Would a MEDIEVAL KNIGHT choose a POLLAXE or SPEAR?
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- Опубликовано: 7 июл 2022
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Some people have come to believe that the pollaxe (AKA poleaxe) is THE knightly primary weapon of the late medieval period when fighting on foot. But the fact is that medieval art shows knights on foot often, probably even usually, being armed with spears as their primary weapons. So why would a late medieval knight choose either a pollaxe or a spear?
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It's a scam. As real as those companies that let you name a star.
@@dysomniak Yeah that was embarassing. You're being sponsored by conmen.
i gotta start a business like this
Can you buy a piece of land for each member of your family? Large families could purchase 15 ft of land in 1ft parcels
Love the video Matt but established titles is a load of nonsense. Souvenir plots don't make you a lord and the Court of the Lord Lyon and the Scottish government outright stated this. If people are aware of this and choose to do so anyway that's fine but many people are gullible enough to think this is actually true and legal - its not.
Plus companies like Established Titles are based in the Far East. You are much better off donating money instead.
So glad to see you pushing against the “the spear is only for common soldiers” trope. There is such a wealth of evidence, it’s surprising that the trope has lasted as long as it has.
If a spear was totally useless against armoured opponents, the simple infantry would have changed to other weapons, dropping the spear completely. And if a weapon is useful against an opponent in armour, a nobleman would use it, too.
Spears are not that useful. Only advantages they have are long reach, great leverage, excellent speed and nimbleness. They are good against cavalry and infantry and...
Actually, um, nevermind.
I think it's the unrealistic trappings of RPGs like D&D that keep such tropes alive.
@@elementzero3379 you can have spears in DnD
@@wierdalien1 I'm well aware. They're always portrayed as "Simple Weapons", as opposed to a "Martial Weapon", and are given a lesser damage capability, thus making them less desirable. RPG players incorrectly translate this super-simplistic representation to real life.
Speaking of _"strict"_ in Medieval times; especially after a battles been won, there were often _very strict_ guidelines with regard to _plunder._ A weapon as costly as a poleaxe, even if you had the status to own it, might either have to be pooled with the company's collective plunder (to be liquidated) or you might have to pay into the company fund out of your own purse, to make up the difference between its value and your own relative share of the plunder. Some might mistakenly assume that a knight or noble could simply do as they pleased. But remember, the fellow soldiers you're screwing-over today, are the same fellow soldiers who will be watching your back tomorrow! As always, great vid...your Lordship! :)
Exactly. I remember Matt mentioning this in another video.
There's lots of evidence for using pikes & similar weapons like long lances in single combat & loose formation. Authors such as Joachim Meyer, Giacom di Grassi, & George Silver covered single combat with the pike. Antonio Manciolino recommended the 12-14+ft lancia over the 8ft spiedo for single unarmored combat. Pietro Monte addressed using both long & medium lances on foot, & mentioned the approach of holding the long lance in one hand with the point on the ground as also appears in Meyer & Silver's pike sections. Various 16th-century military manuals, like Raimond de Fourquevaux's, describe extraordinary pikers who fought in open order, not keeping ranks, to defend the shot. Georg Frundsberg supposedly fought a battlefield duel with a Swiss commander Bicocca 1522, pike against halberd. By that account, Frundsberg delivered a lethal thrust with his pike. William Harrison noted in his 1577 description of England how people on road sometimes carried 13-14ft pikes on their shoulders, prompting riders to wear pistols. Etc. The weight of the evidence indicates that 15th-17th-century Europeans widely used pike-type weapons in single combat & fighting in loose formation in both military & civilian contexts. Additionally, 17th-century Chinese military manuals cover single combat with pikes in detail. As bizarre as it may seem to us, apparently a 12-18+ft spear can be an effective personal weapon. Some folks today are practicing historical pike techniques & showing how they can be potent.
Regarding the main question of spear vs. pollaxe, Monte wrote that the spetum (a sort of winged spear like Manciolino's spiedo) can't oppose the pollaxe when fighting in full harness: "Then, to fight very easily against such weapons as the spetum, when each is to be
armoured in his own way, the safest is to bring in white armour to put on, such as a corslet, called corzeletum in the vernacular, and of the offensive weapons, an axe, a weapon which the spetus cannot oppose, nevertheless in a similar way of doing battle the strong prevail very much over the weak."
I'm also curious about the evidence for the pollaxe as a status symbol. Do we have any records of how much a pollaxe cost compared with swords & other weapons? Later records indicate that halberds cost less than swords as I recall. Any weapon can be made fancy if desired.
