Osprey - General Military - Knight - The Warrior and ... - Brego-weard

made stronger without a huge increase in
weight. The development of the mmpLate, a
conical dish of metal that protected the
wielder's hand, may, like the development
of the arret, have had some use in battle, but
would appear to be first and foremost a
development for the tournament.
OTHER MELEE
WEAPONS
Besides the sword and cut-down lance a wide
variety of other hand weapons were also
available to the medieval knight fighting on
toot. The long-hafted axe, traditionally seen as
a Norse or Anglo-Saxon weapon, was used in
the 11th and 12th centuries. At the climax of
the battle of Lincoln in 1141, fought during
the civil war between King Stephen and
Matilda, the daughter of Henry I, Stephen
stood 'like a lion' fending off his enemies with
just such an axe. By the 14th century the
dominant weapon was some form of hafted
weapon that had evolved out of farming tools.
Although there was nothing to bar his use of the halberd, bill or spear, the 15th-centuiy
man-at-arms' weapon of choice was the pollaxe. Mounted on a haft between 5 and 6
feet long, shod and topped with a steel spike, the head comprised a hammer, often
spiked like a modern meat tenderizer, opposite either a small axe blade or a curved
pick. Such a weapon was to all intents and purposes a can opener, each blade, spike
and face designed to crush or pierce armour plate.
As well as these long hafted weapons, shorter ones weighted for wielding in one
hand from horseback were common. The flanged mace served a similar function, the
'blades' designed to crush plates. Maces of some form had been used since the 1 1th
century; the Bayeux Tapestry shows tri-lobed objects with short handles being thrown,
but the rough-hewn clubs (baculae) carried by Count William and Bishop Odo are
more likely to be symbols of rank and status than actual weapons. A more popular
ARMS AND ARMOUR •*}*•
St Catherine bearing the
symbols of her martyrdom,
15th century. The sword
the saint holds is typical
of the hand-and-a-half
swords in use during this
period, with long stiff
blades designed for
thrusting. (Getty Images)
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