When looking for a weapon for all occasions, "Poleaxe," isn't always the best answer, but it's seldom a very wrong one, either.

@rasmusn.e.m1064

Жыл бұрын

just remember to put your armour on first ;)

Matt I would love for you talk more about 16 and 17th century armor and weapons. It's definitely overlooked.

Living near Worcester I'm fascinated by the English Civil War. I've heard of weapons called "fire lances" being used in some of the battles, with descriptions varying from shotguns on poles to glorified sparklers used to frighten horses, it'd be interesting to analyse how precisely these were used in warfare.

In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, carrying such weapons was popular every day as walking canes. This "EDC version" was supposed to be less threatening, but in practice the difference was small :)

I now have a copy of the 15th century poleax that Matt has and I love it...

@scholagladiatoria

Жыл бұрын

For anyone else interested, they come from here: www.arms-armor.com/

I really need to learn more about the English Civil War. We hardly get taught or hear anything about it in the States. Awesome AiC shirt too btw

@seanbeckett4019

Жыл бұрын

True. I remember learning almost nothing about it, here in the US. Unfortunate, since the English Civil War and the decades immediately thereafter, seemed to loom very large in the minds and thinking of the "Founding Fathers" of the USA, they would probably have recommended that time period as crucial for any study of history and political philosophy.

@PalleRasmussen

Жыл бұрын

Do you even get taught anything about anything outside of the US? I have to say that it is not the impression many of your countrymen give off.

@Assdafflabaff

Жыл бұрын

@@PalleRasmussen Basically just slavery and the holocaust. Nothing but guilt trips.

@matthewmillar3804

Жыл бұрын

Same in Canada. I know very little about it.

@NDOhioan

Жыл бұрын

@@PalleRasmussen I was taught the basics about it, a little bit about the Protectorate (mostly that they instituted a theocracy and banned Christmas, I don't recall anything about the purges in Ireland,) and that the Restoration and the Glorious Revolution were things that happened. Any further details, I learned on my own.

Larger towns often had dedicated armouries where weaponry was stored to defend the town in case of attack, and these were often used to arm local militias at the beginning of the ECW. These were often full of pretty dated weapons and equipment, thanks to the comparatively long period of domestic peace prior to the war. Militias early in the war may actually have been using some weapons that literally manufactured during the Wars of the Roses. Also, pikes were pretty difficult to use properly, as they required a large degree of unit discipline to ensure they didn't get tangled up in eachother. There are accounts of poorly-trained pikemen actively seeking out shorter weapons or cutting down pike shafts to make them easier to wield. Might have to get that book- it looks good.

@DrJuice1

Жыл бұрын

Is there anywhere I can read more about this? It's amazing to me that these centuries-old weapons were being stored. I'd like to learn more about that.

After your video about the spiked tomahawk made by Ethan Blinkhorn I went ahead and contacted him to have one made for myself. He’s almost done making it. Can’t wait. Anyway, thank you for brining this craftsman to my attention.

@ravensbeakforge1747

Жыл бұрын

currently grinding it just having a quick lunch break

@bombfog1

Жыл бұрын

@@ravensbeakforge1747 Cool to see you here!

@nilo70

Жыл бұрын

I’m 70 years old and living on social security so I cannot buy , but , I wanted to say I think it’s amazing😊 Cheers from California

Sporting a great band T with the Rooster, who was a combat soldier, and talking about battles 3 centuries earlier....what a combo. Thanks for an another excellent and very informative upload.

As the first, when I post, have a nice evening everybody.

Alice in Chains always hits my emotions like a pole-axe on a charge

The 17th century English seemed to have a knack for using old weapons when the circumstances required it. The use of poleaxes against bulletproof cuirassiers in three-quarter or full plate (which is still mind blowing), like you noted, is one example. But also in 1622, the Virginia Company requested a number of old weapons and armor from the Tower of London after a particularly vicious attack by Pamunkey Native Americans that left 300 Jamestown settlers dead. King James I agreed and sent over bills, bows, brigandines, jacks of plate, iron helmets, mail shirts, and calivers (a type of gun). Maybe not suitable for European warfare by that point, but these were all definitely useful against the natives in close quarters combat.