Thanks. I think there is the wrong picture painted for both high medieval Europe and Asia like China, Korea and Japan. All of them were using various types of armour up to full metal. And the majority of their armies used a variation of a spear or pike as main weapon and later musketmen protected by pikes. Hell Nobunaga became Shogun by using musketmen alongside spearmen a lot.
Most of the shows depicting armies full of swordsmen are pure fantasies.
Swords and Daggers are sidearms for when you lost your main weapon or cannot use it for whatever reason and you now were in a brawl.
Long spears and pikes are generally very good weapons even in open order, a pike can offend at great speed and the massive reach means closing against one pikeman with ha shorter weapon opens you up to attacks from many others; only heavily armored soldiers can really "offend" against such a formation and even those wold be vulneravle (or they'd need full face protection, which limits visibility).
In single combat the spear remains useful because of the range advantage and the fact that most soldiers would have shorter backup weapons at the ready; in tight formation the spear is just generlly supreme for it's reach and the ability to be used to great effect by multiple ranks. (where "chopping" polarms have greater risk of getting caught)
@@captainnyet9855 Both George Silver & Sir John Smythe considered spear-type weapons in the 8-9ft range suboptimal in tight formation. Smythe noted how 6ft halberds/bills were more convenient for close fighting than ones with long top spikes. Spear-type weapons in the 7-9ft range existed in 16th-century warfare in Western/Central Europe, but they weren't terribly popular. Raimond de Fourquevaux thought a small number of partizans acceptable but that they could do no great deed against armored foes.
Funny how much the helmet changes what his face looks like.
I never have this problem. I always keep a diverse assortment of weaponry in my inventory to suit different types of opponents. 8 of these weapons are in quick-draw slots for even easier access. I can whack a knight with a pole axe in one second, stab him with a spear in the next, and finish him off with a magic dagger in the third.
Are you a character in a roleplaying game?
that is exactly where the idea of human magnetism started. But I tend to also keep a lance and a longbow on me as well. And yes, the longbow is magnetic as well, why do you ask
@@pavolkolesar6835 One of my quickslots is for accessing my horse to give my lance that extra bit of umph.
What about +1 mace?
@@j.r.6271 A horse in a quick slot? That changes a lot! Why haven't I thought about this??
Next you should talk about the use of halberds, bills, or glaives by knights. Was this very common?
Halberds and bills, no, but glaives were; there are quite a few high status examples in museums, and they were particularly popular in France.
A few more points:
Poleaxe more durable.
Spear lighter and thus generally less tiring to use.
Poleaxe possibly easier to keep with you when climbing.
Spear easier to replace.
Poleaxe hammer face can smash obstacles like doors. Axe face can cut ropes and wooden structures. Also can be used as a tool for hammering things or chopping things. So nails and wood for example.
Spear better for hunting.
Now I realize some of what I said is not right in combat use, but those situations do arise. So if you're starving and you have no food a spear would be great.
Anyways just throwing out ideas here.
Now I want a video of someone using a pole axe to hammer nails. That sounds hilarious.
I don't know that you'd want to use a poleaxe to get through a door or chop firewood, given the way they're built.
@@JohnnyWishbone85 Oh you totally wouldn't. I'm saying in emergencies. And for the door I meant to use the hammer face.
@@arc0006 i have tried bashing a flat surface with a (cheap) replica, but the spike on top really gets in the way. If its long, it will hit first and bend. It is really ineffective and awkward to use
@@macedonianfighter6987 I thought that was a possibility. Again this isn't a prime use it's an emergency use. Weapons are going to be damaged in combat. That being said you would need a lot of room to do such a thing. A narrow hallway with a low ceiling and it's basically impossible. However, if you have enough room it's certainly better than a sword.
I always kinda assumed that knights using pollaxes in formations would fight like a Landsknecht with a Zweihander attempting to break up a formation.
And like the Varangian Guard with their Dane Axes.
I think that is true. Always seen poleaxe as specialist weapon for heavy infantry. Unike the zweihander wich was suited less heavily armored infanty too. Can not really put a finger on it. Why?
Both! I'll have my squire or servant give me the one I want right before we battle! Spear against the ruffians, pollaxe against more refined men at arms!
Then how do you change one over another while your squire was fighting with his own weapon in midst of battle or was far behind in the camp? How could a squire carry both yours and his polearms at the same time anyway? (same question about horse lances)
@@wolfensniper4012 That wasn't the point... I'd choose before the fight, but I suppose if I wanted to swap mid-battle, there may be an opportunity to Disengage or I could just pick up someone else's weapon potentially.
