Product Code Database
A halberd (also called halbard, halbert or Swiss voulge) is a two-handed polearm that was in prominent use from the 13th to 16th centuries. The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. It may have a hook or thorn on the back of the axe blade for grappling Cavalry and protecting allied soldiers, typically Musketman. The halberd was usually long.
The word halberd is cognate with the German word Hellebarde, deriving from Middle High German halm (handle) and barte (battleaxe) joined to form helmbarte. Troops that used the weapon were called halberdiers or halbardiers. The word has also been used to describe a weapon of the early Bronze Age in Western Europe. This consisted of a blade mounted on a pole at a right angle. A CONSIDERATION OF THE EARLY BRONZE AGE HALBERD IN IRELAND Function and Context by Ronan O'Flaherty, M.A. A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of PhD. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN 2002 Supervisors: Professor Barry Raftery and Dr. Joanna Brück. DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY FACULTY OF ARTS
The halberd was the primary weapon of the early Swiss armies in the 14th and early 15th centuries. Later the Swiss added the pike to better repel attacks and roll over enemy infantry formations, with the halberd, Longsword, or the dagger known as the Swiss Dagger used for closer combat. The German , who imitated Swiss warfare methods, also used the pike, supplemented by the halberd—but their side arm of choice was a short sword called the Katzbalger.
As long as pikemen fought other pikemen, the halberd remained a useful supplementary weapon for push of pike, but when their position became more defensive, to protect the slow-loading and matchlock musketeers from sudden attacks by cavalry, the percentage of halberdiers in the pike units steadily decreased. By 1588, official Dutch infantry composition was down to 39% arquebuses, 34% pikes, 13% muskets, 9% halberds, and 2% one-handed swords. By 1600, troops armed exclusively with swords were no longer used and the halberd was only used by sergeants.Olaf van Nimwegen. "The Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions, 1588-1688", Boydell: 2010. Page 87.
Researchers suspected that a halberd or a bill sliced through the back of King Richard III's skull at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485, leaving his brain visible before killing him during the battle, and were later able to confirm that it was a halberd. Richard III dig: Grim clues to the death of a king By Greig Watson, BBC News, 4 February 2013
While rarer than it had been from the late 15th to mid-16th centuries, the halberd was still used infrequently as an infantry weapon well into the mid-17th century. The armies of the Catholic League in 1625, for example, had halberdiers comprising 7% of infantry units, with musketeers comprising 58% and armored pikemen 35%. By 1627 this had changed to 65% muskets, 20% pikes, and 15% halberds.Guthrie, William. "The Later Thirty Years War: From the Battle of Wittstock to the Treaty of Westphalia." Praeger, Feb. 2003. Page 16. A near-contemporary depiction of the 1665 Battle of Montes Claros at Palace of the Marquises of Fronteira depicts a minority of the Portuguese and Spanish soldiers as armed with halberds. Antonio de Pereda's 1635 painting El Socorro a Génova depicting the Relief of Genoa has all the soldiers armed with halberds. The most consistent users of the halberd in the Thirty Years' War were German sergeants who would carry one as a sign of rank. While they could use them in melee combat, more often they were used for dressing the ranks by grasping the shaft in both hands and pushing it against several men simultaneously. They could also be used to push pikes or muskets up or down, especially to stop overexcited musketeers from firing prematurely.Wilson, Peter (2009). Europe's Tragedy: A History of the Thirty Years War. Allen Lane. Page 95. Halberds and other polearms remained useful during instances of close-in fighting such as during stormings of towns and forts. At the Siege of Lyme Regis in April 1644 during the English Civil War, halberdiers were among the troops that repelled the attackers after their cannons made breaches in the walls.Kenyon, J.P. and Ohlmeyer, Jane H. (eds.). "The Civil Wars. A Military History of England, Scotland, and Ireland 1638–1660." Oxford University Press: 1998. Page 217.
The halberd has been used as a court bodyguard weapon for centuries, and is still the ceremonial weapon of the Swiss Guard in the Vatican City and the Alabarderos (Halberdiers) Company of the Spanish Royal Guard. The halberd was one of the polearms sometimes carried by lower-ranking officers in European infantry units in the 16th through 18th centuries. In the British army, continued to carry halberds until 1793, when they were replaced by .David Fraser. "The Grenadier Guards", page 33. The 18th-century halberd had, however, become simply a symbol of rank with no sharpened edge and insufficient strength to use as a weapon.Robin May. Wolfe's Army, Osprey Publishing Ltd 1974, page 33 It served as an instrument for ensuring that infantrymen in ranks stood correctly aligned with each other and that their muskets were aimed at the correct level.
==Gallery==
|
|
