Mace
A striking weapon with a heavy head on a haft; from the 12th century flanged maces dented plate armour, and today the mace serves as an emblem of parliaments and universities.
Quick Facts
About the weapon
The mace developed in the Upper Palaeolithic from a plain club into which sharp pieces of flint or obsidian were set. In Predynastic Egypt, roughly 3850 to 3650 BCE, its head was shaped into a disc to increase the force of the blow. The Sherden of Sardinia, fighting for Ramesses II against the Hittites, carried wooden maces with a bronze head. It consists of a sturdy wooden or metal haft and a head of stone, bone, copper, bronze, iron or steel, shaped with flanges or knobs. Flanged maces spread in Europe only in the 12th century, alongside their development in Rus' and Asia. The flanges allowed heavy armour to be dented or pierced; dented plates could jam against each other and restrict the wearer's movement. The Bayeux Tapestry shows Bishop Odo of Bayeux at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 with a club resembling a mace. The reading that he was thereby avoiding shedding blood rests on scant evidence. In the epic of the god Ninurta appears the magical talking mace Sharur, and in South Slavic epic poetry the mace is the favourite weapon of Prince Marko. The parliamentary mace lies on an official's table as a sign that parliament sits with full authority, and university maces express the authority and independence of the university.