In the middle of the 16th century, Juan Quijada de Reayo wrote for men-at-arms to use the estoc & arming sword before turning to the hammer. He apparently considered these two weapons more effective, specifically instructing to aim for the gaps in the opponent's harness. I'm curious about the reason for this difference in preference.

@asa-punkatsouthvinland7145

Жыл бұрын

Interesting. My initial thinking is personal preference? Juan, for whatever reason, thought stabbing through gaps was better than bashing. Perhaps a good stab he found more likely to end a fight than hammer blow? If memory serves many masters over the centuries said the sword was the basis for all weapon combat. One notable exception is the anonymous author of the French treaty "La Jeu De Hache" who says the poleaxe is the basis for all weapon combat. If I recall that all correctly then it seems a case of a master, or perhapse a lineage/school, having an opinion counter to the norm.

5:21 Indeed. Similar battle axes composed of an axe and a hammer were used in Poland and known under the name "czekan" (pronounced "chekan"). It's actually kind of funny how we, in modern times, tend to put certain types of weapons into rigid time frames just assuming that once a certain year has passed "puff" they are gone. Yet in contemporary conflicts, we can sometimes observe century-old weapons still being used to good effect. In times when technological development constantly accelerates! I think military historians are partly to blame for this. Many of them are way too eager to call things obsolete and are throwing this term too lightly.

@SuperFunkmachine

Жыл бұрын

For a long time a weapon was just a weapon, how much can you do to change an axe or a spear? Even swords are changed by fashions an styles not developments.

@kamilszadkowski8864

Жыл бұрын

@@SuperFunkmachine Correct. The same thing could be said about firearms.

@SuperFunkmachine

Жыл бұрын

@@kamilszadkowski8864 There's a plateau of development with fire arms, a flintlock musket was the stranded from the late 1600's until the mid 1800's.

I am german, Brittas boyfriend, when Thirty Years War started, all polearms available had been used, also all kind of dated swords. There is a novel ,Simplicius Simplicissimus ' writen by Christof ( von?) Grimmelshausen shortly after the noted war, was a Bestseller then. Still intresting to read, the writer noted a robber with a big sword, and remembered Siegfried, while in 18th century Nibelungenlied was nearly forgotten.

Nice shirt. Into the flood again, same old trip it was back then. So I made a big mistake, try to see it once my way!

Battle axes were certainly common enough in Eastern Europe. For example Michael the Brave, a Wallachian prince who for a short time managed to unite the Romanian Principalities, is notorious for using a two headed, relatively short shafted battle axe on horseback. That was right at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries, about 40 years before the English Civil Wars.

Keith Dowen is awesome, was a great help to me last time I was there.

When i looked into primary sources of the thirty years war before and after the war it was quite interesting to find out that there were many supposedly "outdated" weapons around that were praised by veterans and authors of manuals als highly effective. At least in german manuals one of the most mentioned is the Morgenstern aka Morningstar. Mostly two handed and sometimes with a chain but most often without. Surprisinginly enough many polearms were still held in high regards and used even in in the late 17th century. But sadly they were not courtly weapons so we know less about them than other more courtly weapons. I also remember reports talking about using axes but sadly not clear if poleaxes since in german it was mostly axe for all kinds of weapons. And regarding the cuirassiers its interesting that many recommend wearing armours and commenting that it would have saved many more lives(i think earlier in time john smythe also talks about it) since armour also protected from fragments and other things. And piccolomini got shot six times but none of the bullets went through his armour. So makes a lot of sense to go back to axes and other stuff. Anyways interesting to see more less known weapons.

Love the shirt. Oh and the pole axe too.

I love the idea of Musketeers, and what were _essentially_ Knights or Men-at-Arms (Cuirassiers), existing at the same time. Throw in the early part of the Golden Age of Piracy and it is a very interesting period, indeed.

We hungarians had a horseman"s axe called Fokos, we used it till the Hungarian Revolution of 1848

Interesting, well researched and presented yet again.I would love it if you did a post just about the arms & armour of the English Civil War. Not enough attention is given to this period.

Top vid as usual!

Another awesome band shirt!

Die Konstruktionsgrundlagen der Axt by Reissinger Gottfried is really indepth about the History and Form of the War Axes. Page 50.

Great taste in music..

