Morning star
Literally: morning star
Also known as: morning star, holy water sprinkler
A club with a head studded with one long apex spike and many smaller spikes, widespread from the early 14th century especially in Germany, wielded by infantry and cavalry alike.
Quick Facts
GermanyAbout the weapon
The morgenstern, literally morning star, came into wide use around the early 14th century, especially in Germany. In English, besides morning star, it was also called a holy water sprinkler, for its resemblance to the sprinkler used for holy water at Catholic Mass. The spiked head sits on the haft similarly to a mace; typically a long apex spike runs straight out of it with smaller spikes around it. An iron band or metal langets running down from the head reinforced the haft at the top. A distinction is made between military pieces by experienced smiths for armouries, simpler hand-carved pieces of peasant militias studded with nails, and decorative metal types. Two-handed pieces measured around 1.8 metres or more; two 16th-century military examples in Vienna measure 2.35 metres including a 54-centimetre apex spike. The morgenstern was used by infantry and cavalry alike; cavalry versions had a shorter or slimmer haft so they could be wielded with one hand. The weapon is depicted on the Caesar tapestries woven in Tournai between 1465 and 1470, and on a woodcut in the book Le Chevalier délibéré, first published in 1486. In Graz 183 mass-produced pieces delivered to the armoury in 1685 have survived, with more in the armouries of Lucerne and Zurich and in the Wallace Collection in London.
Parts of the weapon
- Spike