Battle axe
Encyclopedia
A battle axe is an axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were specialized versions of utility axes. Many were suitable for use in one hand, while others were larger and were deployed two-handed.
Axes designed for warfare ranged in weight from just over 0.5 kg to 3 kg (1 to 6 pounds), and in length from just over 30 cm to upwards of 1.5 m (1 to 5 feet), as in the case of the Danish axe
or the sparth axe. Cleaving weapons longer than 1.5 m would arguably fall into the category of polearms.
for an example). Axes were always cheaper than sword
s and considerably more available.
Battle axes generally weigh far less than modern splitting axes, especially mauls, because they were designed to cut legs and arms rather than wood; consequently, narrowish slicing blades are the norm. This facilitates deep, grievous wounds. Moreover, a lighter weapon is much quicker to bring to bear in combat and manipulate for repeated strikes against an adversary.
The crescent-shaped heads of European battle axes of the Roman
and post-Roman periods were usually made of wrought iron
with a carbon steel edge or, as time elapsed across the many centuries of the medieval era, pure steel. The hardwood handles of military axes came to be reinforced with metal bands called langets, so that an enemy warrior could not cut the shaft. Some later specimens had all-metal handles.
Battle axes are particularly associated in Western popular imagination with the Vikings. Certainly, Scandinavian foot soldiers and maritime marauders employed them as a stock weapon during their heyday, which extended from the beginning of the eighth century to the end of the 11th century. They produced several varieties, including specialized throwing axes (see francisca
) and "bearded" axes or "skegox" (so named for their trailing lower blade edge which increased cleaving power and could be used to catch the edge of an opponent's shield and pull it down, leaving the shield-bearer vulnerable to a follow-up blow). Viking axes were wielded with one hand or two, depending on the length of the plain wooden haft. (See entry for Viking Age arms and armor.)
period for hundreds of thousands of years. The first hafted stone axes appear to have been produced about 6000 BCE during the Mesolithic
period. Technological development continued in the Neolithic
period (see, for example, the entry for the Battle-axe people of Scandinavia, who treated their axes as high-status cultural objects). Narrow axe heads made of cast metals were subsequently manufactured by artisans in the Middle East
and then Europe
during the Copper Age
and the Bronze Age
. The earliest specimens were socket-less.
More specifically, bronze battle-axe heads are attested in the archeological record from ancient China and the New Kingdom
of ancient Egypt
. Some of them were suited for practical use as infantry weapons while others were clearly intended to be brandished as symbols of status and authority, judging by the quality of their decoration.
In the eastern Mediterranean Basin during the Iron Age
, the double-bladed labrys
axe was prevalent, and a hafted, single-bitted axe made of bronze or later iron was sometimes used as a weapon of war by the heavy infantry of ancient Greece
, especially when confronted with thickly-armored opponents. The sagaris
—described as either single bitted or double bitted—became associated by the Greeks with the mythological Amazons
, though these were generally ceremonial axes rather than practical implements. The Roman Army
equipped itself with axes. Legionaries used them as laboring tools rather than as weapons of war. However, the so-called Barbarian
tribes that the Romans encountered north of the Alps
did include iron war axes in their armories, alongside swords and spears.
The Middle Ages
Battle axes were common in Europe in the Migration Period
and the subsequent Viking Age
, and they famously figure on the 11th-century Bayeaux Tapestry, which depicts Norman
mounted knights pitted against Anglo-Saxon
infantrymen. They continued to be employed throughout the rest of the Middle Ages; although they dipped in popularity during the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries, they did not disappear: Robert I of Scotland
used one to defeat Sir Henry de Bohun
in single combat at the start of the Battle of Bannockburn
in 1314, and they enjoyed a sustained revival in use among heavily armored equestrian combatants in the 15th century.
Most medieval European battle axes had a socketed head (meaning that the broader, butt-end of the blade contained an opening into which a wooden haft was inserted), and some included langets—long strips of metal affixed to the faces of the haft to prevent it from being damaged during combat. Occasionally the cheeks of the axehead bore engraved, etched, punched or inlayed decorative patterns. Late-period battle axes tended to be of all-metal construction.
Such medieval polearms as the halberd
and the poleaxe were variants of the basic battle-axe form.
