HALBERD See also:

• HALBERD HALBERT

HALBERT  Or HALBARD, a weapon consisting of an See also:

• AXE (0. Eng. aex; a word common, in different forms, in the Teutonic languages, and akin to the Greek 41v17; the New English Dictionary prefers the spelling " ax ")

axe-blade balanced by a pick and having an elongated See also:

• PIKE
• PIKE, ZEBULON MONTGOMERY (1779-1813)

pike-See also:

• HEAD (in 0. Eng. heafad; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch hoofd, Ger. Haupt, generally taken to be in origin connected with Lat. caput, Gr. KerbOvi7)
• HEAD, SIR EDMUND WALKER, BART
• HEAD, SIR FRANCIS BOND, BART

head at the end of the See also:

• STAFF (O. Eng. staef, cf. Du. staf, Ger. Stab, &c.; Icel. stafr meant also a written letter, and O. Eng. stafas, the letters of the alphabet; " stave," one of the thin pieces of wood of which a cask is made, is a doublet)

staff, which was usually about 5 or 6 ft. in length . The utility of such a weapon in the See also:

• WARS

wars of the later See also:

• MIDDLE

middle ages See also:

• LAY

lay in this, that it gave the See also:

• FOOT

foot soldier the means of dealing with an armoured See also:

• MAN
• MAN, ISLE OF (anc. Mona)

man on horseback . The pike could do no more than keep the horseman at a distance . This ensured See also:

• SECURITY (Lat. securus, free from care, safe)

security for the foot soldier but did not enable him to strike a mortal See also:

• BLOW, JOHN (1648-1708)

blow, for which firstly a See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long-handled and secondly a powerful weapon, capable of striking a heavy cleaving blow, was required . Several different forms of weapon responding to these requirements are described and illustrated below; it will be noticed that the thrusting pike is almost always combined with the cutting-See also:

• BILL

bill See also:

• HOOK, JAMES CLARKE (1819-1907)
• HOOK, THEODORE EDWARD (1788-1841)
• HOOK, WALTER FARQUHAR (1798-1875)

hook or axe-head, so that the individual billman or halberdier should not be at a disadvantage if caught alone by a mounted opponent, or if his first descending blow missed its See also:

• OBJECT

object . It will be noticed further that, concurrently with the disuse of See also:

• COMPLETE

complete See also:

• ARMOUR, PHILIP DANFORTH (1832-1901)

armour and the development of firearms, the pike or thrusting See also:

• ELEMENT (Lat. elementum)

element gradually displaces the axe or cleaving element in these weapons, till at last we arrive at the See also:

• COURT
• COURT (from the O. Fr. court, Late Lat. cortis, curtis, a popular form of class. Lat. cohors, gen. cohortis; the mod. Fr. form tour is due to the influence of the Lat. curia, the word used in medieval documents to translate " court " in the feudal sense)
• COURT, ANTOINE (1696-176o)

court halberts and partizans of the See also:

• LATE

late 16th and See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early 17th centuries and the so-called " See also:

• HALBERT, HALBERD

halbert " of the See also:

• INFANTRY

infantry officer and sergeant in the 18th, which can scarcely be classed even as partizans . See also:

• FIGS

Figs . 1-6 represent types of these long cutting, cut and thrust weapons of the middle ages, details being omitted for the See also:

• SAKE

sake of clearness . The most See also:

• PRIMITIVE

primitive is the voulge (fig . I), which is simply a heavy cleaver on a See also:

• POLE (FAMILY)
• POLE, REGINALD (1500-1558)
• POLE, RICHARD DE LA (d. 1525)
• POLE, WILLIAM (1814—1900)

pole, with a point added . The next See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form, the gisarme or guisarme (fig . 2), appears in See also:

• INFINITE (from Lat. in, not, finis, end or limit; cf. findere, to deave)

infinite variety but is always distinguished from voulges, &c. by the hook, which was used to pull down mounted men, and generally resembles the agricultural bill-hook of to-See also:

• DAY (O. Eng. dreg, Ger. Tag; according to the New English Dictionary, " in no way related to the Lat. dies")
• DAY, JOHN (1574-1640?)
• DAY, THOMAS (1748-1789)

day .

The glaive (fig . 3 is late See also:

• GERMAN
• GERMAN, DUTCH AND SCANDINAVIAN

German) is a broad, heavy, slightly curved See also:

• SWORD (0. Eng. sweord; ultimately from an Indo-European root meaning to wound)

sword-blade on a stave; it is often combined with the hooked gisarme as a glaive-gisarme (fig . 4, Burgundian, about 1480) . A gisarmevoulge is shown in fig . 5 (Swiss, 14th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century) . The weapon best known to Englishmen is the bill, which was originally a sort of See also:

• SCYTHE

scythe-blade, See also:

• SHARP, GRANVILLE (1735-1813)
• SHARP, JAMES (1618-1679)
• SHARP, JOHN (1645-1714)
• SHARP, RICHARD (1759-1835)
• SHARP, WILLIAM (1749-1824)
• SHARP, WILLIAM (1856-1905)

sharp on the See also:

• CONCAVE

concave See also:

• SIDE
• SIDE (mod. Eski Adalia)

side (whereas the glaive has the cutting edge on the See also:

• CONVEX

convex side), but in its best-known form it should be called a bill-gisarme (fig . 6) . The partizans, ranseurs and halberts proper See also:

• DEVELOPED

developed naturally from the earlier types . The feature See also:

• COMMON

common to all, as has been said, is the See also:

• COMBINATION (Lat. combinare, to combine)

combination of See also:

• SPEAR (O. Eng. spere, O. H. Ger. sper, mod. Ger. speer, &c., cf. Lat. sparrs; probably related to " spar, " a beam)

spear and axe . In the halberts the axe predominates, as the examples (fig . 1o, Swiss, early 15th century; fig. r1, Swiss, middle 16th century; and fig . 12, German court halbert of the same See also:

• PERIOD
• PERIOD (Gr. irepioSos, a going or way round, circuit, aepi, round, and &Sis, way, road)

period as fig .

