16th-17th Battle Axes From German and Swiss Armories

[kronckew]

haft is a tad short for an executioner's axe

(i suspect it was a teeny bit longer in it's working life)

there is a very similar one on ebay at the moment. haftless. marked "AD" on one side, "CP" on the other. sadly we cannot discuss it, so no picture. try googleing images for 'executioners axe'.

here's another. hired him for my quickie divorce. a lot cheaper than going thru the courts as henry the 8th found.

[Matchlock]

Originally Posted by kronckew

haft is a tad short for an executioner's axe

(i suspect it was a teeny bit longer in it's working life)

there is a very similar one on ebay at the moment. haftless. marked "AD" on one side, "CP" on the other. sadly we cannot discuss it, so no picture. try googleing images for 'executioners axe'.

here's another. hired him for my quickie divorce. a lot cheaper than going thru the courts as henry the 8th found.

Exactly, but it is much too short for a battle axe, or a working man's tool as well.
I guess we realize that it is not the first, original haft; the proportions should, of course, be about equal to the axe that used to be mine - see opening post of this thread, and attachment here.

The length of the original haft of that fine axe was, of course, about equal to the overall length of that item, which was 119.7.cm.


m

[drac2k]

I've had this hatchet for a while: I always thought it was just a wood working ax, mainly because of the "cross," slot in the front, which I thought was for pulling out nails, but I saw a similar provision on some of the pictured battle axes.I also thought that because the back of the hatchet was flat , it couldn't be used for battle, but once again some of the pictured ones were also flat.
Can someone confirm that this is indeed a wood working ax ?

[estcrh]

Great information on European weapons as usual. I have had a question about a particular axe since I first saw it, the owner says that it is a "Frankish axe" oak shaft 31.5", axe head 6.5" x 4.75", overall length 33.5", 6 lbs, I have not had much luck finding a similar one, any chance that this is any were near a correct description or even a type of axe that would have been used in battle? Any help would be appreciated.

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by estcrh

Great information on European weapons as usual. I have had a question about a particular axe since I first saw it, the owner says that it is a "Frankish axe" oak shaft 31.5", axe head 6.5" x 4.75", overall length 33.5", 6 lbs, I have not had much luck finding a similar one, any chance that this is any were near a correct description or even a type of axe that would have been used in battle? Any help would be appreciated.

first impression is that it looks more like a horseman's axe to me, persia/india. doesn't look frankish (french) to me. could be wrong tho.

are you sure it's 6 lbs. (2.7 kilos) seems a lot.

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by kronckew

first impression is that it looks more like a horseman's axe to me, persia/india. doesn't look frankish (french) to me. could be wrong tho.

are you sure it's 6 lbs. (2.7 kilos) seems a lot.

Thanks for the reply, I have to take the word of the owner about the weight, I have looked for other "Frankish" axe but can not find one that is verifiable, it does have a little similarity with some Indo-Persian axe I have seen but not enough to call it that in my opinion, I will keep looking.

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by estcrh

Thanks for the reply, I have to take the word of the owner about the weight, I have looked for other "Frankish" axe but can not find one that is verifiable, it does have a little similarity with some Indo-Persian axe I have seen but not enough to call it that in my opinion, I will keep looking.

googleing, found this indo-persian one, 30" haft, reminds me of your posted one...

[drac2k]

Thank you gentleman for the very useful information ;any ideas on the age,the origin ?
My guess would be one of German states or Austrian, 18th or early 19th century, but as stated, this would only be a guess.

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by drac2k

...
Can someone confirm that this is indeed a wood working ax ?

nope. tho it could be used as such.

many soldiers battle axes were not only used as weapons, but as general tools around the camp. chopping wood, making defences, etc. the flat (or a poll) would be useful for driving in tent stakes, as well as for, as in agincourt, driving angled anti-cavalry stakes in front of archers. some of the designs were purely weapons of course, for the higher ranks i suspect.

soldiers hate carrying stuff they don't need, so why carry a tool axe AND a weapon-only axe if you do not have to. of course if you had a horse, you could have it carry & you'd likely have a groom or squire that would have a more general purpose axe. fixed defences like castles and walled cities also could have armouries with heavier more flamboyant non-tool axes. militia, and/or the levy of cannon fodder poorly trained troops would likely bring the axe or bill hook they used daily at home.

i doubt the cross was used as a nail-puller. more of a decoration.

woodworking axes tended to be well bearded, with enough room behind the beard to allow the hand to be choked up well behind the blade, for finer control. they of course could also be used as weapons.

carpenter's hewing axes can have the blade offset to one side or the other, off centre, chisel ground, to allow for easier squaring of the cuts when making square beams. less likely to be used as a weapon. sometimes even the handles are offset to the head to allow hand clearance when hewing the sides of larger objects while still presenting the edge parallel to the object...

anyhow, yours looks more like a general purpose weapon, an archer's axe or infantryman's. the handle looks a bit short & doesn't quite fit the head. i think it's a later replacement.

[Matchlock]

Originally Posted by drac2k

I've had this hatchet for a while: I always thought it was just a wood working ax, mainly because of the "cross," slot in the front, which I thought was for pulling out nails, but I saw a similar provision on some of the pictured battle axes.I also thought that because the back of the hatchet was flat , it couldn't be used for battle, but once again some of the pictured ones were also flat.
Can someone confirm that this is indeed a wood working ax ?

Hi there,

The haft of that axe is 99 per cent ashwood, as it is, like I said in my opening post, the longest lasting because longest-fibered and consequently most durable, type of wood.
Next to it comes oak.

Experience, though, has taught me over four decades that ash was the preferred sort of wood used for hafted weapons in the Germanic areas, and from the 13th through 17th centuries.
As closely as possible, I have researched what must have been thousands of 13th-17th century hafted weapons, in hundreds of museums and private collections, plus previewings of items with the most important international auction houses, and after taking more than 280,000 analog photos.

For more information, and for important and finely preserved arms in
The Michael Trömner Collection

please also cf. my threads:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ht=pikes+swiss

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ighlight=pikes

In some very rare cases, ash was even used for stocking wall guns in the early 16th century - instead of oak.

Please see my threads:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...arian+kronburg

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...arian+kronburg


Best,
Michael Trömner