Seeking information on a polearm from Graz

Tuthmose · 19th December 2021, 10:47 PM

Greetings all!

I’m a long-time lurker who finally got off his buttocks to join; I’m (attempting) to embark upon a project which requires details only the highly knowledgeable scholars here are likely to have.

My interest is in a polearm I’ve only ever seen at the Graz Landeszeughaus. Their inventory apparently lists is as a “Gusy” (a corruption of Kuse/Couse?), though it is more glaive-like than anything else. It is the center item in the image from Peter Krenn’s “Schwert und Spiess” excerpted below. Although they appear unique to the Graz armory, they seem to have quite a number of them (second image below). John Waldman mentioned it specifically in his “Hafted Weapons in Medieval and Renaissance Europe” (also image below), of which I’m sure you are all more well-versed than I. Apparently most if not all of the examples in the Graz Armory were the work of Peter Schreckeisen of Waldneukirchen in Upper Austria in the latter half of the sixteenth century.

To my mind, it’s a near ideal staff weapon. It’s a spear, it’s a glaive, it’s a double-edge sword-on-a-stick, it has a hook with armor-piercing capabilities. It looks to be fairly nimble but also carry some authority. What’s not to love? I’m looking to commission a functional replica of one for some hands-on martial study, and the more data I have on it, the better. Sadly, a return trip to Graz from Virginia to get such data myself isn’t in the cards. That’s where this post comes in 😊

To make a long-story short, I’d love to have some more specific information about its dimensions and construction. Length of the cutting edges, thickness at the medial ridge between them, diameter of the pole socket, thickness of the back-spike, etc. Anything I could give a smith to help make a high-end, functional copy for me to experiment with.

If anybody with more knowledge of these arms has any insight or data they’d care to share, or could direct me to someplace for further research, I would very much appreciate it the help.

19th December 2021, 10:47 PM	#1
Tuthmose Member Join Date: Dec 2021 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 13	Seeking information on a polearm from Graz Greetings all! I’m a long-time lurker who finally got off his buttocks to join; I’m (attempting) to embark upon a project which requires details only the highly knowledgeable scholars here are likely to have. My interest is in a polearm I’ve only ever seen at the Graz Landeszeughaus. Their inventory apparently lists is as a “Gusy” (a corruption of Kuse/Couse?), though it is more glaive-like than anything else. It is the center item in the image from Peter Krenn’s “Schwert und Spiess” excerpted below. Although they appear unique to the Graz armory, they seem to have quite a number of them (second image below). John Waldman mentioned it specifically in his “Hafted Weapons in Medieval and Renaissance Europe” (also image below), of which I’m sure you are all more well-versed than I. Apparently most if not all of the examples in the Graz Armory were the work of Peter Schreckeisen of Waldneukirchen in Upper Austria in the latter half of the sixteenth century. To my mind, it’s a near ideal staff weapon. It’s a spear, it’s a glaive, it’s a double-edge sword-on-a-stick, it has a hook with armor-piercing capabilities. It looks to be fairly nimble but also carry some authority. What’s not to love? I’m looking to commission a functional replica of one for some hands-on martial study, and the more data I have on it, the better. Sadly, a return trip to Graz from Virginia to get such data myself isn’t in the cards. That’s where this post comes in 😊 To make a long-story short, I’d love to have some more specific information about its dimensions and construction. Length of the cutting edges, thickness at the medial ridge between them, diameter of the pole socket, thickness of the back-spike, etc. Anything I could give a smith to help make a high-end, functional copy for me to experiment with. If anybody with more knowledge of these arms has any insight or data they’d care to share, or could direct me to someplace for further research, I would very much appreciate it the help. Attached Images