Weapons

A bewildering selection of arms were available to the fifteenth century fighter, quite a few of which had evolved over the last few centuries in order to keep pace with the developments in armour.

Below is a small selection of the more popular types during the Wars of the Roses.

The sword although available to most of the wealthier population it was really a second choice weapon, much like a hand gun of a soldier today.

A sword could cut through poorer armour or unprotected areas on common solder on the battlefield, but cutting weapons were mostly useless against plate armour. Many of the participants in a medieval battle would not have the expensive full armour protection of a knight. This said, they were still quite common and may be carried by all as a side arm. Swords vary in size, weight and price.

Some choose to carry a falchion, this type of sword broadens towards the tip and is quite heavy and was used as a hacking weapon, rather like a butchers cleaver!

As the fully armoured knight no longer needed a shield, this freed up both hands to wield a two handed weapon which could inflict heaver, more powerful blows. He would have the option of a longer sword that employed both hands to use for more powerful cuts or longer reach on thrusts. These could be a plain styled "two handed" sword or the wavy bladed "flambard" so named as the blade looked similar to a flame!

However the “knightly choice” became the poll axe, a fearsome and versatile weapon which got its name from "poll", a common word for the head. This weapon was the “Swiss army knife” of its day as it had not only an axe blade for chopping at lesser armoured opponents, but also a hammer on the back of the blade, so when turned in the hand and swung against armoured opponents, it would dent and smash up or buckle armour. But a well-placed blow could still break a limb or injure the man inside the armour with just the sheer concussive force of their blow. Even if non-wounding, blows on complex joints could damage the articulation of the armour, hindering the movement and thus the combat ability of the opponent.

Next the poll axe had a spear like spike on the tip these could be as long as 12 inches and almost needle sharp so that the gaps in armour could be exploited. Finally the bottom of the shaft usually carried a second blade or weight so it could be used as a spear or club when reversed, such as while it was swung back for a blow to the head, So the weapon as a whole has the option of being wielded like a quaterstaff in combat, with both ends in use or could easily be used to defend as the shaft (Que) of the weapon was often protected by metal strips called lagnets, these prevented the wood from being damaged, making blocking an attack from a weapon possible, so in the hands of a skilled user it could be weapon and shield in one.

A galve consists of a sword like blade but on a 4-5 foot long shaft, it was similar in use to a poll axe but not as versatile. That said it could still be wielded with both ends in combat or could easily be used to defend as the wooden shaft again like the poll axe, was often covered by the metal lagnets, preventing the wood from being damaged during a blocking action, so again, in the hands of a skilled user it could be used for attack and defence.

A Bardische is another form of axe style weaponry with a 4-5 foot long haft and a 2-3 foot long crescent shaped blade with the blade being mounted to the shaft roughly at it’s mid point.Again being a poll weapon they were popular amongst the nobility often having a decorative shape cut along the rear of the blade (sawback)