Spotlight: The Medieval Poleaxe

Form and Construction

Use of the Medieval Poleaxe

Poleaxes Found in Art

Historical Examples

A Sampling of Available Reproductions

Conclusion

An article by Alexi Goranov "Poleaxe" is the medieval name used by the English for the long-handled footman's warhammer, regardless of whether it actually had an axe head or not. These same weapons could be called, orin French (depending on the shape of the back spike,) orin German, orin Italian.is a more modern (19th century) name that may include many of the same weapons. The name derives from the Swiss town of Lucerne where a particular poleaxe with a long-pronged hammer head was very popular.Warhammers are ancient weapons whose origins can be traced back to the Stone Age, when the weapon was a carefully shaped stone attached to a wooden haft.Warhammers are generally a percussive type of weapon designed for delivering crushing blows, although some of them were capable of cutting as described below. This emphasis on crushing made them rather popular tools for combating well-armoured, as well as unarmoured, opponents. During the medieval period three basic types of warhammers were in use: 1) the throwing hammer, a derivative of the short throwing hatchet; 2) the short hammer, a single-handed weapon often used by mounted warriors from the 13th to the 16th century and sometimes called "horseman's hammer"; and 3) the long-handled footman's hammer (poleaxe) which was a longer version of the short hammer and was in use from the 14th to the 16th century. This last weapon required the use of both hands as its length was