Crushing Weapons used in Medieval Combat
Maces, clubs & Flails
| Hammers
The development of clubs began some time during the Palaeolithic era some 2
million to 40,000 years ago as represented by caveman paintings. Clubs were
first made from branches off trees but these were unsuitable so cavemen soon
learnt to find good quality wood from trees and carve them into weapons.
The basic principle of a club, mace or hammer is to have weight at the
other end to improve momentum by lengthening the 'striking arm'.
Flexible clubs first appeared in the 14th century to extend the radius of
action and to increase the momentum of the head. The head of the weapon was
attached to the shaft of the weapon by cord or chain and was most likely
developed from the thrashing flails used by farmers.
Maces are all-metal clubs which were developed for fighting against
armoured knights and some maces, clubs and flails even had spikes to penetrate
thin armour or the joints of thicker armour or to cause more serious damage to
unarmoured opponents.
Some highly decorated Maces were used as symbols of rank rather than in
combat from the 15th century onwards.
Flanged Mace
A very simple weapon which may even be more brutal than a mace, flail or
axe is the hammer or warhammer. This weapon usually had a pointed end which
made it comparable to the axes and clubs with a pointed shape when it was used
by primitive tribes. In many ways this made the ancient warhammer look like a
pick.
The warhammer was adopted around the 15th century because of chain mail and
plate armour and the warhammer's effectiveness in piercing such armour.
Warhammers which had a pointed side were very useful in stunning an
opponent or to get them off a horse with the blunt side, then use the pointed
side to deliver the final blow.
The warhammer was used in combat during the 15th and 16th centuries but
then declined in use as armoured warriors disappeared from the battlefields.
As with axes and maces, decorated hammers were used as a symbol of rank.
Warhammer
For further information on these and other weapons and
armour described here in these web pages, see my bibliography
page.
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