@@wolfensniper4012 Well if he was talking before the battle in the camp, it shouldnt be an issue at all. Even if we're talking in the battle but before your formation entered into the fighting it should be quite a simple affair. It was normal for a knight or man-at-arm to have servants wait with extra gear and drinking water just outside his formation. And presumably he was talking about non-fighting squires, or pages.
@@HaNsWiDjAjA Well because in most battles like Cercy you don't “choose” which opponents you're fighting (peasants or men at arms) but often fighting both kind at the same time. I also can't find resources supporting your claim that in the midst of fighting there are non fighting pages on both sides just silently wait outside the fighting formations just to give his lord water or extra armour, back in the camp maybe, but just besides the battle formation on battlefield to me is highly unlikely.
@@wolfensniper4012 The resources are there if you look for it.
The Templar Manual mentioned that each knight would have two squires, who at this stage of history was still noncombatants, one to carry his lance and great helm and the other his spare horse. This arrangement would only make sense if the squire was standing close to his knight right before he rode off into a charge, to hand him his lance and great helm. If the squire was back at camp it made no sense whatsoever for him to be carrying those things - they might as well as be in the wagon!
The Italian historian Filipo Vilaini mentioned that in the English White Company the men-at-arms would normally dismount when the fighting started. The pages would collect their horses and hold them in the rear of the battle line, to be used in pursuit if the battle was won. This indicated that they were staying relatively close by, not in their camp, as otherwise those horses would be too far away to be of any use.
The Irish gallowglasses were said to each have a 'knave' who carried his armour, as well as his bow and sheaf of arrows or alternatively three javelins. Again it made little sense for a man to be holding these weapons except if he was to hand it to his warrior to be used in battle as needed. If he was just transporting it a pack horse or wagon could do a better job.
Crecy was actually an ideal battle for this change up in weapons. The English men-at-arms were standing on the defensive and not moving anywhere, hence their pages could just stand to the rear of their battle lines and didnt have to worry that they wouldnt be able to hand the spare weapons to their masters. For the French they know the English were not going anywhere, so they could attack at their leisure, including if they wanted to change weapons beforehand.
Medieval battles moved pretty slowly; units need a lot time to get into places before they advanced against a section of the enemy line, if they were to retain any sort of order. Even cavalry charges would procceed at a walk or slow trot until the last hundred yards or so, giving the defenders plenty of time to know what they would be facing. Attacks on foot would obviously procceed at a walk for almost the entire distance. All in all, weapon switching should be easily doable.
When I was in college for graphic design we had to do a report on anything we wanted as long as it related to design. I waited until two weeks before the due date to find a topic and chose medieval armor. the instructor was disappointed and said I'd better work hard on the paper because he didn't think it could be done. I finished the paper, turned it in and the next week the instructor said he had to eat his words. I described the various ways of armor crafting, filigree, acid etching, ect... and explained it was propaganda. The richer nobles could afford better, and more beautiful, suits of armor to their knights while the poorer nobles could not. It was all about showing the opponent that you were better than them. And the Poleaxe is a perfect example of this thought process. That being said, I would choose the Poleaxe over a spear because it's a little more versatile on the battlefield.
As a former soldier i dont think it can be understated how important it is to know which weapons are good for what situations. "Knowing is half the battle" as they say.
Absolutely.
No matter how fine the steel, how experienced and skilled the swordsmith, and how experienced and skilled the polisher, a katana sucks as a soup spoon. lol
Information is ammunition lol
One should try to equip as well as possible. But there are limitation to how much one can carry for a campaign or more. It is possible to run out of needed stuff.
Yeah I’ve was told that navy seals use intel on what weapons the enemy have and then load out with weapons have an out range theirs buy 100-200 yards. So they can pick them off at a range where they are relatively safe.
The right tool for the job.
1. Only Matt can upload two half an hour videos in two days.
2. That transition to sponsor was just brilliant!
3. Video is great!
4. I'd choose halberd =)
I think the pollax definitely makes sense if you're a british footknight for example. After being pummeled by archers and broken up by the field fortifications it's not going to be such a tight formation coming against you, but they're going to be more heavily armored (the better your armor, the greater the chance is that the armor stopped or deflected any arrows aimed at you). So good thing you have the ideal weapon for dealing with such an opponent (or to hook his weapon so that the footsoldiers with you can swarm him and take him captive).