As we have seen, battle axes themselves had gone somewhat out of favor with Europe's mounted knights between about 1100 and 1400 (although King Richard the Lionheart had famously wielded one while fighting at Jaffa
in 1192, as did Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn
in 1314). Expensive swords with long, straight, steel blades intended for slashing became, overwhelmingly, the preferred weapon of upper-class combatants during this period. Such swords were indeed fearsome objects when wielded expertly against foot soldiers clad in boiled-leather body armor or even chain-mail covered knights on horseback.
However, when steel plate-armor covering almost all of a knight's body—and incorporating features specifically designed to defeat swords—was developed in the 15th century, a fresh generation of hafted weapons with greater impact-power had to be devised and adopted as a counter-measure by European armies. (Despite the significance of this development, swords would never lose their prestige as the premier implement of war and symbol of knighthood, changing over the duration of the later Middle Ages from a broad-bladed cutting instrument with a semi-rounded tip into a narrow thrusting instrument with a sharply pointed tip, capable of penetrating any "chinks in the armor" of a fully encased opponent: see, for example, the entry for estoc
).
The newly invented flanged mace, for example, was no crude bludgeon like its predecessors. The vertical flanges projecting at regular intervals from its head could fracture plate armor and smash into underlying body tissue—yet it was a much cheaper weapon to make than a sword, whose blade was inclined in any case to glance harmlessly off the smooth, curved plates of a well-designed suit of armor if used in a chopping manner.
Battle axes took the flanged mace's innovatory design concept one step further. By concentrating the weight of a single, sharpened, crescent-shaped wedge on a small target area of metal plate, the battle axe was capable of slicing through an opponent's armor and cutting deeply into the exposed flesh beneath. A sharp, sometimes curved pick was often fitted to the rear of the battle axe's blade to provide the user with a secondary weapon of penetration. A stabbing spike could be added, too, as a finial.
Similarly, the war hammer
evolved in late-medieval times with the aim of punching its spiked head through helmets or breastplates. It eventually became common for these various kinds of impact weapons to be made entirely from metal, thus doing away with reinforced wooden hafts. But the increased use of gunpowder-driven projectiles by armies in the field during the 1600s—and the associated demise of elaborate plate armor—rendered the battle axe and its cousins redundant as weapons of war, and they passed into history.
A useful visual guide to high-medieval battle axes, contemporary with their employment, are the scenes of warfare depicted in the Maciejowski Bible (Morgan Bible) of circa 1250.http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/exhibOnlineThumbs.asp?id=OnlineKings
Battle axes also came to figure as heraldic devices on the coats of arms of several English and mainland European families.
. However, as late as the 1640s, Prince Rupert—a Royalist
general and cavalry commander during the English Civil War
—is pictured carrying a battle axe, and this was not merely a decorative symbol of authority: the "short pole-axe" was adopted by Royalist cavalry officers to penetrate Roundhead troopers' helmets and cuirasses in close-quarters fighting, and it was also used by their opponents: Sir Bevil Grenville
was slain by a Parliamentarian pole-axe at the Battle of Lansdowne
, and Sir Richard Bulstrode
was wounded by one at the Battle of Edgehill
.
During Napoleonic times
, and later on in the 19th century, farrier
s in army service carried long and heavy axes as part of their kit. Although these could be used in an emergency for fighting, their primary use was logistical: the branded hooves of deceased military horses needed to be removed in order to prove that they had indeed died (and had not been stolen). Napoleon's Pioneer Corps also carried axes that were used for clearing vegetation—a practice employed by similar units in other armies.
). It bears one or two crescent-shaped blades. The long form of the tabar was about seven feet long, while a shorter version was about three feet long. What made the Persian axe unique is the very thin handle, which is very light and always metallic.
The tabarzin is sometimes carried as a symbolic weapon by wandering dervish
es (Muslim ascetic worshippers).
Persian weaponry is at times identical to East Indian weaponry because these two cultures have intermingled many times over the century.
"Tabar" means axe, and "zin" originally meant weapon.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the tabar battle axe was a standard weapon of the mounted warriors of India, Afghanistan and what is now Pakistan. Made entirely of metal, it had a strongly curved blade and a hammer-headed poll and was often decorated with scroll work. Sometimes a small knife was inserted in the tabar's hollow haft. The Iranians wielded a similar weapon.
was a type of battle axe that was used in ancient Sri Lanka. A keteriya consisted of a single edge and a short handle made of wood. This would allow the user to wield it with a single hand.
