Combat Hammer - medieval pylon crushing weapons. Description

The battle hammer refers to one of the oldest types of cold steel, which was used mainly for fighting at close range. It was first produced in the Neolithic Age. The hammer is a dual-use weapon, used both in forging and in military matters. In the second case, it is capable of causing terrible deforming and blowing blows on the enemy.

General information

As it was said before, the hammer appeared in the Neolithic. Initially, he had a pommel of stone. Quite often he served as a foe in a ceremonial stone or battle ax. Over time, this blasting weapon was perfected, and in the Middle Ages the usual blacksmith's iron hammers, fitted on a long handle, were already used. They were somewhat like a mace, to which not only deafening but deforming armor was struck.

The most famous representative of this weapon is Mjöllnir - the mythical hammer of the god of storm and thunder of Thor. He became a truly religious symbol, a heraldic emblem and amulet for all Scandinavians. However, until the XI century. These weapons were mostly used by Germans alone.

Spread

The hammer has received the widest application from horsemen, since XIII century. Its rapid spread was facilitated by the appearance of reliable knightly armor and armor. Against them swords, maces, axes and any other weapon used in those times for close combat could no longer cope. All of them proved to be ineffective. That's why all the new variants of the same war hammer began to appear. To its varieties is any pole weapon with a knob, which on the one hand looks like a hammer, and on the other hand it can have the appearance of a straight or slightly curved blade, beak, faceted spike, etc.

The very name "hammer" implies the presence of at least one of the above elements of the battle head. The weapon retains this name even when the hammer itself is not on it. The most common was a hammer that had an upward point and in addition to it short spikes, which were often located directly on the impact part of the butt or on the side of it. Beaks could be pierced by a plate on the armor or tore the chain mail. The hammer was used to stun an enemy or deform his armor.

Lucernhammer

This is a type of cold steel, which appeared in Switzerland around the end of the XV century. It consisted of the infantrymen of many European countries until the end of the 17th century. This medieval weapon was a bounded pole with a length of up to 2 m, at one end of which there was a combat unit in the form of a pointed peak, and at its base - a hammer. Usually it was made two-sided. The impact toothed part of the hammer served to stun the enemy, and the hooked part resembled a sharp beak. Given his appointment, we can say that it was related to the shaft weapon of shock-crushing action.

It is believed that the cause for the emergence of the Lucerne hammer was the military actions that took place between the Swiss infantry and the German cavalry. The fact is that the riders had rather high-quality armor, against which the traditional halberds proved powerless, as they could not penetrate the iron shell of the rider. It was then that there was a need for new weapons, which could be relatively easy to break through enemy armor. As for the peak, it helped the infantrymen to effectively reflect the enemy's cavalry attacks. The Lucerne hammer turned out to be so good that over time it managed to completely dislodge the halberds.

Short-weapons

Similar hammers, whose handle length did not exceed 80 cm, appeared in Europe in the 10th century. They were used exclusively in hand-to-hand combat and they often armed riders. But everywhere such weapons began to be used in the cavalry only after 5 centuries. Short stems of both eastern and European hammers were very often made of iron and supplied with a special grip for grasping with one or two hands.

The battle hammer from the opposite side of the beak could have a sufficiently diverse shock surface, for example, spiked, conical, smooth, pyramidal, crowned with a monogram or some figure. The last two were used to imprint on the armor or body of the enemy.

Long-wooden hammers

In the XIV century. This weapon has become the most popular. It had a long handle up to 2 m and in appearance looked like a halberd. The only difference was that the warhead of the hammers was not solid, but assembled from several separate elements. In addition, they almost always had a spade or spear at the end. It is worth noting and the fact that this medieval weapon did not always have a beak on the reverse side of the hammer. Instead, an ax was sometimes attached, which could be as small or as impressive as possible. Such an unusual weapon was called polax.

The impact part of the hammer in long-arm weapon was diverse: smooth, with small teeth, to have one or several short or long spikes and even causing inscriptions. There were also such variants of weapons, where the combat head consisted only of hammers, trident beaks or blades, and from above ended with an unchanging peak. Weapons with a long pole used mostly foot soldiers to fight against enemy cavalry. Sometimes knights used to find them when they dismounted.

Combined weapons

Its first samples appeared in the 16th century. And differed a great variety, but they all had a common feature - they were necessarily attended by those or other elements inherent in battle hammers. The simplest of them were with handles, inside of which were placed a sword. Such blades often had some additions in the form of sneakers - special supports for firearms or crossbows.

Such weapons, like the fireworks, were much more complicated. In addition to the hammer with axes and benders, they were also equipped with long blades up to one and a half meters in length. They could either be pulled out automatically or shot from the top of the handle. There were also crickets, which are a combination of hammers with pistols or rifles.

Eastern analogues

Klevtsy with short shafts were used not only in European armies, but also in the East. For example, in India a similar war hammer was called a fakir's staff or drove, in Afghanistan and Pakistan - a lohar, in Persia - a tabar. This weapon was very similar to the European one, because it had the same hammer dividing into four spikes. As well as at lucernhammer.

It must be said that the buglers stayed in the East much longer than in Europe, as they were in great demand, both for the military and for the civilian population. Especially popular they used in the Indo-Persian region and even had the same name - "crow's beak". Did in India and combined weapons. There were also analogues in China and Japan.

Butt

After the loss of the combat employment of the baits, Poland began to issue special laws prohibiting the civilian population from wearing them even in the form of walking sticks and staffs. Instead of them, another version of the hammer appeared - a shoe or a boot. It could easily be recognized by iron, silver or brass knobs and by heavily bent beaks in the direction of the shaft, often wrapped in a ring. There were also such specimens, in which only a sharp tip was bent or they had a bend of an unusual shape. In addition, the opposite end of the handle, up to 1 m long, was also fenced in the furs. It was predominantly worn by the Polish gentry.

As is known, the shoe was originally intended for self-defense, but eventually it became clear that this weapon was worse than the bender. If earlier, during a fight with the enemy, the saber could have cut the face, head or hand, and the spilled blood somehow calmed the flushed warriors. Now, when a man struck with blood, he could not be seen. Therefore, the attacker could not immediately come to his senses and repeatedly hit harder and harder, while at the same time inflicting mortal mutilation on his victim. I must say that the Polish noblemen who carried this weapon did not pity their subjects, and often punished them with beatings, and sometimes they were killed.

Delivery of positions

Over time, the hammer (weapons of the Middle Ages) lost its former popularity, and it was used only as an attribute of various military ranks. So it was in Italy, Germany and other European countries. Their example was followed by the robber and Cossack atamans. Quite often, screwed blades of daggers were placed in the arms of this weapon.