In medieval England what name was given to an axe head on a long pole?
"Pollaxe The pollaxe is a type of European polearm. It was widely used by medieval infantry. It is also known by the names poleaxe, pole-axe, pole axe, polax, and Hache (French meaning axe). The term has become synonymous with felling or striking down with delivery of a blow. Weapons such as the halberd, bardiche, and Danish axe are sometimes mistakenly called pollaxes as they are indeed axes mounted on poles, but many etymological authorities consider the ""poll""- prefix historically unrelated to ""pole"", instead meaning ""head"". However, some etymologists, including Eric Partridge, believe that the word is derived from ""pole"". The"
"atop an elephant or horse during battle. The Danish Axe (also Broad Axe, Dane-axe) is a weapon with a heavy crescent-shaped head mounted on a haft .) in length. Originally a Viking weapon, it was adopted by the Anglo-Saxons and Normans in the 11th century, spreading through Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. Variants of this basic weapon continued in use in Scotland and Ireland into the 16th century. A form of 'Long Axe'. In the 13th century, variants on the Danish axe are seen. Described in English as a ""sparth"" (from the Old Norse ""sparðr"") or ""pale-axe"", the"
"where it curves sharply down to the short ""grip"", just before the end of the haft, which is known as the ""knob"". Hammer axes (or axe-hammers) typically feature an extended poll, opposite the blade, shaped and sometimes hardened for use as a hammer. The name axe-hammer is often applied to a characteristic shape of perforated stone axe used in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Iron axe-hammers are found in Roman military contexts, e.g. Cramond, Edinburgh, and South Shields, Tyne and Wear. Axe An axe (British English) or ax (American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used"
"Doloire The doloire or wagoner's axe was a tool and weapon used during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The axe had a wooden shaft measuring approximately 1.5 metres (5 feet) in length and a head that was pointed at the top and rounded at the bottom, resembling either a teardrop or an isosceles triangle. The top of the shaft was fitted with a metal eye or socket that was welded to the head of the axe near the base of the blade. The upper part of the blade extended above the eye, while the opposite side of the socket featured"
"at the top of the pole and one lower, at the base of the blade) or one socket at the top and one surface mount at the base, effectively mounting the heavy blade to the wooden shaft. This construction is also seen in Scottish polearms, such as the Lochaber axe and Jeddart staff, and bardiches are known to have been imported into Scotland in the 16th and 17th centuries Depending on the design of the particular weapons in question, at times a bardiche may greatly resemble a voulge. While the blade was often very long for an axe (usually exceeding"
"Axe An axe (British English) or ax (American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has many forms and specialised uses but generally consists of an axe head with a handle, or ""helve"". Before the modern axe, the stone-age hand axe was used from 1.5 million years BP without a handle. It was later fastened to a wooden handle. The earliest examples of handled axes have heads of stone with some form of"
"a small blunt hammer head. The head of the axe itself measured approximately 44 cm. (17 inches) in length, was sharpened on the back and flattened bottom edges, and was uniformly decorated with punched and incised abstract floral patterns. The term ""doloire"" is derived from the Latin ""dolabra"", a tool axe used by Roman legionaries. Its alternative name ""wagoner's axe"" originates from the fact that it was found most often in the hands of a wagoner, the man in charge of the supply trains accompanying troops on the march. The wagoner used the axe not only as a tool for"
"Seax Seax (; also ""sax, sæx, sex""; invariant in plural, latinized ""sachsum"") is an Old English word for ""knife"". In modern archaeology, the term ""seax"" is used specifically for a type of sword or dagger typical of the Germanic peoples of the Migration period and the Early Middle Ages, especially the Saxons, whose name derives from the weapon. In heraldry, the ""seax"" is a charge consisting of a curved sword with a notched blade, appearing, for example, in the coats of arms of Essex and the former Middlesex. Old English ""seax, sax"" and Old Frisian ""sax"" are identical with Old"