I'd love to see a video showing the evolution and similarities between the Dane axe, the bardiche and the voulge or early halberds. The bardiche really sticks out as one of the (usually) shorter polearms putting it between a two handed axe and a proper polearm.
About lances interchangeable with spear, in Battle of Arbedo 1422 the dismounted Milanese Men at Arms did used their spear on foot to push back the Swiss infantry.
I feel like in modern day we think more about footmen fighting "in a building or something" and not as much about "in mud" or "in knee high grass". I think I would prefer the spear, especially if they have attachments like the ones at 2:53
or forests
"A Knight's Tale" is pretty authentic about that, you wouldn't want to be caught with a knight's kit... 🤔
Also iirc you couldnt keep anything you found. You had to poool it and youd get your cut when it was liquidated.
Once again we are reaffirmed that the question posed by Monty Python, "how do you defend against a pointed stick?" was one of the central questions posed by fighting men for most of human existence
A status symbol is actually more practical than one would think in medieval combat. Because if you're seen as rich/important, it's much more likely you'd be captured and ransomed rather than killed if the battle doesn't go your way.
edit: Lmao, I paused the video and wrote this comment like a couple seconds before you mentioned it.
The wars of the Old Swiss Confederacy are full of examples where the chronicles explicitly state that the Swabian, Burgundian or Habsburgian knights and men at arms dismounted and took their place in the pike formations.
… I’m imagining a fairly comical example of a knight carrying a 20 foot pike to battle on the side of his horse, having to be _exceptionally_ careful to not run into anything with the pointy end
@@farmerboy916 Lances sometimes got as long as pikes or nearly so, even up to 20+ft in the case of the hollow lances the winged hussars famously employed.
‘Pike’ is probably an exaggeration. Think of Sempach (1386) when the ‘Austrian’ knights fought on foot using pikes/spears. Famously, according to legend, the Swiss broke through once Arnold von Winkelried had thrown himself onto the spears thus opening a hole that allowed his comrades through.
The historic Winkelried seems to have survived the battle.
@@charlesbruggmann7909 Absolutely right. The most used word in them is "Spiess" and to be honest they used that word for everything from a short hunting spear to a 6 meter pike.
With pike formations, it’s actually a good idea to have men at arms with shorter weapons mixed in. When the piles are bound up with each other, men armed with shorter weapons and push forward.
I think another great sidearm to consider for the person with the spear is a mace/warhammer. You'd get similar anti-armour benefits to the poleaxe with weight and shortness. Go around with your spear for the most part and if you need to close with a heavily armoured opponent you have a shorter, heftier sidearm ready to go. Perhaps you could do a followup video to this one where you discuss why a knight/man-at-arms would choose a sword or mace/warhammer as their sidearm (maybe both I dunno).
I can’t help but look at your spear with the octagonal shaft as a giant pencil.
It looks cool though doesn't it
15th century commercials:
Pollaxe: *"It Hacks! it Hooks! It Hammers! It Stabs! Be a Badass on the Battlefield with this beauty!"*
Spear: *"Say, Friend: when someone comes at you with a heavy, complicated Murder-O-Matic, what you gonna do? Poke Them Before They Poke You! Longer reach is your friend! Get their horse down before they get you down, and you've got 'em where you want 'em! Easy and Affordable!"*
It seems to me that if you wanted to use a poleaxe from horseback you ought to couch the heavy axe side under your arm and use the spike on the other end like a short lance. The extra weight on that side would provide a counterbalance and make it easier to maneuver.
Great explanation - love the historical examples (including the painting of massed men at arms with spears) and the reminders that as the close range back-up of choice the rondel is pretty darned good
Love these videos, they are such an amazing resource for game developers. Thanks so much!
I absolutely love your dissertations on the various types and uses of medieval weaponry. In the back of my head however, I have a distinct and gnawing fantasy. I would love to see you do this as an infomercial. Completely factual and completely tongue in cheek.
Probably a Spear and a short Crows Beak or Warhammer as a Backup would would be a nice combination.
@@JT_Soul Indeed!
Agreed.sometuing for every class of opponent.
Hi Matt! just wanted to say that these recently have been smash hits! loved the knife-edge video and this one.
A servant with a pair of coconuts? You've gone Monty Python on us! LoL! That made my day, thanks Lard Mathew
To be honest, from a fantasy perspective, the poleaxe is kind of perfect for an adventurer. You can stab and chop and bash Orks and skeletons alike!
