ALL Medieval & Renaissance POLEARMS or Staff Weapons CATEGORIZED 

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"Let's look at every single medieval polearm ever used." My immediate thought, "Wait, how long is this is video?"

I died with that sudden cut, you were going to keep talking about pike and shoot warfare but this was suposed to be concise xDD never change matt

Kette indeed means chain. One of our terms for hauberk is Kettenhemd, wich literally means chain shirt.

If you're looking for something specifically: 3:10 Spear 5:17 Pike 6:50 Boar Spear - Winged Spear - Bohemian earspoon 13:30 Spiedo - Cutting Spear - Hewing Spear 14:17 Partisan - Partizan - Protazan 16:12 Corsec - Spetum - Runka 19:57 Ahlspieß - Ahlspiess 22:20 Dane Axe - Great Axe 23:35 Halberd 27:10 Bardiche - Bardische - Berdish - Geesam 28:50 Lochaber axe 30:10 Poleaxe 33:54 War hammer - Lucerne hammer 35:44 Mallet - Maul 37:44 Billhook - Ronca 41:48 Glaive - Kuss 47:22->48:30 Morgenstern - Holy Water Sprinkler 52:03 Goedendag 53:21 Flail - Kettenmorgenstern - Ketten Flail Bonus: 55:29 Scythe - War Scythe 56:06 Fork - Pitchfork 57:04 other

This is why Matt holds the honourary rank of 'Staff' Sergeant.

"Bohemian ear spoon" is in Czech "ušatá sudlice" for which a better and more literal translation would be "A lance with ears" or something like that

My introduction to polearms was AD&D PHB.

The 'Goedendag' is still famous in Flanders, but for some reason nearly everyone thinks it was a flail.

By now I expected him to call this a "short video" 😆

"I could make a whole dedicated video just talking about spear types." Easton, Matt. Please do it!

As for the Ahlspieß (Ahlspiess) the german "ie" is a lenghtened german i and sounds like the english "ee" (in free) The "Ahl" commes from the "Ahle" which the dictionary tells me is called awl in english. So it's an Awl-spear. Kettenmorgenstern: Ketten is plural for Kette which is a chain. So: Chainmorningstar. German is quite descriptive.

The naming of pointy sticks is surprisingly controversial among experts, enthusiasts and even people in the past. I obviously haven't seen the whole thing yet but I am curious to see your take on the matter.

Imagine a spinoff polearm channel called "The Big Long Shaft"

The Poleaxe is my favorite polearm, and I am happy to learn that the different combinations can be called the same name. :D

Here's a guide to the weapons mentioned: 4:37 Short-spear 5:16 Pike 6:47 Winged spear (Bohemian Ear-Spoon) 13:29 Spiede (broad-headed spear) 14:14 Partisan 16:11 Corseque/Runca/Spetum 18:47 Ox-tongue 19:58 Ahlspiess (awl pike) 22:29 (not exclusively) Dane axe 23:35 Halberd 27:11 Bardiche/Guisarme 28:50 Lochaber axe 30:10 Poleaxe/Pollaxe (which does not necessarily include an axe) 34:29 Lucerne hammer 35:43 Mallet (hammer-spear) 37:43 Bill (numerous variations, including ronca) 41:48 Glaive/Voulge (sword-headed pole) 48:36 Morningstar (polearm version), Holy Water Sprinkler 52:11 Godendag 53:25 Flail 55:43 War scythe (scythe version of glaive) 56:07 Military fork 57:04 miscellaneous unnamed objects

Hello Matt, Luzerner Hammer is called as it is not because this was "a Swiss thing", it is called Luzerner Hammer because of a massive find of this type of weapon near the city of Luzern. It is a relative new name from the 19. century. Back in the days it was simply known as "hammer"...

Matt: "Now, medieval pole arms, before I start running you through..." Me: "please don't" Matt: "...the list" Me: "oh."

this is going to be the best hour of my life.

The flail itself is also agricultural in origin

Bohemian earspoon was a jokey name similar to how certain large daggers were called Texas toothpicks.

