Nicolo di Savri, the Italianambassador to England, noted in 1513 that 12,000 holy water sprinklers were carried bythe English at that time. Whether indeed such large numbers of this now rarely foundweapon did exist, is a matter of conjecture, as we can assume that no matter how impresseddi Savri was, he did not actually count those weapons personally. Where we nd greateraccuracy is in the logbooks of the arsenals and in town records, as these weapons had tobe paid for, and the books balanced.3

Other diculties encountered in accurately describing weapons and their variationsinclude the liberties a given artist takes with his subject matter (not to mention the biasin interpreting, say, the outcome of a given battle, or the guilt or innocence of a wellknown and inuential person), and the degree of artistic skill, or the span of time elapsedbetween the episode depicted and the execution of the work of art. One can, however,draw rational conclusions after having studied enough of an artists oeuvre, and by know-ing in whose employ or under whose patronage the artist worked.

Identication of the precise form of a weapon and tying it to a date may indeed placeit close to the time and place where a weapons smith created it, but this analysis cannotbe performed on the basis of merely nding it in a dated illustration. Weapons of a givenform may not only be manufactured unchanged over a very long period of time duringwhich newer forms are also being made, most likely by other workshops; but much olderforms may persist as well. Dating is therefore a dicult matter and it should be under-stood that this book attempts to tie in the form with its earliest appearance, unless other-wise noted.

A survey of various works of art shows that artists sometimes accurately depict weaponforms some 100 years or so apart in design, as being used, at the same time.4 That is,they can; but just as often they do not, and depict historical events from remote times asif they were happening in the latest style of their own time. This lack of historical andstylistic perspective is readily understood when one realizes that printed matter was scarce

3 Many such logbooks or inventories of arsenals survive. A few examples are: the inventories of the ArchdukeFerdinand of Tyrolia of 1555, 1583, 1593, and 1596 (the last three under his son Ferdinand II). The 1485inventory of the Vienna city arsenal (the oldest one) records all purchases since 1424 and was periodicallyupdated, as were those of Graz and Zurich.

4 See for instance g. 18.

4 introduction

and concerned itself mainly with religious, philosophical and moral issuesand hardly withissues of style. The whole concept of style and art history is relatively modern. There ishowever, a slow progression in stylistic accuracy by the seventeenth century; examples topoint to are some the Biblical works of Rembrandt in which pale robes clothe the guresin the manner of the near East, but more often than not, seventeenth century styles areseen on important gures to indicate wealth or prominence, and military clothing andweapons are either sketchy and vague or more frequently distinctly sixteenth or seventeenthcentury. The etching Ecce Homo of 1635, also known as Christ before Pilate is anexample of this. It is decidedly Oriental in character, and this is explained by the factthat Rembrandt had studied the world of Orientalism both from books such as by thehistorian Flavius Josephus, and by old pictorial representations that he had access to. Thusthe artist-scholar begins to incorporate history into art, which in turn depicts history.

As this material is put together, it appears that there are more unanswered questionsand speculation than one would wish, but the work does hopefully serve as a foundationfor future research and amplication.

introduction 5

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CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL BACKGROUND AND FORERUNNERS

The rudimentary spear is perhaps the simplest and earliest form of a hafted weapon, beingan attempt to increase the thrusting length of the weaponed arm in combat and in thehunt. Its typology and development during the millennia of its existence need not be dis-cussed here at length, as detailed and excellent works exist concerning this weapon.1 Theseweapons include the winged spears ( gellanzen or knebelspiesse in German, epieu or espieu deguerre in French, and derived from the Latin Spiculum) that are used throughout the periodunder discussion, the so called Bohemian ear-spoons (g. 1), together with their relative,the hunting spears, spiedi da caccia, jagdspiesse, epieu de chasse used mainly for boar and bearhunting well into the seventeenth century.2 Nonetheless, the spear being the rst staweapon deserves some discussion here.

Beginning with the fourteenth century, the infantry spear was known as a longspear(Langspiess in German, Picca lunga in Italian and Pique longue in French). The English wordpike is not used here because it refers to a later type of weapon. The rst use of theword pike is recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary as occurring in 1511. The longs-pear was, from the fourteenth century on, commonly 15 to 18 feet (5 to 6 meters) inlength, and its major use was as a defensive weapon. It was very eective in dense mutu-ally supporting masses and in combination with other weapons such as halberds and axesand nally two-handed swords and rearms in combat with the old cavalry formations ofthe medieval and early renaissance nobility.

The longspear, regardless of its length could only be used for a short forward thrust bythe combatant on foot but was able, if its thrust was well directed, to reach an equestrianbefore being in range of his lance or other weapon. In contrast, the equestrian lance hada long and sustained forward motion and had the advantage of tremendous momentum,but one can imagine the accuracy needed to transx a target moving tangentially and ata relatively short distance.3 The length of the lance itself was limited by the fact that ithad to be held by only one hand, the other being needed to guide and control the horse.

Historically, the spear was used successfully as a thrusting weapon against such bodilyprotection as bronze plate (Greek and Roman), leather or cuir bouilli, mail (from Roman

1 Ellehauge, Martin, The SpearTraced through its Post Roman Development, Mller, Copenhagen, 1948. Oakeshott,R.E., European Weapons and Armour, Lutterworth Press, Guilford and London, 1980. Oakeshott, R.E., TheArchaeology of Weapons, Lutterworth Press, London, 1960. Wegeli, R., Inventar der Waensammlung des BernischenHistorischen Museums in Bern, III Stangenwaen, K.J. Wyss, Erben A.G., 1939.

2 This weapon is seen not only in Bohemian illustrations, but also elsewhere in Europe. Surviving exam-ples are diversely manufactured as well. The term is bhmischer Ohrlel in German and is derived from thesmall instrument used to clean an ear, having a stop at its base.

3 The throwing version of the spear, the javelin and pilum were all but discarded by the early middle ages,as bows and crossbows could have much more devastating eects and over much larger distances. A failedthrust might be repeated, but a failed throw was the loss of the weapon, which might indeed be used againstone by the target soldier. A few javelin-like weapons continue to be seen into the sixteenth century, resem-bling giant arrows, and javelins were for a time the designated weapon assigned to guards protecting judgesand magistrates traveling to their assizes. These javelins are often depicted as being thrust, rather thanthrown. (See p. 61).

8 chapter one

Fig. 1. Winged spear or Bohemian ear spoon, ca. 1500. Note that the wings arise from the socket (seechapter 12), as opposed to the wings of partizans, which issue from the bottom of the blades. Courtesy of theMetropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 14.25.460.

to Renaissance), and reinforced mail (fourteenth century Europe).4 For this last function,the spear-head was long slender and quadrangular in shape, not unlike its dagger equiv-alent used to pierce mail and known as Panzerstecher in German. The u