"a long head similar to the Roman ""pilum"", used by the Franks and Anglo-Saxons and the winged (or lugged) spear, which had two prominent wings at the base of the spearhead, either to prevent the spear penetrating too far into an enemy or to aid in spear fencing. Originally a Frankish weapon, the winged spear also was popular with the Vikings. It would become the ancestor of later medieval polearms, such as the ""partisan"" and ""spetum"". The thrusting spear also has the advantage of reach, being considerably longer than other weapon types. Exact spear lengths are hard to deduce as"
"long blade used by both infantry and cavalry. Occasionally glaive blades were created with a small hook or spike on the reverse side. Such glaives are named glaive-guisarme. A voulge (occasionally called a pole cleaver) is a curved blade attached to a pole by binding the lower 2/3 of the blade to the side of the pole, to form a sort of axe. Looks very similar to a glaive. A svärdstav (literally sword-staff) is a Swedish medieval pole arm that consists of a two-edged sword blade attached to a staff. The illustrations often show the weapon being equipped with sword-like"
"of the central blade at 45 degrees, the other with hooked blades curving back towards the haft. The corseque is usually associated with the rawcon, ranseur and runka. Another possible association is with the ""three-grayned staff"" listed as being in the armoury of Henry VIII in 1547 (though the same list also features 84 rawcons, suggesting the weapons were not identical in 16th century English eyes). Another modern term used for particularly ornate-bladed corseques is the ""chauve-souris"". Corseque The corseque is a type of European pole weapon, characterised by a three-lobe blade on a 1.8 to 2.5-metre shaft. The head"
"Quarterstaff A quarterstaff (plural quarterstaffs or quarterstaves), also short staff or simply staff is a traditional European pole weapon, which was especially prominent in England during the Early Modern period. The quarterstaff has some advantages over the longsword; it is visually nonthreatening but can be just as deadly, and will even be more dangerous to an armored person than a longsword. The term is generally accepted to refer to a shaft of hardwood from long, sometimes with a metal tip, ferrule, or spike at one or both ends. The term ""short staff"" compares this to the ""long staff"" based on"
"with the increasing interest in historical European martial arts. Today the pollaxe is a weapon of choice of many medieval re-enactors. Rubber pollaxe heads designed for safe combat are available commercially. The poleaxe in that spelling, refers to an animal-culling device of similar appearance. It was swung so the spike struck the animal, normally cattle, in the forehead. Hence also the phrase 'to be poleaxed' referring to being stunned. This term does not seem to appear before the 19th century. Pollaxe The pollaxe is a type of European polearm. It was widely used by medieval infantry. It is also known"
"associated with streltsy (Russian guardsmen armed with firearms). ""[The broad-headed axe] was succeeded by the ""berdiche"", a pole-axe, longer in shaft and having the narrow lower end of tall blade rounded inward and braced against the shaft. At first this lower end of the blade merely touched the wooden shaft; it then became fastened to it; next it embraced the shaft, developing for this purpose an encircling loop, like the main ring which forms the socket of the axe-head. This “generalized” type of pole-axe was common to all countries of Europe before the year 1400. It was essentially the butcher's"
"be used for religious purposes. Inscriptions on this axe have been compared with other ancient writing systems. The axe has two primary components: the axe ""head"", and the ""haft"". The ""axe head"" is typically bounded by the ""bit"" (or blade) at one end, and the ""poll"" (or butt) at the other, though some designs feature two bits opposite each other. The top corner of the bit where the cutting edge begins is called the ""toe"", and the bottom corner is known as the ""heel"". Either side of the head is called the ""cheek"", which is sometimes supplemented by ""lugs"" where"
"Bec de corbin A bec de corbin is a type of pole weapon and war hammer that was popular in medieval Europe. The name is Old French for ""raven's beak"" or ""beak of the crow"". Similar to the Lucerne hammer, it consists of a modified hammer's head and spike mounted atop a long pole. Unlike the Lucerne hammer, the bec de corbin was used primarily with the 'beak' or fluke to attack instead of the hammer head. The hammer face balancing the beak was often blunt instead of the multi-pronged Lucerne, and the beak tended to be stouter; better designed"
"excavations, and are depicted on the Achaemenid cylinders and ancient Greek pottery and other surviving iconographic material. It is a long-shafted weapon with a metal head, with an either sharp (axe-like) or blunt (hammer-like) edge on one side and a sharp (straight or curving) 'ice-pick'-like point on the other. It may have been the ""sagaris"" that led medieval and Renaissance authors (such as Johannes Aventinus) to attribute the invention of the battle-axe weapon to the Amazons – as some Scythian women seen hunting and along warrior riders gave legend to the Amazons selves – and to the modern association of"
