The Lucerne hammer is a type of polearm

Pole weapon

A pole weapon or polearm is a close combat weapon in which the main fighting part of the weapon is placed on the end of a long shaft, typically of wood, thereby extending the user's effective range. Spears, glaives, poleaxes, halberds, and bardiches are all varieties of polearms...

 which was popular in Switzerland during the 15th to 17th centuries. It was a combination of the bec de corbin

Bec de corbin

A bec de corbin is a type of pole weapon that was popular in medieval Europe. The name is Old French for "crow's beak". Similar to the Lucerne hammer, it consists of a modified hammer's head and spike mounted atop a long pole. Unlike the Lucerne hammer, the bec de corbin was used primarily with...

 with the blunt 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...

.

The name comes from a discovery of many of these weapons in Lucerne

Lucerne

Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. The 'hammer' was actually a three- to four-pronged head mounted atop a 2m-long (7 foot) pole. It bore a long spike on its reverse, and an even longer spike extending from the very top. It proved effective at puncturing or smashing armor, and much like a man catcher

Man catcher

A man catcher is an esoteric type of pole weapon which was used in Europe as late as the 18th century. It consisted of a pole mounted with a two pronged head. Each prong was semi-circular in shape with a spring-loaded 'door' on the front. This created an effective valve that would allow the ring to...

was used for dismounting riders.

External links

• Spotlight: The Medieval Poleaxe, by Alexi Goranov