"Bohemian Ear Spoon" sounds like it's making exactly the same joke as calling a Bowie Knife an "Arkansas Toothpick"

Mat : before i start running you through..... And yes he is talking about big pointy sticks... Short spear : shorter than a man (12ft)

Where was this video when I was trying to figure out how to arm my character in AD&D in 1983?! :)

The Madman Matt did the impossible,polearms toponomastic!

"Kette" is indeed German for chain, relating to 53:40

Easton "Concise". Video length - an hour. Yep, checks out. Super interesting video. I knew of most of the weapons described, but their names and groupings in my head were REALLY off :) Thank you for clearing things!

If "kuss" appears in the early 15th century, it could be from the Czech "kúsa" (from "kosa", the Czech word for scythe; it was used in Hussite wars).

The Lucerne is best used whilst wearing a Leo Ring, to get that sweet buff to thrust counterattack damage.

If I'm not mistaken, the Ahlspiess is called awl pike in English.

Getting a handle on this terminology, thanks.

When talking about hammer poleaxe you didn’t mention (or I totally miss it) my favorite: the Bec de Corbin (and its “bigger” version the Bec de Fauchon). Similar to a lucern hammer but in my opinion a quite different and more beautiful pole weapon .

Holy water sprinkler is called an aspergill which does look similar to a mace. And also to a mould fungus under the microscope, therefore named aspergillus fungus.

This video has big Dark Age of Camelot energy. That MMO had tons of love for polearms, all sorts of odd ones like lochaber's and lucene's along with halberds, bills, pikes, pollaxes, bardiches, and volgues were in there.

Finally a good sponsor. You bring honor to your Daimyo, Matt.

"Bardiche" - thanks for the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha flashbacks 😀

I would watch a whole video on spears. I would watch several in fact.

I very much appreciate the fact that you decided to include even the names of these polearms in other languages: in fact, as an Italian, i didn't know some of the names in my native language and i knew them only in English, due to a more easy access to english sources about the argument (including RU-vid channels); so thank you very much Matt.

"I'm going to talk about every medieval pole arm ever in just under an hour." Wow. Way to poke the bear. I will give you this, you are not even a little bit fainthearted. (Matt disappears under an avalanche of "Well, actually..." and "You missed...")

Me: I really do like pole arms. I gotta keep studying and stay off you tube though. Schaolagladitoria: Hold my beer.

Hey Matt! French speaker from Quebec here! I wanted to add a little bit on the glaive word complication. In the early mid 20th century in France, when people in the mainstream were not so keen on researching historical accuracy in litterature, terms like "épée longue" ou "épée bâtarde" were not taken too seriously regarding sword shapes and "glaive" was more or less used for all sorts of sword shapes and sizes (I've even seen stuff like "glaive à deux mains" meaning two-handed glaive, when talking about a zweihander). This most likely comes from the fact that pretty much all the school history books refer to the Roman gladius, the Xiphos, Kopis and virtually all the Germanic and proto-germanic and Keltic swords as simply "glaives". Therefore, glaive has not only been used to describe a short or arming sword, but it has been used to describe most types of swords in Europe, really. Today not as much, as the more accurate terms have made their way to the mainstream, but you still can still see "glaive" used in modern mainstream books like the French traduction of the Witcher novels, where "glaive" is used to describe all types of swords and even some forms of sabers if I recall, perpetrating the confusion further even more...

How do you not love this channel? Just got back from hanging out with Tod, maybe thought I'd whip out a quick documentary length compendium on the finer points of roughly three hundred years worth of military staff weapons. You are doing what Ian does, and it's right. Your channel is becoming a library for edged weapons of every available flavor and time period. Even outside HEMA. But what's cool about that approach is that by saving these things for posterity, is that your channel, aptly named School of the Blade, is in the process of becoming a historic treatises by itself. RU-vid is the new printing press, and repository of the past for future generations. I didn't fight in WW2, but I can tell you all about most of it in detail. Why? Because of the books that were made available to me as a kid. Thirty years from now we might not be making anymore books, but the world may have access to Matt's channel, and thus these things are passed on. The only reason we have any martial art, is because someone thought it might be wise, in the interest of humanity, and his proclivity towards war, to write some of this stuff down. 'Other people may need to use this,' is a pretty noble motive. Literally be a school. You already are...

