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The two-handed falx was a polearm. It consisted of a 3-foot-long (0.91 m) wooden shaft with a long curved iron blade of nearly-equal length attached to the end. Archaeological evidence indicates that the one-handed falx was also used two-handed. [3] The blade was sharpened only on the inside and was reputed to be devastatingly effective.
A halberd (or Swiss voulge) is a two-handed polearm that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries but has continued in use as a ceremonial weapon to the present day. [30] First recorded as "hellembart" in 1279, the word halberd possibly comes from the German words Halm (staff) or Helm (helmet), and Barte (axe). The halberd ...
Ranseur, a polearm consisting of a spearhead affixed with a cross hilt at its base derived from the earlier spetum; Spontoon, a 17th-century weapon that consisted of a large blade with two side blades mounted on a long 2 m (6 ft 7 in) pole, considered a more elaborate pike; Voulge, a crude single-edged blade bound to a wooden shaft
The polearm on the right is a Lochaber axe; the other two are halberds. The Lochaber axe is first recorded in 1501, as an "old Scottish batale ax of Lochaber fasoun". [2] The weapon is very similar to the Jedburgh axe, although the crescent blade of the former is larger and heavier than that of the latter. [2]
Troops that used the weapon are called voulgiers. [4] It is a weapon noted to have been used by the Franc-Archers [3] and is also depicted in artwork of their creation. There is a popular erroneous definition of the word voulge in modern times, which refers to a pointy cleaver-like weapon blade attached to the shaft with two hoops like a bardiche.
This is a list of historical pre-modern weapons grouped according to their uses, with rough classes set aside for very similar weapons. Some weapons may fit more than one category (e.g. the spear may be used either as a polearm or as a projectile), and the earliest gunpowder weapons which fit within the period are also included.
17th-century streltsy with musket and bardiche. In pre-imperial Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, this weapon was used to rest handguns upon when firing.It was standard equipment for the streltsy (on foot, mounted, and dragoon units) and also for the infantry of the Commonwealth; a shorter version was invented by John III Sobieski, ruler of the Commonwealth.
A weapon called rhomphaia was also mentioned in Michael Psellos' Chronographia where he describes it as a "one-edged sword of heavy iron which they [the palace guards at Constantinople] carry suspended from the right shoulder". This was possibly a reference to the Varangian Guard and their two handed axe, probably a Dane axe. [6]