Medieval Weapons

A battle axe is an axe specifically designed as a weapon. Battle axes are essentially specialized versions of utility axes. Many are suitable for use in one hand, while others are larger and were wielded two-handed. Axes designed for war range in weight from just over 1lb to 6lbs, and in length from just over a foot to upwards of five feet. Through the course of human history, commonplace objects have been pressed into service as weapons. Axes, by virtue of their ubiquity, are no exception. Besides axes designed for combat, there are many axes that are both tools and weapons. Axes can be designed as throwing weapons as well. Historically, axes were always cheaper than swords and far more available. Battle axes also generally weigh far less than modern splitting axes, especially mauls, because they are (were) designed to cut flesh rather than wood; consequently more narrow, slicing blades are the norm.

An advance on the club, a mace is a strong, heavy wooden, metal-reinforced, or metal shaft, with a head made of stone, copper, bronze, iron or steel. The length of maces can vary considerably. The maces of foot soldiers were usually quite short (two or three feet). The maces of cavalrymen were longer and better designed for blows from horseback. Two-handed maces ("mauls") could be even larger. The flail is often incorrectly called a mace.

The flail is a medieval weapon made of one (or more) weights attached to a handle with a hinge or chain. There is some disagreement over the names for this weapon; the terms "morning star," and even "mace" are variously applied, though these are used to describe other weapons, which are very different in usage from a weapon with a hinge or chain, commonly used in Europe from the 13th century to the 15th century. The term "morningstar" actually refers to the head of a weapon (the small round spiked ball) and can be used for either a morningstar mace (on a shaft) or flail (if on a chain). Flails also sometimes had blunt round heads or flanges like a mace.