.
Axes designed for warfare ranged in weight from just over 0.5 kg to 3 kg (1 to 6 pounds), and in length from just over 30 cm to upwards of 1.5 m (1 to 5 feet), as in the case of the Danish axe
Danish axe
The Dane Axe is an early type of battle axe, primarily used during the transition between the European Viking Age and early Middle Ages. Other names for the weapon include English Long Axe, Danish Axe, and Hafted Axe.-Construction:...
or the sparth axe. Cleaving weapons longer than 1.5 m would arguably fall into the category of polearms.
Overview
Through the course of human history, commonplace objects have been pressed into service as weapons. Axes, by virtue of their ubiquity, are no exception. Besides axes designed for combat, there were many axes that doubled as tools and weapons. Axes could be modified into deadly projectiles as well (see the franciscaFrancisca
The francisca is a throwing axe used as a weapon during the Early Middle Ages by the Franks, among whom it was a characteristic national weapon at the time of the Merovingians from about 500 to 750 AD and is known to have been used during the reign of Charlemagne .Although generally associated...
for an example). Axes were always cheaper than sword
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
s and considerably more available.
Battle axes generally weigh far less than modern splitting axes, especially mauls, because they were designed to cut legs and arms rather than wood; consequently, narrowish slicing blades are the norm. This facilitates deep, grievous wounds. Moreover, a lighter weapon is much quicker to bring to bear in combat and manipulate for repeated strikes against an adversary.
The crescent-shaped heads of European battle axes of the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
and post-Roman periods were usually made of wrought iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
with a carbon steel edge or, as time elapsed across the many centuries of the medieval era, pure steel. The hardwood handles of military axes came to be reinforced with metal bands called langets, so that an enemy warrior could not cut the shaft. Some later specimens had all-metal handles.
Battle axes are particularly associated in Western popular imagination with the Vikings. Certainly, Scandinavian foot soldiers and maritime marauders employed them as a stock weapon during their heyday, which extended from the beginning of the eighth century to the end of the 11th century. They produced several varieties, including specialized throwing axes (see francisca
Francisca
The francisca is a throwing axe used as a weapon during the Early Middle Ages by the Franks, among whom it was a characteristic national weapon at the time of the Merovingians from about 500 to 750 AD and is known to have been used during the reign of Charlemagne .Although generally associated...
) and "bearded" axes or "skegox" (so named for their trailing lower blade edge which increased cleaving power and could be used to catch the edge of an opponent's shield and pull it down, leaving the shield-bearer vulnerable to a follow-up blow). Viking axes were wielded with one hand or two, depending on the length of the plain wooden haft. (See entry for Viking Age arms and armor.)
Prehistory & the Ancient Mediterranean
Stone hand axes were in use in the PaleolithicPaleolithic
The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...
period for hundreds of thousands of years. The first hafted stone axes appear to have been produced about 6000 BCE during the Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
period. Technological development continued in the Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
period (see, for example, the entry for the Battle-axe people of Scandinavia, who treated their axes as high-status cultural objects). Narrow axe heads made of cast metals were subsequently manufactured by artisans in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and then Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
during the Copper Age
Copper Age
The Chalcolithic |stone]]") period or Copper Age, also known as the Eneolithic/Æneolithic , is a phase of the Bronze Age in which the addition of tin to copper to form bronze during smelting remained yet unknown by the metallurgists of the times...
and the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
. The earliest specimens were socket-less.
More specifically, bronze battle-axe heads are attested in the archeological record from ancient China and the New Kingdom
New Kingdom
The New Kingdom of Egypt, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt....
of ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
. Some of them were suited for practical use as infantry weapons while others were clearly intended to be brandished as symbols of status and authority, judging by the quality of their decoration.
In the eastern Mediterranean Basin during the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
, the double-bladed labrys
Labrys
Labrys is the term for a symmetrical doubleheaded axe originally from Crete in Greece, one of the oldest symbols of Greek civilization; to the Romans, it was known as a bipennis....
axe was prevalent, and a hafted, single-bitted axe made of bronze or later iron was sometimes used as a weapon of war by the heavy infantry of ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, especially when confronted with thickly-armored opponents. The sagaris
Sagaris
Sagaris is the ancient Greek name for a shafted weapon used by the horse-riding ancient North-Iranian Saka and Scythian peoples of the great Eurasian steppe, also by the Western and Central Asian peoples: the Medes, Persians, Parthayans, Indo-Saka, Kushans, Tocharians...
