Pollaxe

Specifications

Type: Polearm
Origin: Europe
Era: 14th–16th century
Notable Users: Dismounted knights, men-at-arms
Epoch: Middle Ages

History

The pollaxe is a sophisticated combination weapon designed for armored foot combat. Mounted on a shaft of roughly 1.5–2 meters, it combines an axe blade, a hammer head, and a top spike in a single weapon, giving the wielder options against any type of defense. Pollaxe combat was the premier martial art of the 15th-century European nobility — fought in judicial duels, tournaments, and battlefield melees between dismounted knights. Fighting manuals by masters like Fiore dei Liberi and Le Jeu de la Hache detail dozens of techniques, guards, and counters.

Significance

The pollaxe was the Swiss Army knife of medieval combat — a single weapon that could cut, crush, thrust, and hook. Its associated martial tradition represents some of the most sophisticated armored combat techniques ever developed.

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