Medieval and Renaissance Other Weapons Terminology

Angon - the Frankish and Anglo-Saxon throwing spear of late Antiquity and the Dark Ages. The angon had a long slender iron neck with a barbed head, and was roughly 6’ long. It was essentially indentical to the Roman pilum.

Arbalest - (Ger. Armbrust, Crossbow) The correct term for a crossbow, introduced early in the 14th century. The crossbow consisted of a bow mounted on a stock that could be cranked or pulled into place using more leverage than could be used on a conventional longbow. The result was a very high-powered, lower trajectoried weapon of great destructive potential. It fired a bolt, a shorter version of an arrow. However, the firing time on a crossbow was slow compared to the longbow, and for that reason and owing to the vastly higher expense during the period, the longbow remained the favored missile weapon of the 14th and 15th century in England and in France. From time to time the crossbow was banned by various laws, but it remained a weapon of great popularity during the late 14th century in the low countries, the Swiss states, in Germany and in Italy.

Axe - one of the first tools developed by humans, and nearly from its origins a comon weapon. A variety of forms, single and double-handed were in use throughout the Medieval and Renaissance periods.

Bec de Corbin - a type of polehammer used in the 15th century. (See polaxe)

Bec de Faucon - a polearm with a large hammer head instead of an axe, and backed with a spike or curved fluke. The weapon either terminated in a heavy steel counterweight, or a sharpened buttspike, and seemed to range anywhere from five to seven or more feet long. (see also hache or polaxe)

Bill - also called a Brown Bill or a Black Bill. A polearm with a wide cutting blade, with or without spikes and hooks in various locations, derived from the common agricultural tool. The billhook became the mainstay of English infantry forces during the High Middle Ages, and remained such for centuries. This fearsome weapon was capable of killing both armoured opponents and horses, an important factor when facing cavalry forces. Billhooks came in a large variety of shapes and dimensions.

Catapult - A class of siege engines designed to throw spears and heavy bolts.

Coronel/Cronel - a crown-shaped lance head used for jousts of peace (jousts a plaisance)

Flail - a jointed weapon consisting of a spiked, flanged or knobbed steel bludgeon joined by a chain to a short wood or steel haft. Use of the large two-handed flail continued to be taught in fight schools into the 17th century. It was derived from the simple agricultural flail, still used in some parts of the world today.

Francisca - the light throwing axe of the Franks, used alongside the angon.

Gisarme - a massive, ornate spear-like polearm of the 15th century.

Glaive - A broad-bladed, single-edged polearm. Essentially an 18” butcher-knife on a 6 - 7’ pole.

Godendag - the Flemings gave this name, which means “good morning,” to their broad-bladed halberds.

Hache - Also "Bec de Faucon" or "Pollaxe" or "Polaxe" -The "pollaxe" is something of a misnomer, for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the term "poll" is a period reference to the skull, not a "pole" on which the axe head rode. Secondly, the hache was often not an axe at all. Based on surviving examples, there seem to have been two principle forms of hache. The first bore an edged, axe shaped cutting blade on the front side, a small hammer head or curved spike on the back, and was surmounted with a long rectangular or diamond cross-sectioned spike at the top of the haft. The second form, usually referred to as the "Bec de Faucon" sported a large hammer head instead of an axe, and was backed with a spike or curved fluke. Both weapons either terminated in a heavy steel counterweight, or a sharpened buttspike, and seemed to range anywhere from five to seven or more feet long. Thalhoffer and De Liberi both provide many instructional plates on the use of the hache, but the most important document is the anonymous "Le Jeu de la Hache," of the mid-15th century, and translated into modern English by Dr. Sydney Anglo.

Haft - the wooden portion of a polearm that primarily cuts, such as an axe or halbard.

Halberd - a weapon that emerged along with the glaive and guisarme, and for the same purpose - to better combat heavy armour. The halberd had a broad, short axe blade on a 5 - 6’ long haft, with a spear point at the top, often a back-spike and occassionally, a butt-spike.

Hammer - despite its name, the military hammer often was more of a pick. The war hammer gained popularity in the 15th century as a side-arm for combating plate armour.

Lance - the quintessential weapon of the man-at-arms. The lance initially began as a long spear (about 9’) but became progressively longer and heavier, it’s late Medieval form being a specialized weapon unsuited to use on foot.

Langet - metal strips riveted to the the shaft of polearms to reinforce the torque against the head, and to provide protection to the potentially weak juncture between weapon-head and haft.

Longbow - The weapon of the archer, used for launching arrows, developed in Europe. Compare it with the shorter composite bow of the Saracen, which had a shorter draw but was easier to use from horseback. Longbows were the preferred weapon of the English after the middle 14th century, Edward III recognizing the power of massed artillery (archers) used in combination with dismounted cavalry and infantry. The longbow, with a draw from 30 - 36", could launch an arrow more than 300 yards, deadly against opponents not defended by plate armour.

Mace - another of the human race’s oldest weapons, directly tracable back to the stone-topped club. The Medieval mace was an armour-fighting weapon, developing from a steel ball on a wooden handle, to an elaborately flanged, all steel, war club. Maces also have been symbols of power or rulership, from ancient times.

Partisan - another guisarme-type of polearm, this variant had a broad, sword-like blade ranging from 2 - 2 1/2 feet in length. This blade was double-edged and had lugs of various designs at the bottom.

Pike - a long infantry spear used in formation. The pike grew to lengths of 18 feet or more, and really was only affective when used in massed numbers.

Pilum - the Roman throwing spear, with a small, leaf-shaped head set on a long, thin iron neck riveted to a wooden shaft. The pilum was an anti-shield weapon, meant to stick in enemy shields and way them down. The Franks and Saxons adopted it at the angon.

Quarterstaff - a long, stout pole, caarried for personal defense, and sport, in England. The English swordsman, George Silver, said the staff should be as tall as the user’s outstretched finger tips, when he lifted his hand above his head, and as thick as a wrist. The quarter staff was so called because, when being used, the first hand gripped the staff a quarter of the way from the bottom, and the second hand gripped it at the mid-point. Although a simple, “commoner” weapon, the staff was truly fearsome in the hands of a master, so much so, that Silver felt it was superior to any form of sword, used alone, or with a buckler or dagger.
The shortstaff eventually became known as the quarterstaff, and could vary in length between 6 feet to 9 feet, while the longstaff would be around twelve feet in length. The English shortstaff fighting system was a composite of quarter-staffing and half-staffing. The former took its name from the fact that a quarter of the length of the staff was held between the hands with the tip of the weapon pointing directly at the opponent. The latter from the fact that half the length of the staff was held between the hands, with the hands being held equidistant from each end of the staff. Half-staffing, because the staff was held at right-angles to the body, was for close-in fighting, whereas quarter-staffing was used to fight at longer range . Ironically, thanks to theatrical performances and stage combats of the 17th - 19th centuries, what we think of as "quarterstaffing" is really "halfstaffing."

Spear - with the club, perhaps the first human tool designed specifically as a weapon, the spear is simply a long-shafted weapon designed principally for thrusting, although many spears were also capable of slashing blows.

Volgue - an archaic term for a spear, which probably came to be synonymous with a glaive.

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