Horseman's 16th century Battle Axe

[A Senefelder]

Axes continued in use in the eastern Europe for longer than the west but were used in the west into the 17th century. As full plate armour become fully developed twords the end of the 14th century wespons better suited to damaging/breaking it were needed. Simply put while a sword is great against soft targets you cannot cut your way through plate with it ( in fact both the Italian and German longsword schools developed techniques relying priciply on the point of the sword for dealing with armoured opponents as the edge of the sword was of limited effectiveness ). This cause the hammer, the mace and the axe to become of more importance. While an axe has a sharp cutting edge it is a small surface area, unlike the long blade of a sword, which makes it much more effective in transmitting force against a hard target as the force cannot spread out anywhere near as far on an axe blade as on that of a sword so it allowed an axe to be used against sort targets for cutting but also against hard targets as more of an impact weapon like a hammer or mace. Equipping it with a fluke or back spike which could punch a hole through plate armour and you had an effective weapon against hard targets and soft.

[fernando]

So good that you came in, A Senefelder
Surely this transmission of knowledge contributes with a great added value to the forum

[PClemente]

Many thanks for the input gents.
Any guess as to regional origin of the axe? I have seen another axe with a wooden haft featuring nails down the length, but the axe itself seemed distinctly Italian in form, as opposed to this axe which appears more Germanic(?).
Also, is there anyway to tell if the haft is the original or at least period, as opposed to a later addition?
Thanks again!

[A Senefelder]

For what its worth and strictly my opinion, this particular axe feels a little Eastern European to me. The transition to all steel construction of war axes and hammers was in full swing in the 16th century ( and had more or less already transitioned in mace construction by the end of the 15th century ) hardwood hafts for all three remained popular in the east right into the early 18th century ( not that all steel construction couldn't be found in the east but hardwood construction was just as common as all steel construction became more of less the rule in the west by the 17th century ).

[Jim McDougall]

This is far outside my normal fields, but this is an interesting looking axe, and I will say my thoughts corresponded with Alan with the East European feel. Actually I was thinking of the one in the saddle of 'The Polish Rider' by Rembrandt, probably because of the spiked poll. In looking further into that, what the 'rider' is actually carrying is a 'nadziak' which is actually a war hammer rather than axe, and this is clearly not a 'war hammer'.

I cannot resist noting the similarity of this axe to French boarding axes of 18th century, though the head is smaller. There really arent many resources on these in any depth, but my search was limited. I couldnt find references on English Civil War forces using battle axes, but certainly that does not mean they could not have been used, just not documented among the regularly employed weapons.

[cornelistromp]

this axe I "met" for the first time in London at Bonhams auction 22/04/2009 lot 82 and was described as european horseman's axe and probably!!! 17th century.
probably because these weapons are like daggers terribly difficult to place.

I'm far more at home in medieval swords and daggers, but my first impression was at that time and still is that it could be a French boarding axe from the 18th or 19th century.

herewith some 19th century examples

best,

[Glaive203]

If one does a google image search for " czekan husarski " one will see the typical hussar axe/hatchet with a hammer opposite the axe head, but czekan with a bec de corbin were also used by the hussars of the Commonwealth, though much rarer. Whether the example is actually one of these I have no idea, but it does have their general shape.

[Jim McDougall]

As I had noted earlier, this axe initially caused me to think of Rembrandts "Polish Rider" because of the 'crows beak' type spike and recalling the war hammer the figure in the painting is carrying. In looking into this I found that the weapon was the 'nadziak' which was similar to and often called by the term of another form, 'czekan'. These and the 'obuch' another form are well described in "Polish War Hammers: Nadziak, Czekan and Obuch" by Mieczyslaw Paskiewicz (JAAS, Vol. VIII).

It seems to me these war hammers remained in use in Eastern Europe well through the 17th and into 18th centuries with the use of armor helmets and cuirass, as well as other components in various degree. I have long been under the impression that the 'battle axe' was not particularly popular by these times, and that penetrating or blunt force weapons like the mace or war hammer were much more effective.

The hammer (much as the mace) delivered powerful blows which would not only compromise armor plate, but the armor itself became the wounding element as the trauma was transmitted within. Not only would these cause broken bones or trauma, but as noted compromised the armor and could impair the viability of movement. The spike or 'crows beak' could also be used for devastating and deadly penetrating blows, and in the case of mail, of course the broken links also became wounding material.

The practicality of the axe head on the boarding axes was that this could be used for chopping and clearing in utilitarian requirements, at the same time be a deadly weapon.

The interesting drawing of the figure in the English Civil War wielding what appears could be a battle axe, it would seem might suggest a cut down halberd. I have not found record of English horsemen in that period using battle axes in sources I have checked, and would appreciate knowing of which sources might reflect that.

All best regards,
Jim