Fantastic and Brilliant is the way I would Describe you and your passion for edged weapons and the fact that you were able to make yourself a Living and amass your awesome collection of beautiful edged weapons swords in particular I have had an edged weapons addiction for most of my life as well but my few paltry swords and spears and axes are a little thing compared to your amazing collection. Just wanted to say I enjoy your you tube channel and your insightful and informative videos thank you so much cheers

wasn't it until the machine gun was in widespread use that the heavy armored cavalry men was finally made obsolete?

Use of "czekan" otherwise known as "obuszek" and "nadziak" in XVII Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth was very prominent. Czekans were used in civilian attire as well as in battle. Many flights during Sejmiki was with the use of that weapon. Assassination attempt on one of Polish kings was made with the use of one as well.

I have been listening to the Revolutions podcast over the past few months that starts with the English Civil War and goes all the way up through the Soviet revolutions. Mike Duncan does a good and really humorous description of pike and shot warfare and the lack of militia motivation early on. Still, I always wondered how they armed all those guys with swords without using old ones, and what happened to arming swords, war hammers, and longswords after they went out of fashion. They all still seem like perfectly good self defense or skirmishing back up weapons to me.

@killerkraut9179

Жыл бұрын

I think many sword where recycled or rehilted !

@soupordave

Жыл бұрын

Remember that metal can rust! Unless they were well cared for most of them probably just rusted away to uselessness. As Matt said any weapons that were in decent shape were pressed into service. Most blacksmiths would probably not have the facility to melt down a metal object. Raw ore was turned into pig iron by smelters close to the iron mines so it would be easier to transport. There were probably some dedicated recyclers, but your average blacksmith probably saw it as a waste of time when they could instead start with pig iron.

@killerkraut9179

Жыл бұрын

@@soupordave Iron dont have to be melted forge malleable is often enough ! after my knowledge

@BlackMasterRoshi

Жыл бұрын

I stopped listening to the Mike Duncan podcasts during the South American revolutions part. do they get better after that?

@mattmiraglia1835

Жыл бұрын

@@BlackMasterRoshi that's actually where I am now, lol.

Alice in Chains? Fair play Matt Easton, fair play......excellent group.

that tomahawk looks like the ones used in the American Colonies during the 18th century. I saw similar ones in use in the movie Last of the Mohicans...

Long title was very important this time. I first read it as "English Battle Axes" and thought we were talking about something else. 🤣

Love the shirt

Good video, the tee shirt deserves a " subscribe".

Nice tomahawk but even nicer shirt.

I wish I had had one of these in Vietnam. Very well done!

Many have an old battle axe at home 😮

I have read maybe about a Early 17 . century Longsword Type as well

Seriously Matt, stop holding out on that English rapier you gave us a glimpse of the other week. It looked sublime.

I find the stories of the Clubmen, local citizens en mass with clubs and whatever, running both sides out of town and take their fight elsewhere, quite interesting.

I love Matt Easton's enthusiasm for his topics. He's an excellent historian, providing the background (and on-the-ground) visions of historical conflicts and the men, not just a testosterone-fueled yammering about weapons, but how they were used, more importantly, why they were used, or not used. How technologies changed warfare and weapons, and how often it did not. I love learning, and Matt makes it entertaining and interesting. And, of course, he's got the best damned props!

my favorite weapons are battleaxes with spikes on the back and top

Yes, these spiked cavalry axes were very popular on the territory of Ukraine an are quite often excavated on places of battles.

Damn it... I knew it... That think is what I have been thinking of in my head... That when I get the chance someday... Get into reenactment or maybe Hema... That... Thing... Is what I wanted to have someone make for me.. almost exactly.. lol. You know... I'm just trying to be sneaky and think of something no one else has... But is actually effective. But I want it to be a bit shorter... For foot combat... I'd have that in my defensive arm.. my left.. my stronger hand. And a light sort of longish one hander. In my right hand... I just have a feeling it would work... Quite well in fact. But now... Someone else is gonna do it... Geeeee. Thanx MATT... Lol

It looks like that weird metal shaft hammer that Todd made

Would love to see a weapons and amour review of "The Devil's Whore" particularly if you wanted to talk a bit about each of the characters (although it's a bit sad that Gerrard Winstanley is absent). Was there any particular distinction between a horseman's pick and a pollax at the time?