—described as either single bitted or double bitted—became associated by the Greeks with the mythological Amazons
Amazons
The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
, though these were generally ceremonial axes rather than practical implements. The Roman Army
Roman army
The Roman army is the generic term for the terrestrial armed forces deployed by the kingdom of Rome , the Roman Republic , the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine empire...
equipped itself with axes. Legionaries used them as laboring tools rather than as weapons of war. However, the so-called Barbarian
Barbarian
Barbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...
tribes that the Romans encountered north of the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
did include iron war axes in their armories, alongside swords and spears.
The Middle AgesMiddle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
Battle axes were common in Europe in the Migration PeriodMigration Period
The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions , was a period of intensified human migration in Europe that occurred from c. 400 to 800 CE. This period marked the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages...
and the subsequent Viking Age
Viking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
, and they famously figure on the 11th-century Bayeaux Tapestry, which depicts Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
mounted knights pitted against Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
infantrymen. They continued to be employed throughout the rest of the Middle Ages; although they dipped in popularity during the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries, they did not disappear: Robert I of Scotland
Robert I of Scotland
Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...
used one to defeat Sir Henry de Bohun
Henry de Bohun
Sir Henry de Bohun was an English knight, the nephew of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford. He was killed on the first day of the Battle of Bannockburn by Robert the Bruce....
in single combat at the start of the Battle of Bannockburn
Battle of Bannockburn
The Battle of Bannockburn was a significant Scottish victory in the Wars of Scottish Independence...
in 1314, and they enjoyed a sustained revival in use among heavily armored equestrian combatants in the 15th century.
Most medieval European battle axes had a socketed head (meaning that the broader, butt-end of the blade contained an opening into which a wooden haft was inserted), and some included langets—long strips of metal affixed to the faces of the haft to prevent it from being damaged during combat. Occasionally the cheeks of the axehead bore engraved, etched, punched or inlayed decorative patterns. Late-period battle axes tended to be of all-metal construction.
Such medieval polearms as the halberd
Halberd
A halberd is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. Possibly the word halberd comes from the German words Halm , and Barte - in modern-day German, the weapon is called Hellebarde. The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on...
and the poleaxe were variants of the basic battle-axe form.
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
in 1192, as did Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn
Bannockburn
Bannockburn is a village immediately south of the city of Stirling in Scotland. It is named after the Bannock Burn, a burn running through the village before flowing into the River Forth.-History:...
in 1314). Expensive swords with long, straight, steel blades intended for slashing became, overwhelmingly, the preferred weapon of upper-class combatants during this period. Such swords were indeed fearsome objects when wielded expertly against foot soldiers clad in boiled-leather body armor or even chain-mail covered knights on horseback.
However, when steel plate-armor covering almost all of a knight's body—and incorporating features specifically designed to defeat swords—was developed in the 15th century, a fresh generation of hafted weapons with greater impact-power had to be devised and adopted as a counter-measure by European armies. (Despite the significance of this development, swords would never lose their prestige as the premier implement of war and symbol of knighthood, changing over the duration of the later Middle Ages from a broad-bladed cutting instrument with a semi-rounded tip into a narrow thrusting instrument with a sharply pointed tip, capable of penetrating any "chinks in the armor" of a fully encased opponent: see, for example, the entry for estoc
Estoc
The French estoc or English "tuck" was a variation of the longsword focused intensely on fighting against mail or plate armour. It was long, straight and stiff, with a diamond or triangular cross-section. An estoc had no cutting edge, just a point. Examples from Poland are more than long, with a...
).
The newly invented flanged mace, for example, was no crude bludgeon like its predecessors. The vertical flanges projecting at regular intervals from its head could fracture plate armor and smash into underlying body tissue—yet it was a much cheaper weapon to make than a sword, whose blade was inclined in any case to glance harmlessly off the smooth, curved plates of a well-designed suit of armor if used in a chopping manner.