A little correction about the word "Spiedo", it's probably not derived from the same etymon as "spear" but it came from the latin word "spiga". Today "spiga" in italian means "ear of corn" but at the time it could also mean "spike", and "Spiedo" nowadays means "skewer".

The swedish swordspear is pretty interesting in itself… you should do a video on norwegian 16 - 17th century peasant axes… much like dane axes, but with a kink

Isn't the flail not also derived from an agricultural tool for thrashing grains?

101 types of dagger/knife on a stick. Cheers Matt.

as you have mentioned many interesting names, there's one you've missed: a Roßschinder, could be translated with horse-mauler. It's used for Italian bills in (of course) the HRE.

I have been wanting a video about all the different polearms for some years now. Somehow I knew that if someone from the community was to make this type of video, it was going to be you. Long, comprensive, categorized and with comments. Thank you!

9:16 So glad you mentioned my favourite name of polearm!

I just call them murder sticks. No need for complication.

Isn't the Holy Water Sprinkler named after a ceremonial tool that priests used to sprinkle holy water?

Perhaps I wasn't paying attention, which is very possible, but did you gloss over the guisarme naming conventions?

Extremely helpful video as always. I’ve enjoyed your content for a long time now. May I recommend having the terms appear on screen, however? Had trouble spelling a lot of these.

Bec De Corbin, which is just a Lucerne Hammer that has a spike opposite that is shaped specifically to resemble a Crow's Beak. Which is the French translation. It was prolific enough that it was standardized complete with drawings for a blacksmith to produce all portions of its weapons features. I believe that Fabrique Nationale still have surviving examples of the blueprints in their armament museum. Since they trace their origins back to being a Frankish armory, before Belgium existed as a separate country.

The winged speer is much older: there are many examples e.g: from around 700/750 (Frankish, in Württembergisches Landesmuseum Stuttgart) and also earlier surviving winged spear heads from Frankish Graves of the 7. and 8. century. The winged spear (Flügellanze) was a common typ of weapon used by the Frankish cavallery (and often depicted in period Frankish art)...

lmao 6:30 the abrupt cut as he starts rambling.

Hi, awesome work! I've got a little comment on agricultural tools becoming weapons. The long flails that was used by Husites were originally used for beating the wheat to separate the corn, if I'm correct. Cheap ready made peasant weapon to start your uprising :) Just spice it up with some spikes and there you go.

the wings of the wing spear was the cross guard of it.

"No! Not enough! More polearms!" - Gary Gygax

Wow! What an undertaking and in less than an hour!! Well done, sir, you have my utmost respect, as always!!

About the morning star: - the name holy water sprinkler comes from the fact that it looks like a giant version of the holy water sprinklers used in catholic church service. - Nowadays in Germany Morgenstern is mostly used for the chain and ball version of the flail and not for the club. About the glaive: - Kuse comes from the polnish word for scythe (kosa). One tip: - If you do not know the pronunciation of a foreign word. It seems that google translate may help you: simple select the correct language, enter the word and click on the listen button.

Wait, I need to make coffee for this video!

Great Video Matt, Pole-arms never get enough love in media! Just an honourable mention, but Jeddart staves/axes from the Scottish borders in the 15th to mid 17th centuries are fun. There are only one or two surviving examples, though they are mentioned in legislation and other records fairly often. Its like glaive in that its basically a staff with a sword on the end with a handguard and langets, but the blade seems to have been quite long and slender for most glaives. I've seen some speculation that they were maybe intended to be used on foot and on horseback like a sort of lance, but i don't know of any sources that describe them used that way and we know borderers used lighter lances on horseback too, so I'm a bit unconvinced.

I really enjoyed this long format.

Mr. Matt this is really great gift for tonight. One hour. Thank You.

Matt Easton doing god's work once again 👏👏👏

So basically, if something existed, someone, somewhere probably put it in a pole and added a topspike.

