Q&A: Medieval Battle Axe, how to properly fight with a battle axe?
Query by Alicat 42: Medieval Battle Axe, how to effectively battle with a battle axe?
I am carrying out an article about medieval weaponry, but I’m stuck. I could not actually uncover anything at all on how to use a battle axe. The things I’m searching for is how to hold it correctly, the stance/footing a consumer would want to take, how to use it correctly, and how to hurl it properly. I’ve acquired almost everything else but that.
No non-useful answers like “You hit people with it.” please.
I’ve acquired all my other 14 weapons down and everything, just can’t uncover anything on it actually.
Best answer:
Response by Reginald G
Try some of the hyperlinks from this reference
What do you believe? Solution beneath!
Hmm, there are axes and there are axes. If you’re thinking about a short, early medieval axe like a franisca, the information is scanty. Early medieval people simply didn’t write treatises on how to use their weapons. The folks at Hurstwic have collected about as much as is known about the subject on this page here: http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manufacturing/text/viking_axe.htm . Beyond that, you would probably have to do some original research and read sources like the Norse sagas and early chroniclers, looking for axe references.
If you’re interested in late medieval pole axes, there’s a French treatise from the end of the Middle Ages called Le Jeu de la Hache. You can read an article about it, including a translation of the treatise, here: http://www.thearma.org/spotlight/lejeudelahache.htm
The early fifteenth-century Italian fighting master Fiore dei Liberi also had a few axe plays in his treatise, the Fior di Battaglia. They’re in the section on fighting in armour: http://www.aemma.org/onlineResources/liberi/wildRose/section6.html .