Battle axes took the flanged mace's innovatory design concept one step further. By concentrating the weight of a single, sharpened, crescent-shaped wedge on a small target area of metal plate, the battle axe was capable of slicing through an opponent's armor and cutting deeply into the exposed flesh beneath. A sharp, sometimes curved pick was often fitted to the rear of the battle axe's blade to provide the user with a secondary weapon of penetration. A stabbing spike could be added, too, as a finial.
Similarly, the war hammer
War hammer
A war hammer is a late medieval weapon of war intended for close combat action, the design of which resembles the hammer.The war hammer consists of a handle and a head...
evolved in late-medieval times with the aim of punching its spiked head through helmets or breastplates. It eventually became common for these various kinds of impact weapons to be made entirely from metal, thus doing away with reinforced wooden hafts. But the increased use of gunpowder-driven projectiles by armies in the field during the 1600s—and the associated demise of elaborate plate armor—rendered the battle axe and its cousins redundant as weapons of war, and they passed into history.
A useful visual guide to high-medieval battle axes, contemporary with their employment, are the scenes of warfare depicted in the Maciejowski Bible (Morgan Bible) of circa 1250.http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/exhibOnlineThumbs.asp?id=OnlineKings
Battle axes also came to figure as heraldic devices on the coats of arms of several English and mainland European families.
Post-medieval axes
Battle axes were eventually phased out at the end of the 16th century as military tactics began to revolve increasingly around the use of gunpowderGunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
. However, as late as the 1640s, Prince Rupert—a Royalist
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of government, but not necessarily a particular monarch...
general and cavalry commander during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
—is pictured carrying a battle axe, and this was not merely a decorative symbol of authority: the "short pole-axe" was adopted by Royalist cavalry officers to penetrate Roundhead troopers' helmets and cuirasses in close-quarters fighting, and it was also used by their opponents: Sir Bevil Grenville
Bevil Grenville
Sir Bevil Grenville was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England between 1621 and 1642. He was a Royalist soldier in the English Civil War and was killed in action at the Battle of Lansdowne.-Backgound:...
was slain by a Parliamentarian pole-axe at the Battle of Lansdowne
Battle of Lansdowne
The English Civil War battle of Lansdowne was fought on 5 July 1643, near Bath, southwest England. Although the Royalists under Lord Hopton forced the Parliamentarians under Sir William Waller to retreat from their hilltop position, they suffered so many casualties themselves and were left so...
, and Sir Richard Bulstrode
Richard Bulstrode
Sir Richard Bulstrode was an English author, diplomat and soldier, a son of Edward Bulstrode .-Life and family:...
was wounded by one at the Battle of Edgehill
Battle of Edgehill
The Battle of Edgehill was the first pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642....
.
During Napoleonic times
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, and later on in the 19th century, farrier
Farrier
A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves...
s in army service carried long and heavy axes as part of their kit. Although these could be used in an emergency for fighting, their primary use was logistical: the branded hooves of deceased military horses needed to be removed in order to prove that they had indeed died (and had not been stolen). Napoleon's Pioneer Corps also carried axes that were used for clearing vegetation—a practice employed by similar units in other armies.
Persia
The Tabarzin (sometimes translated "saddle-hatchet") is the traditional battle axe of Persia (IranIran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
). It bears one or two crescent-shaped blades. The long form of the tabar was about seven feet long, while a shorter version was about three feet long. What made the Persian axe unique is the very thin handle, which is very light and always metallic.
The tabarzin is sometimes carried as a symbolic weapon by wandering dervish
Dervish
A Dervish or Darvesh is someone treading a Sufi Muslim ascetic path or "Tariqah", known for their extreme poverty and austerity, similar to mendicant friars in Christianity or Hindu/Buddhist/Jain sadhus.-Etymology:The Persian word darvīsh is of ancient origin and descends from a Proto-Iranian...
es (Muslim ascetic worshippers).
Persian weaponry is at times identical to East Indian weaponry because these two cultures have intermingled many times over the century.
"Tabar" means axe, and "zin" originally meant weapon.
