Chuzo
Also known as: azcona
Short pike about 1.5 m long, a staff with an iron point; in Spain it was carried from 1715 to 1977 by the serenos, night watchmen, along with a lantern and keys.
Quick Facts
SpainAbout the weapon
The chuzo is a simple Spanish polearm: a wooden staff with a point, usually iron, at the end. According to Spanish encyclopaedic literature it was widespread in the Middle Ages in, among other places, Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre, where it was called azcona. The same source derives the name chuzo from a corrupted form of suizo, Swiss, because it supposedly caught on most in Switzerland; we have not found any other confirmation of this etymology. The point is called moharra. English sources classify it among short pikes, giving a length of around 1.5 metres. In the 19th and 20th centuries the chuzo remained almost exclusively the weapon of serenos, the night watchmen of large cities. The first serenos are documented in 1715, the corps of serenos was founded on 12 April 1765, and a royal decree of 16 September 1834 regulated their service in provincial capitals; in Madrid they were established in 1798. A sereno carried a chuzo and a lantern, often hung on the chuzo, along with the keys to the house doors and a whistle to sound the alarm. The serenos survived in Spain until 1977. The weapon lives on in the saying caer chuzos de punta, to rain cats and dogs, and in Latin America the word chuzo acquired a number of other local meanings.
Parts of the weapon
- Point — moharra
- Shaft — palo
Related weapons
- Variant of: Pike