"Spetum A spetum is a pole weapon that was used in Europe during the 13th century. It consists of a pole, some 6–8 feet long, on which is mounted a spear head with two projections at its base. Many variations of this design flourished over time; some feel that the ranseur is a variation of the spetum. Other names include ""chauve souris"", ""corseca"", ""corsèsque"", ""korseke"", ""runka"", and ""rawcon"". The spetum is usually distinguished from the ranseur and partisan by its ""prongs"" being single edged and used for slashing. The main blade is 12–14 inches long, and the side blades are"
"Voulge A voulge (occasionally called a pole cleaver) is a type of polearm that existed alongside the similar glaive in medieval Europe. Superficially, a voulge might strongly resemble a glaive, but there are some notable differences in construction. First, the attachment of the voulge blade to the shaft was usually done by binding the lower two thirds of the blade to the side of the pole; the glaive would often have a socket built into the blade itself and was mounted on top of the pole. In addition, while both had curved blades, that of the voulge was broad and"
"with Gale's assessment, mentioning that he had performed a practical demonstration of the ""total ineffectiveness [of the seax] against both spear and sword"" at a conference in Oxford in January 1987. In Old English, the Axe was referred to as an ""æces"", from which the Modern English word derives. Most axes found in early Anglo-Saxon graves were fairly small with a straight or slightly curved blade. Such hand-axes primarily served as a tool rather than a weapon, but could have been used as the latter if the need arose. Fragments of the wood shaft survive in only a few examples,"
"it is rare that any axe head would be made of solid gold or silver). Many are considered works of art (esp. those made up to the 1960s by highlanders). They were skillfully stamped/adorned according to ancient tradition. The main motifs were the sun, stars (whirl), comets, tree of life, flowers, trees such as fir or spruce, and various geometric designs. Some smiths used many different, elaborated stamps. In the 3rd century, Scythian warriors used light axes on long shafts, called bartka or celt, in their military arsenal during their invasion of Central Europe. Apart from them, the Bulgars and"
"the name of the owner or maker. The ""seax"" was kept in a leather sheath, the sheaths themselves sometimes being decorated with embossed designs and silver or bronze fittings. Evidence from graves suggests that the sheath was belted to the carrier, with the hilt on the right-hand side of the body. Apparently, most Anglo-Saxon men and women carried knives to prepare food and perform other domestic activities. In a conflict, however, a knife could have been used to kill an already wounded enemy, or they could have been used in a brawl. Pollington suggested that the longer ""seaxes"" could be"
"and manipulate for repeated strikes against an adversary. The crescent-shaped heads of European battle axes of the Roman and post-Roman periods were usually made of wrought iron with a carbon steel edge or, as time elapsed across the many centuries of the medieval era, steel. The hardwood handles of military axes came to be reinforced with metal bands called langets, so that an enemy warrior could not cut the shaft. Some later specimens had all-metal handles. Battle axes are particularly associated in Western popular imagination with the Vikings. Certainly, Scandinavian foot soldiers and maritime marauders employed them as a stock"
"was known as ""the spear side."" Pollington describes the sword as ""the most symbolically important weapon"" of the Anglo-Saxon period, and historian Guy Halsall referred to it as ""the most treasured item of early medieval military equipment."" In Old English, swords were termed ""sweord"", although other terms used for such weapons included ""heoru"" or ""heru"", ""bill"" or ""bile"", and ""mēce"" or ""mǣce"". Anglo-Saxon swords comprised two-edged straight, flat blades. The tang of the blade was covered by a hilt, which consisted of an upper and lower guard, a pommel, and a grip by which the sword was held. Pommels could"
"hooked on the other side"". Fauchard A fauchard is a type of polearm weapon which was used in medieval Europe from the 11th through the 17th centuries. In later use fauchards became ornamental and ceremonial (""fauchard de parade""), growing in size until some examples were almost too heavy to carry, let alone use. The design consisted of a curved blade atop a long pole, although in some portrayals, it is shown on a shorter pole. The blade bore a moderate to strong curve along its length. The cutting edge was only on the convex side of the blade, unlike the"