Depends on what opponents I expect to face. Cavalry or lightly armored -> spear. Heavily armored infantrymen -> poleaxe.
Matt, you are a fine modern gentleman. I love your videos! Been listening to you for a few years now. It’s good, informative content to listen to while I’m doing task, presently sipping bourbon and seasoning humidors. Keep the excellent content coming. Cheers bromigo, from Texas!
The biggest advantage of the pollaxe is that it looks really cool. I want one.
I suspect it was more common in art than in real life for that exact reason.
And now, let's throw the halberd into the mix
I enjoy infighting. In formation a spear would be great. In any other context I think the Poleaxe would suit me more. There are so many ways to use a poleaxe, and that would attract me too
Props for the sponsorship! Well integrated ;)
I'd really like to see a breakdown of axe heads. Why is that pollaxe blade flat? What about the shape of a Dane axe, and wtf is up with Italian concave Halberts?
Man, I've been wondering about those concave halberds for a while--there's a Chinese polearm with two similar blades, too.
One thing i think would be interesting is to see how much force a well trained soldier would be able to transfer to a target with different weapons.. all the way from a simple dagger to a heavy hammer or axe type weapon... becouse it has allways been and will probably allways be about how much force you can deliver to the target...
Ofcourse, force is nothing without penetration. But back in the medieval times with steel armour force might have been more important then actual penetration.
Aka, blunt force trauma. If you can cause a huge dent in the steel armour that might be more advantageous then actually penetrating it.
Loved the mood today, really picked me up. Cheers 😊
I really aprecciate those longer videos.
Great vid (as usual) and good to see the spear get more attention.
CANT CLICK ON THESE VIDEOS FAST ENOUGH!
This video instantly made me hear Mordred say, near the end of Excalibur, "Come, Father. Let us embrace, at last."
This topic made me wonder whether there were certain armour features and/or innovations which were specifically intended to help facilitate an advantage when grappling in harness (or to minimize a given vulnerability in the same circumstances). If anyone has a resource for this, I would very much appreciate a book/video title, author, or web link.
It’s not necessarily grappling, but I believe some couters (elbow armor) were pointed so you could elbow people more effectively if you had to.
@@Specter_1125 They were also pointed to add more space between your elbow and the armour and to make hit deflection more common.
That then begs the question; is there an exchange where you can sell off your prize of war that you're not authorized to carry? The merchandizing of armaments is an interesting question in and of itself.
Iirc it was pooled and liquidated then youd get your cut
The spear is one weapon that you can take with you throughout any pre-gunpowder and even early gunpowder eras and be perfectly well armed.
Yup, I'd argue history has shown they still had value alongside firearms for quite some time, pretty much only ended by breechloading firearms, making guns better at close range work. Spears were used heavily as late as the US revolutionary war, we used tons of them for fortress defense, they outrange a bayonet and don't drain ammunition while under siege. Makes perfect sense. Officers preferred the spontoon over a rifle because you had more reach than a saber or bayonet and didn't have to take your eyes off the fighting to reload. And I'm sure someone somewhere used spears in combat later than that, certainly into the early 19th century. Spears just rock, basically.
@@shyfox_69 The lance is basically a spear, and Lancers survived as combat units of many nations into WWI. They obviously weren't useful in trench warfare, but the war wasn't _just_ trench warfare. The Poles didn't discard the lance until the early 1930s.
Not sure if the link will work, but this photo was taken in 1948:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Razakars.jpg
@@WJS774 Good point! Forgot about lances endurance, and would absolutely group them together.
"You can't necessarily start swinging [your weapon] around like this, like you would in single combat, because you've got people on either side of you and behind you."
I wish you would tell my team mates in Chivalry 2 that (a medieval melee combat video game). The series has been going on for 10 years now and people still can't wrap their head around the fact that if you swing wildly into a melee, you're gonna hit your own people. Even the overheads will sometimes clock your team mates, if they're stupid enough to stand right behind you.
As for what weapon I would pick, my first choice would be the one I was most proficient with and that suited me better. Unless there was some other factor involved, that weighed heavily in favor of one or the other, like the ones you mentioned.
sorry silver, that's probably me. level 250 and still swinging around like a madman
@@sandrafrancisco to be fair. I do it too 😂
@@SilverionX lmao
That was the smoothest sponsorship transition I've ever seen.
