Halberd
Also known as: hallenbarte, helmbarte
A polearm 2-2.5 m long with an axe blade, spike and rear hook for pulling riders down; the main weapon of the early Swiss, today the ceremonial weapon of the Swiss Guard.
Quick Facts
About the weapon
The halberd is a polearm whose name arose from the Middle High German halm, shaft, and barte, battle-axe. It is first mentioned as hallenbarte by the 13th-century German poet Konrad of Würzburg. In the 14th and early 15th centuries it was the main weapon of the early Swiss forces. The head consists of an axe blade ending in a spike, and the back of the axe may carry a hook or a spur. The whole weapon usually measured 2 to 2.5 metres. The hook opposite the axe blade could pull a rider to the ground, and halberdiers protected musketeers against sudden cavalry attack. A Swiss peasant killed the Burgundian duke Charles the Bold with a halberd at the battle of Nancy, and research on the remains shows a halberd split the skull of the English king Richard III at Bosworth in 1485. By the 17th century only two sergeants per company still carried it, more as a badge of rank. Joachim Meyer included fighting with the halberd in the fifth part of his manual Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens (Strasbourg 1570); it is the basis for halberd fighting in historical European martial arts. As a weapon of court guards the halberd survived for centuries. It remains today the ceremonial weapon of the Swiss Guard at the Vatican and of the Alabarderos company of the Spanish royal guard.
Parts of the weapon
- Hook