India
There are examples of the employment of the battle axe in ancient India. The Farasa or Parashu was the weapon of choice of Lord Parashu Ram. It is still borne by some of the heretic sects of Indian Sadhus. A typical Farasa could have single edge or double edge, with a hole for fixing a shaft. The cutting edge of Indian Farasa is invariably broad and the length of the haft could be about three to four feet. It is invariably made of wood/bamboo. In fact, examples of Farasa can still be seen displayed in Indian households—particularly in the villages.During the 17th and 18th centuries, the tabar battle axe was a standard weapon of the mounted warriors of India, Afghanistan and what is now Pakistan. Made entirely of metal, it had a strongly curved blade and a hammer-headed poll and was often decorated with scroll work. Sometimes a small knife was inserted in the tabar's hollow haft. The Iranians wielded a similar weapon.
Sri Lanka
The KeteriyaKeteriya
The Keteriya is a form of battle axe that was used in ancient Sri Lanka. A keteriya would consist of a single edge and a short handle made of wood, traditionally resembling a hatchet with a straight shaft. This would allow the user to wield it with a single hand. Commonly used as a weapon and a...
was a type of battle axe that was used in ancient Sri Lanka. A keteriya consisted of a single edge and a short handle made of wood. This would allow the user to wield it with a single hand.
Vietnam
Battle axe is one of the most common type of weapons found in Vietnamese ancient cultures, particularly Dong Son cultureDong Son culture
The Đông Sơn culture was a prehistoric Bronze Age age in Vietnam centered at the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam. At this time the first Vietnamese kingdoms of Văn Lang and Âu Lạc appeared...
.
See also
- BardicheBardicheA bardiche or berdiche is a type of glaive polearm known in the 16th and 17th centuries in Eastern Europe and Russia. Ultimately a descendant of the medieval sparth , the bardiche proper appears after 1500, but there are numerous medieval manuscripts that depict very similar weapons beginning ca....
- Danish axeDanish axeThe Dane Axe is an early type of battle axe, primarily used during the transition between the European Viking Age and early Middle Ages. Other names for the weapon include English Long Axe, Danish Axe, and Hafted Axe.-Construction:...
- FascesFascesFasces are a bundle of wooden sticks with an axe blade emerging from the center, which is an image that traditionally symbolizes summary power and jurisdiction, and/or "strength through unity"...
- FranciscaFranciscaThe francisca is a throwing axe used as a weapon during the Early Middle Ages by the Franks, among whom it was a characteristic national weapon at the time of the Merovingians from about 500 to 750 AD and is known to have been used during the reign of Charlemagne .Although generally associated...
- HalberdHalberdA halberd is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. Possibly the word halberd comes from the German words Halm , and Barte - in modern-day German, the weapon is called Hellebarde. The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on...
- KeteriyaKeteriyaThe Keteriya is a form of battle axe that was used in ancient Sri Lanka. A keteriya would consist of a single edge and a short handle made of wood, traditionally resembling a hatchet with a straight shaft. This would allow the user to wield it with a single hand. Commonly used as a weapon and a...
- Kulhada
- LabrysLabrysLabrys is the term for a symmetrical doubleheaded axe originally from Crete in Greece, one of the oldest symbols of Greek civilization; to the Romans, it was known as a bipennis....
- Farasa/Parashu
- ParashuramaParashuramaParashurama , is the sixth avatar of Vishnu and belongs to the treta yuga, and is the son of a Brahmin father Jamadagni and mother Renuka. He is considered one of the seven immortal human. He received an axe after undertaking a terrible penance to please Shiva, from whom he learned the methods of...
- SagarisSagarisSagaris is the ancient Greek name for a shafted weapon used by the horse-riding ancient North-Iranian Saka and Scythian peoples of the great Eurasian steppe, also by the Western and Central Asian peoples: the Medes, Persians, Parthayans, Indo-Saka, Kushans, Tocharians...
- Sovnya
- Tabar Zin
- TomahawkTomahawk (axe)A tomahawk is a type of axe native to North America, traditionally resembling a hatchet with a straight shaft. The name came into the English language in the 17th century as a transliteration of the Powhatan word.Tomahawks were general purpose tools used by Native Americans and European Colonials...
- Viking Age arms and armourViking Age arms and armourKnowledge about arms and armour of the Viking Age is based on relatively sparse archaeological finds, pictorial representation, and to some extent on the accounts in the Norse sagas and Norse laws recorded in the thirteenth century.According to custom, all free Norse men were required to own...