Bills would still be produced en mass as they are effectively the same as hedging hooks. It wouldn't take much to convert the two hedging tools I have into useful weapons...

Nice T-Shirt! Love Alice In Chains!

were agricultural bill hooks those without spikes used to fight wars when the military 1s were not available?

Isn't this the mystery weapon you did some videos with Tod's Workshop on?

When are you going to write the great book of context Matt? It's time for a good book from you

Personally I would rather have a spear, tomahawk & bearded axe as additional weapons to swords & daggers. However when it comes to armor I would choose a mace, flail, warhammer or even a club

I've become quite fascinated by the use of heavy armor, like that of the cuirassiers, in the 16th and 17th centuries. Seeing those old illustrations from 1570 or 1610, showing squadrons of plate-armored "knights", some with lances, some with pistols, always seemed silly and anachronistic to me. Until I started to learn more about the subject, and move away from that old assumption of "the plate-armored knight was obsolete by around 1500".

@fiendishrabbit8259

Жыл бұрын

They were not very useful against infantry armed with muskets, but in cavalry-on-cavalry engagements they were quite effective as they were mostly pistol-proof. Which is also how they were used in their last heyday, with for example Haselrig's Lobsters (a cuirassier unit during the English civil war) giving parliamentarian cavalry a fighting chance against the cavaliers more numerous and better trained cavalry.

I think I saw a few images of war hammers dated to roughly the same period, but were there non-ceremonial maces still in use in the 17th century Western Europe?

Yup

If you punched the spike on that horseman's axe through a metal cuirasse, I bet it would get stuck. It looks like it might get stuck anyway. I always wondered about this "horseman's mace" / "footman's mace" was that a historic thing or was it just an AD&D thing? What is the difference between a horseman's mace and a footman's mace? Is the horseman's mace just longer too?

do you consider modern tactical tomahawks eg M48 . . . . . . a type of battle axe?

I love two-handed pole axes & hammers.

Matt, so they were using weapons that even in their time were a couple centuries old? Where were they stored all that time? Who had been holding on to them? Were they restored at that time?

Where would I find a poleaxe like the one in this video?

obligatory: Axes! oh, that's my other channel. Anyway, Axes!

Didn’t Todd make one of those for you? The horseman’s axe

I have a question regarding viking bearded axes. These are always depicted with the blade sweeping down. But wouldn't it make sense for the blade to be mounted in a blade up position? That way you would have a more multipurpose weapon, with an extended blade that could slash and a pointy end of that blade which could jab and pierce as well. Is there any documentation that they were ever used in this orientation?

@thornescapes7707

Жыл бұрын

I'm not an expert, but the normal explanation that I've heard for the beard on the bearded axe is for hooking. For example, you could hook a shield and pull it down. Typically the task of a forward pointing spike is straight out the top of the axe, rather than extending the blade up.

@texasbeast239

Жыл бұрын

Yes, some axe blades featured upward-pointing horns instead of or in addition to the more typical downward-pointing horn, or beard. Perhaps people found having the spike off-center from the haft and the wielder's hands to be awkward on contact? You would not be able to direct as much force through that offset spike as you would through a spike at the top of the haft. It might even strain a wielder's wrists or thumbs if the axe responded by twisting around in one's hands.

@-Anarion-

Жыл бұрын

Sooo... a Voulge?

@tommeakin1732

Жыл бұрын

**Obligatory cringe at another random and unnecessary use of the term "viking"**

How does a pole ax differ from a halbred?

"there were still heavily armored horsemen around in the 17th centaury" The winged Hussars kzread.info/dash/bejne/pJeNyruIYJXMaZs.html

Any particular battles where a quickly raised force using whatever hand-me-down weapons on hand is defeated by a properly equipped pike and musket force despite having the advantage of numbers and/or position?

@pompmag

Жыл бұрын

'Battle' of Hambledon Hill, Dorset 1645. Several thousand local Clubmen vs a detachment of dragoons under Oliver Cromwell. Not quite pike and musket, but definitely a small, veteran professional force completely dominating a much larger, poorly equipped load of farmers on terrain that was very much in the farmers favour (they dug in on the top of an Iron Age hillfort whose much eroded defences remain impressive even today).

Matt, what company makes the medieval pollaxe that you used in this video?