Knight “ Squire , what doth thou knoweth of the enemy ? “ Squire “ The front ranks are plated knights with mailed Sergeants behind “ Knight , “ Good . Hand me the Number 4 poleaxe ! “
I love this kind of videos from you matt, that's a sick t shirt by the way, excellent taste
Props for rocking the helm through the whole video.
Lovely video Matt
2:21 This man is packing some heavy weapons indeed
Very educational, this video. Thank you, sir!
Extremely good and thought-provoking video, as always, Matt!! There was one little thing I wanted to comment on when discussing knights on foot (or just ordinary spearman infantry): That the butt-spike/butt can be jammed into the ground. This has been done since Ancient times. It has the obvious advantage over a hand held weapon, be it a spear or anything else, that the impact of the moving horse comes suddenly to a complete stop so that all the inertia is transferred onto that sharp spearpoint and hopefully (for the man on foot) into the body of the horseman. The was obviously used to great effect by pike-men in the 17th Century, but also by spear-wielding Dutch knights on foot, as well as by their humbler and more numerous companions of ordinary infantrymen against mounted knights in the Late Middle Ages.
Another point: Spears used by infantry on foot are not infrequently referred to by historical sources, I think especially by the Victorians, as 'lances'. One of the epithets of divine Athena is indeed her 'lance', which is commonly constituted on statues and in artwork by a hoplite spear, coupled with a traditional hoplite helmet (I think generally of the Corinthian variet, which to you Mediaevalists out there looks very similar to a barbuta) and a shield of the type used by hoplites. So the terms 'lance' and 'spear' have historically been largely interchangeable, for much of history anyway, to denote both a cavalryman and an infantryman's weapon.
Tape them together, end to end. Superb reach.
the good old 20 foot pike
@@the_inquisitive_inquisitor Super Jousting.
I do remember reading some scriptures where a 13th century knight were avid collector for ornate tidbits, he purchased two spear heads for boar hunting off a foot soldier whom was a bored and had some metal work skills, after paid footsoldier for his work with 8 livres. one boar spearhead with stopper had vines and roses engraved, and the other with no stopper bar had plain feathered with feather stem engraving. Apparently he adored both spearheads and pocketed into his horse saddle and requested his squire to fashion him staves. later on they shall hunt that week with them. However i pick pollax everytime. they are 1 of top knightly weapon. Heck, theroically if theres a zombie invasion. pollax. 10/10
Zombies are a very specific kind of enemy. Spearing zombie bodies is said to have no effect to killing them. So, it is advantageous to break their heads with hammer or axe.
Congratulations Lord Easton! 🍻 We're confident you'd acquit yourself well if called to active service, certainly more so than Good Sir Robin.
Great video on the primary topic as well ; )
23:06 It reminded me that in battlefield 1 one of the ways players use to deffend from the horse charge is to lie down.
Gotta say Matt that watching you maneuver that polearm around I have to wonder just how much danger they were to your own side let alone the the enemy.
Established titles is the NFT of medieval history buffs
Something that I hardly ever see mentioned when it comes to spears is that every spear - even forgetting its point - is a long, sturdy, dense piece of wood. Otherwise known as a quarterstaff. You don't need a hammer on the end of it to really ring somebody's bell.
Spears are typically a bit thinner than staves for the sake of agility.
@@DavidSmith-vr1nb Anecdotally, I've handled a few over the years. Reenactments, martial arts, and replicas at a historical museum. All felt sturdy enough to effectively threaten a skull or a limb.
Outstanding content as always.. I would love to see anything about billmen during the 100 years war. I am ever so slowly putting my kit together. 🙂
The English Bill men at Flodden 1513 cut the pike armed Scots to pieces. James IV was very state of the art in importing Swiss mercenaries to teach his army the latest pike drills the problem is that the pikes ended up with unseasonal shafts which the bill men were able to sever..
Which shows that you need a hard, firm.shaft before going into battle! 😁
I think another point about fighting in massed ranks is the mass of opponents you are facing. In a one on one fight an armoured knight can easily knock aside a spear and close in with a pollaxe, so the shorter, more versatile weapon would be a better choice then. But if you are facing a line, or several lines, of enemy soldiers, all equipped with spears, it’ll be bloody difficult to get close enough to use a pollaxe efficiently, because once you step into their range, like a dozen people will stab you. So in that case i think a weapon that is as long as the weapons you are up against is more advantageous, because closing in would be kind of suicidal. Unless your whole line would do it at the same time and you all protect each other.
Keen for the Tewkesbury video!
Hi Matt great vid. For versatility I would probably go for the poleaxe or a similar beast.