Lol that transition at 6:30. That was a whole tangent that got cut, wasn't it?

My eye has been injured for awhile and I have been listeninig and an occasionally looking up to see what I can with my good eye and I just wanted to say that I love your videos. They are so good and helpful right now. Thank you for them and please more

The morning Star. When you need a pole weapon but spent all your money on Wenches.

Matt "... it carried on right on in into the age of pike & shot, hinse the name, where you have..." Me "An obvious jump cut!" Lol

Thanks for a very informative video! I especially liked that you placed a lot of the weapons in an approximate historical time frame, although I'm sure it is difficult to find reliable sources for all the specialized or regional weapon variations out there.

I’ve been keeping this video in my backlog since it came out and definitely worth the wait. I sure wouldn’t mind more longform videos like this, Matt.

re:glaive as sword - growing up and reading Asterix comics in French, the roman gladius was always referred to as "un glaive", and so I was confused when I recently started watching channels like yours and hearing "glaive" refer to the polearm form.

The Bohemian Ear Spoon differs from the winged spear in that it has spikes pointing straight out rather than short blunt lugs. The spikes would be the ears. I think there's an example labeled as such in the Wallace Collection. It's while since I've been so I might have seen it somewhere else.

Wow, that was awesome. Glad you put this together.

I surprised he didn't include the many different types of man catchers or at least count them amongst the other polearms.

Wait...I have to dig out my AD&D 1e Unearthed Arcana to compare this with Gygax’s appendix on pole arms. 😀

As you started talking about flails, for the first time I thought about them in formation as opposed to in one on one fighting. I wonder if the articulation helped in hitting over the top of the line? I'm thinking that with a downward swing the people in front could easily block (or even just be struck) by the pole. With a non-articulated weapon that would be the end of it, guy in front gets bumped with shaft but doesn't care much because of his armor. However, with an articulated shaft suddenly the bump in front causes the end to come whipping around and potentially injure a guy in the second rank.

An hour long Schola video. This is going to be an absolute delight.

"Every medieval polearm categorized" I think the youtube algorithm figured out I'm an aspie

Error in translation. "Kitten morgenstern" was a long club that someone tied a cat onto. Fortunately this practice did not last terribly long. Hissing cat fury has no place on the battlefield. The weapon was evemntually shortened and more cat-heads added to make a cat o'nine tails, which is a bit of gallows humor, as it was nine cats fastened at the tails that was an implement of torture. Please note: I am joking. I do not advocate cruelty to animals.

This is honestly just the kind of video I want to watch after a long day of work. If you can, please do more polearm videos!

This kind of long format videos are so good. 👍🏻

I was waiting for this.

"shall I strike at it with my Partisan?" - Hamlet

Really appreciate the time and effort you put forth. Fascinating as always.

you cannot give me enough of this type of video...please do thrown, mounted, ancient & post renais. as well!

Any chance of doing something similar for Asian polearms in the future? Especially Chinese polearms, there's a lot of interesting ones that are completely absent from popular culture representations.

So is the “maul” another name for a mallet Matt? (Presumably from malleus)

A masterpiece. I've been waiting for someone to do a video exactly like this.

I would absolutely LOVE to see a whole series!

on Azza, maybe I'm wrong, but it look like a combination between the italian words: ASCIA (axe) and MAZZA (mace)

can we talk about reverse placed axe heads? looks like some Mordäxte were turnen into Anti Flesh Unit Weapons.

Greetings from Portugal. Very fine collection of swords and sabers you have ! Thanks for the lesson in polearms ! Keep up the great work.

This is so interesting, so glad I found this channel!

Surely if a pollaxe doesn't have an axe blade, it should really be called a war pick or a bec de corbin?

this is my shit.

Matt's best video ever? I wish I could watch this with D&D groups!

Being a military history student, I read story about the defense of an English (?) castle whose wall had been scaled. Two men armed with halberds defended the exits from the wall allowing other defenders to reposition themselves. Based on the flowery verbage I envisioned ninja-twirling halberds. It broke up a rather boring text on the stagnation of tactical thinking due to the ability to avoid a field fight by locking yourself in a castle.