"Xyston The xyston ( ""spear, javelin; pointed stick, goad"") was a type of a long thrusting spear in ancient Greece. It measured about long and was probably held by the cavalryman with both hands, although the depiction of Alexander the Great's xyston on the Alexander Mosaic in Pompeii (see figure), suggests that it could also be used single handed. It had a wooden shaft and a spear-point at both ends. Possible reasons for the secondary spear-tip were that it acted partly as a counterweight and also served as a backup in case the Xyston was broken in action. The xyston"
"Ewart Oakeshott has proposed an alternative description of the weapon as a crescent shaped socketed axe. A glaive is a pole arm consisting of a single-edged tapering blade similar in shape to a modern kitchen knife on the end of a pole. The blade was around long, on the end of a pole long However, instead of having a tang like a sword or naginata, the blade is affixed in a socket-shaft configuration similar to an axe head, both the blade and shaft varying in length. Illustrations in the 13th century Maciejowski Bible show a short staffed weapon with a"
"since ancient times until the end of the 19th century in Europe and North America. Broadaxes were commonly used in manufacture of square timbers for wooden shipbuilding, log building, timber framing, and railroad ties sometimes called axe ties. Some broad axes are of a shape where part of the axe is called a beard so the axe is called a long-bearded axe. Since the introduction of sawmills and modern power tools, the use of this tool is now uncommon in manufacturing but still used in restoration carpentry or undeveloped regions. Broadaxe A broadaxe is a large-(broad) headed axe. There are"
"if combined with the lengthened blade, was called a ""sparth"" in England. Some believe this weapon is the ancestor of the halberd. While the use of the Dane axe continued into the 14th. century, axes with an armour piercing back-spike and spear-like spike on the fore-end of the haft became more common, eventually evolving into the Pollaxe in the 15th century. The simple Danish axe continued to be used in the West of Scotland and in Ireland into the 16th century. In Ireland, it was particularly associated with Galloglas mercenaries. After the Battle of Stiklestad, the axe also became the"
"blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. It always has a hook or thorn on the back side of the axe blade for grappling mounted combatants. Early forms are very similar in many ways to certain forms of voulge, while 16th century and later forms are similar to the pollaxe. The Swiss were famous users of the halberd in the medieval and renaissance eras, with various cantons evolving regional variations of the basic form. In the 14th century, the basic long axe gained an armour piercing spike on the back and another on the end of the"
"invented by King Jan III Sobieski). Another use of the bardiche was for execution. Bardiche A bardiche , berdiche, bardische, bardeche,(""long pollaxe"") or berdish is a type of axe/pole weapon known in the 14th through 17th centuries in Europe. Ultimately a descendant of the medieval sparth (Danish axe), the bardiche proper appears around 1400, but there are numerous medieval manuscripts that depict very similar weapons beginning . The bardiche differs from the halberd in having neither a hook at the back nor a spear point at the top. Use of bardiches started in early 14th century Austria and in Scandinavia"
"Bayeux Tapestry only depicts the use of belts for sword carrying. The weight of these swords, along with descriptions of them in literature like ""The Battle of Maldon"", indicates that they were used primarily for cutting and slashing rather than thrusting. Several Anglo-Saxon corpses were apparently injured or killed in this manner; the cemetery of Eccles in Kent contains three individuals who had sword cuts to the left side of their skull. In Old English, the term for knife was ""seax"". This term applied to single-edged knives that had a blade length of , and to the ""long-seax"" (or single-edged"
"Dane axe The Dane axe is an early type of battle axe, primarily used during the transition between the European Viking Age and early Middle Ages. Other names for the weapon include English long axe, Danish axe, and hafted axe. Most axes, both in period illustrations and extant artifact, that fall under the description of Danish axe possess type L or type M heads according to the Petersen axe typology. Both types consist of a wide, thin blade, with pronounced ""horns"" at both the toe and heel of the bit. Cutting surfaces vary, but is generally between . Type L"