Regarding your content, have you ever thought about doing a series on how fantasy gaming uses and equates stats and abilities to these historical weapons?
For example Warhammer fantasy as numerous races each is specialised for certain types of combat and weapon choices.
Would you ever think about doing a brake down on how accurate the depictions are for what the armies would field, the qualities implied (halberds having armour piecing, spears working with shields etc). You could just look at the “Empire” a faction comprised mainly of standard men.
Knights
Common soldiers
Melee weapons
Black powder
Ranged
Etc.
Well presented!
If video games have taught me anything, the coolest looking weapon gets your further than a min/max build, and everything is a fashion show.
I just bought that exact poleaxe, except without the hand guard. Gorgeous weapon.
I think the choice of weapon depends on what you need the weapon to do (just like in modern times). If I was going to be fighting at close quarters- in a town, village, or castle type setting- then I'd go for the Poleaxe. If I was fighting an open field type battle, then I'd go for the Spear. The Spear is a better "general purpose" weapon- whereas the Poleaxe is really meant for fighting guys in armor up close, and will struggle in other circumstances.
Honestly in a room a pole axe might still be a little cumbersome. I know a lot of fights between knights would end in grappling and trying to stab a dagger in the armor gaps.
Also even in open field combat it depends, if you are expecting to fight in fairly uneven terrain or a wooded area go for a Poleaxe, if its very open and you aren't expecting to be realistically able to get that close to the Enemy go for the Spear.
Also even if you find yourself in a situation that doesn't suit the weapon you choose you are still fighting in formation so you can still find a way to be a useful companion. (Just because your equipment isn't really that effective on the situation its still equipment.)
If you're wearing armor: pollaxe > spear, lance > pollaxe, spear > lance. Basically, if the main threat ti cavalry, you want a spear. If the main threat is other men-at-arms, you want a pollaxe. Also, if you just want to survivie, spear has its benefits, but if you're supposed to act as shock infantry, pollaxe allows you to thrash low quality, worn out units much faster than when using spears. This makes pollaxe a perfect weapon for something like a Lord/King's personal guard, as the guard is likely to only be committed near the end of a battle, where the shock effect can cause mass routing.
So interesting, I just listened to a piece on the US military’s up coming switch (potentially) from the standard assault rifle (M4/M16A2) to a SIG functioning a bit more as a battle rifle. Basically the same comparison - close or far, armored or unarmored… very, very similar considerations. Basically, there is no one-size-fits-all weapon choice even today.
The way I view the new SIG is that it's just another deal for SIG to make money and for the US military to look like it is using its funding for something "useful". The new SIG was the least revolutionary of all the guns and is basically very similar to the M4 platform. Kind of a pointless upgrade in my eyes.
There is a one size fits all today, and it is what all modern militaries use.
Bombs. Guns are essentially obsolete. Artillery, Tanks, etc. are falling out of favor.
Bc a single bomb propelled from forever away can precisely decimate an entire area and vaporize anyone there. Just look at what the western volunteer soldiers reported the first week in Ukraine. They go to get training. Boom. Their entire barracks returning home bc they saw how pointless being there was when the enemy is also a superpower with missiles (bombs).
This was the coolest ad i've ever seen on youtube :D
Beautiful Helmet!
Edited: Beautiful Helmet Lord Easton!
Great video
Matt, it's like our brains are connected in terms of what to talk about, and even when it comes to what we find aesthetically pleasing! I remember hearing Jason Kingsley state in one of his videos a while back that regular spears would've been obsolete by the Late Middle Ages, and that the pollaxe and other more complex polearms would've been used instead. I'm so glad that you're addressing this!
It is true that regular spears in the sense of 8-10ft spears with relatively simple heads make little appearance in 16th-century military manuals. A few authors mentioned the half-pike, which fits the bill, but nobody considered it very important. Raimond de Fourquevaux thought some partizans among the halberds tolerable; he didn't seem excited & specifically noted how the partizan can't do much against armored troops. George Silver loved a stout 8-9ft spear for single unarmored combat in the open but considered such weapons inferior to both pike & halberd for the battlefield.
@@b.h.abbott-motley2427 , I completely agree when it comes to the Renaissance period. As I stated in my comment, I'm just referring to the Late Middle Ages (1300-1500). For example: in the circa 1430 German treatise known as Gladiatoria, Hans Talhoffer's treatise of the 1460s, Fiore dei Liberi's circa 1410 treatise, or even the 1480 treatise by Filipo Vadi, the humble, plain spear is portrayed as the primary AND sole staff-weapon appropriate for knightly single combat. Not the halberd, not the billhook, or even the partizan. Just the regular old spear.