@scholagladiatoria

Жыл бұрын

www.arms-armor.com/

@rossT375

Жыл бұрын

@@scholagladiatoria Thank you.

Poll is a part of a horses head. The top bit between its ears.

Thank you!!!!!! Axes still do not get the credit they deserve.

I think the heavy armored Horsemen didnt use Lances in the 17.century ! Maybe i am wrong ?

Escanor's axe.

Funny to think that battle axes were still being used when Newton was already in the world and the invention of the steam engine was only a few decades away.

I always prefered "axes" over any other weapon specially pices that look elegant instead brutish

Hmmm... how do they work against modern armor?

👍🏻

I'm not sure that version of the Horsemans axe is all that obscure. One Virtual Reality game, Blade & Sorcery has popularized a considerable number of weapons that would not be heard of otherwise. Like the epsilon axe.

Hey it's a video about Norm Macdonald's wife!

You keep saying the pike was preferred, and Battle of Flodden keeps popping up in my head :/ Not always ideal

@scholagladiatoria

Жыл бұрын

Flodden was a lot earlier though. Firearms and artillery changed a lot in that time.

This leads me back to a thought exercise I often ponder. If warrior X we're in time peroid Y then what weapons from X's time would be effective in time peroid Y. For example if a Viking from the mid 900s were put into the 1550s & faced a knight in full harness then what weapons available to the Viking would be best? My answer has always been axes; especially a big Dane Axe. To be fair a big Dane Axe is honestly, in many ways, just a short poleaxe.

Probably takung the wrong lesson from this video, but I would never have had you pegged as an Alice in Chains fan...

🗿👍🏿

English Civil War which included England, Scotland and Ireland. War of the 3 Crowns seems more accurate.

i also like Alice in Chains

Late game AoE 2

here they come to snuff the rooster

Gunners

Fleetingly. Ha

In Soviet historiography, the end of the Middle Ages was considered the English Civil War. Stalin insisted on this personally. Since this is one of the first wars of the new capitalist world, not the feudal one. As far as I understand, the parliament's troops have seriously succeeded in creating a mass army, mass methods of training troops, mass production of weapons, like no one else in the whole world at that time. For the first time, print media and methods of mass propaganda were used. This war was very advanced for its time.I hope to see more videos about the English Civil War.

ha ha ha

I think its allways strange when you se pictures of military or discriptions of uniforms and equipment. that they almost allways have the right tings. I spent about 25 years in military service. I don´t think i had a time where I had all things that a picture of a soldier at that time should have. It was allways womething that was in the pipe. ok I have never had a weapon that my grandfather would have recoginced from his mlitary service. on the other hand my father have been issued a rifle. that his grandfather would have recogniced from his conscript service.

as an American I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of medieval armor coexisting with guns. In the American Revolution no one (at least on the american side) wore any armor at all.

The Polish Hussars were around all the way up to 1776. Although their role in the 18th century was greatly diminished by advances in firearms. But they had remained extremely relevant as late as the siege of Vienna in 1683, where they dealt the final decisive blow that ended the battle. It's both a shame and a relief that Hollywood won't do a movie about the Siege of Vienna. It has all the action and drama you could possibly want without having to write in any fictional non-sense, so it would be fantastic movie fodder on that basis. Plus the costumes and settings and weapons and armor would all be absolutely fantastic. But then Hollywood script writers can't leave history well enough alone and always have to add dumb fictional non-sense to the story regardless, so it's just as well they don't ruin it. Plus, of course, in Current Year it would be taboo to do a movie showing Muslims losing to white people, and current Hollywood would probably do a lot of dumb race swapping and sex swapping and other ideological madness if they were to attempt a movie of it, so it's just as well they leave it alone. And yes, I am aware a Polish movie director made a movie of the battle, but he also had his own ideological tie-ins motivating him, literally putting September 11th in the title of the movie. It may have a good deal more accuracy than you could hope from present day Hollywood, but that isn't saying much...

I think the primary reason why people carried them is because the pike is such a boring weapon where as poleaxes are objectively cooler. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it!

A 7 minute video?? Where is Matt Eastern and what have you done with him? This is obviously an imposter as a 'concise ' video usually runs to 20 minutes......

No context at all - terrible!