@@andreweden9405 Pietro Monte wrote in the same period as Vadi & covered long lances (including pikes or the equivalent), partizans, bills, halberds, & speta. He did also mention the ginetta, the lance for the unarmored or lightly armored rider, which he specified as 9.5-10ft & "quite delicate." So that at least approximates what you call the regular old spear. There's no indication in what I've read from Monte that only the ginetta or some similar lighter lance was the only appropriate weapon for knightly single combat. He covered the pollaxe the most for single combat in full harness on foot, though also mentioned the possibility of pollaxe opposing spetum in white armor. The spear does seem to have been required part of judicial & perhaps other types of formal knightly dueling in German lands. That's a specific tradition & may even have included mandatory throwing of the spear.
I agree the available sources indicate that regular spears (in the sense of weapons like what Matt Easton holds in this video & like Monte's ginetta or the later half-pike, 8-10ft spears with simple heads) remained reasonably prevalent through the 15th century. & they weren't completely obsolete in the 16th century & on, just less common & less important. (19th/20th-century cavalry lances are basically simple spears.) However, it is also true that pikes & polearms made an impact by the 14th century if not earlier.
I love when you do these videos matt. I'd pick a spear. You make a compelling argument for the pollaxe
I don't always fight with a spear in medieval battles but when I do it's as a Great Fyrd!
I didn't expect to see Drachinifel there at teweksbury with you.
I like that his mic almost looks like the antenna thing on Boba's helmet.
You know what would be funny? A video compilation of all of the times you've said "let me just grab" when reaching at a weapon for an example.
I would imagine that the choice would come down to the type of terrain and the opponents you'd be facing as to which you'd choose
"You can't wear that!" "Come and take it!"
"And of course you can offend the horse"
- My horse don't like people laughing, gets the crazy idea that you're laughing at him.
I love the Pole Axe, I wish I could own one. I day dream about how best to use it, fighting against one person or two or a group surrounding me. They are just cool looking and hold a place in my heart.
Context. Use spear to pin down enemy and your buddy with poleaxe finish the enemy.
My choice would probably also be influnced by my skill with each weapon - which one am I the best at using?! And cost/access or availability.
Great video as always👍
Prince Oberyn Martell made the spear into a superstar weapon.
Your technique is superb and I choose a pollaxe thank you and please have a good day.
I knew it was you in that shiny armor...
Lancaster, Lancaster!!!!
Tested this weekend on the battlefield also, with the pole axe it's waaayyy more easier to get stuck in the melee or for the weapon to be grappled.
The spear has been called the King of the Battlefield, and for good reason.
Matt another great video loved it I keep on asking you talk a lot about England France sometimes Germany and low countries but not a whole lot about Spain could you talk a little bit about the weapons of Spain and I absolutely love the navaja so I guess I'm a little wrong context-wise you do talk some about Spain talk more about Spain LOL
Meet in the middle and bring a spollaxe.
Have you introduced us to that helmet??? I like it!!!
Matt, some time ago I read some military tactics articles on the use of cavalry and the authors (sorry, I don´t have citations here), that before the 12th century the „couched lance charge“ was (if ever) used in tourneys but not in real battles. Instead, say, Normans in their conquests (Apulia, Sicily, 1st crusade) used what was later coined as „a la lance“, i.e. not couched but with shorter spears in hand to counter their often-less-armed opponents. This method of fighting was said to survive on the Iberian Peninsula and was later used with great success in conquistador wars. Do you have any opinion/information on that?
While it's true that you don't get to keep what you loot without getting in a world of trouble - you hand it over to the quartermaster and then get issued your fair share of loot at the appointed time - this is the first time I'm hearing about use of pollaxe being restricted to noble class by sumptuary law (rather than practicality of not wanting to get into a pollaxe duel with a guy in plate armor when all you have is a gambeson), what is the source for that?
i gotta say, as an aussie, getting a present of a title cant be seen as anything but an insult lol
The heavy press argument was interesting - A small warhammer with a spike on the end like a bill would be useful in the jam for a hammer and thrust single hand weapon and a spear for the 3rd row behind to be passed to the next row as you get to the front. but... in a heavy press how do you get to your mace/hammer? Store it across your shoulders? could you reach it in armour? maybe a long dagger stored across the chest is better or complimentary?