II) show . In the partizan the pike is the more important, the axe-heads being reduced to little more than an ornamental feature . A See also:

• SOUTH
• SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

south German specimen (fig . 9, 1615) shows how this was compensated by the broadening of the spear-head, the edges of which in such weapons were sharpened . Fig . 8, a service weapon of See also:

• SIMPLE

simple form, merely has projections on either side, and from this developed-the ranseur (fig . 7), a partizan with a very long and narrow point, like the blade of a See also:

• RAPIER

rapier, and with See also:

• FORK (Lat. furca)

fork-like projections intended to See also:

• ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act as " sword-breakers," instead of the atrophied axe-heads of the partizan proper . The halbert played almost as conspicuous a See also:

• PART

part in the military See also:

• HISTORY

history of Middle See also:

• EUROPE

Europe during the 15th and early 16th centuries as the pike . But, even in a form distinguishable from the voulge and the glaive, it See also:

• DATES

dates from the early part of the 13th century, and for many generations thereafter it was the See also:

• SPECIAL

special weapon of the Swiss . See also:

• FAUCHET, CLAUDE (1530-1601)
• FAUCHET, CLAUDE (1744-1793)

Fauchet, in his Origines See also:

• DES

des dignitez, printed in 'boo, states that See also:

• LOUIS
• LOUIS (804–876)
• LOUIS (893–911)
• LOUIS, JOSEPH DOMINIQUE, BARON (1755-1837)
• LOUIS, or LEWIS (from the Frankish Chlodowich, Chlodwig, Latinized as Chlodowius, Lodhuwicus, Lodhuvicus, whence-in the Strassburg oath of 842-0. Fr. Lodhuwigs, then Chlovis, Loys and later Louis, whence Span. Luiz and—through the Angevin kings—Hungarian

Louis XI. of See also:

• FRANCE
• FRANCE, ANATOLE (1844– )

France ordered certain new weapons of See also:

• WAR
• WAR (O. Eng. werre, Fr. guerre, of Teutonic origin; cf. O.H.G. werran, to confound)

war called hallebardes to be made at See also:

• ANGERS

Angers and other places in 1475• The Swiss had a mixed armament of pikes and halberts at the See also:

• BATTLE

battle of See also:

• MORAT (Ger. Murten)

Morat in 1476 . In the 15th and 16th centuries the halberts became larger, and the See also:

• BLADES, WILLIAM (1824-1890)

blades were formed in many varieties of shape, often engraved, inlaid, or pierced in open See also:

• WORK

work, and exquisitely finished as See also:

• WORKS

works of See also:

• ART

art . This weapon was in use in See also:

• ENGLAND
• ENGLAND, THE CHURCH OF

England from the reign of See also:

• HENRY
• HENRY (1129-1195)
• HENRY (c. 1108-1139)
• HENRY (c. 1174–1216)
• HENRY (Fr. Henri; Span. Enrique; Ger. Heinrich; Mid. H. Ger. Heinrich and Heimrich; O.H.G. Haimi- or Heimirih, i.e. " prince, or chief of the house," from O.H.G. heim, the Eng. home, and rih, Goth. reiks; compare Lat. rex " king "—" rich," therefore " mig
• HENRY, EDWARD LAMSON (1841– )
• HENRY, JAMES (1798-1876)
• HENRY, JOSEPH (1797-1878)
• HENRY, MATTHEW (1662-1714)
• HENRY, PATRICK (1736–1799)
• HENRY, PRINCE OF BATTENBERG (1858-1896)
• HENRY, ROBERT (1718-1790)
• HENRY, VICTOR (1850– )
• HENRY, WILLIAM (1795-1836)

Henry VII. to the reign of See also:

• GEORGE
• GEORGE, 8TH MARQUESS OF TWEEDDALE (1787-1876)
• GEORGE, HENRY (1839—1897)
• GEORGE, LAKE
• GEORGE, SAINT (d. 303)

George III., when it was still carried (though in shape it had certainly lost its See also:

• ORIGINAL

original characteristics, and had become See also:

• HALF

half partizan and half pike) by sergeants in the See also:

• GUARDS, AND HOUSEHOLD TROOPS

guards and other infantry regiments .

It is still retained as the See also:

• SYMBOL (Gr. o-uµ(3oXov, a sign)

symbol of authority See also:

• BORNE, KARL LUDWIG (1786–1837)

borne before the magistrates on public occasions in some of the burghs of See also:

• SCOTLAND
• SCOTLAND, CHURCH OF
• SCOTLAND, EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF

Scotland . The See also:

• LOCHABER

Lochaber axe may be called a See also:

• SPECIES

species of halbert furnished with a hook on the end of the staff at the back of the blade . The godendag (Fr. godendart) is the Flemish name of the halbert in its original form . The derivation of the word is as follows . The O . Fr. hallebarde, of which the See also:

• ENGLISH

English " halberd," " halbert," is an See also:

• ADAPTATION (from Lat. adaptare. to fit to)

adaptation, was itself adapted from the M.H.G. helmbarde, mod . Hellebarde; the second part is the O.H.G. barta or parta, broad-axe, probably the same word as See also:

• BART, JEAN (1651-1702)

Bart, See also:

• BEARD (A.S. beard, O. H. and Mod. Ger. Bart, Dan. beard, Icel. bar, rim, edge, beak of a ship, &c., O. Slay. barda, Russ. barodd. Cf. Welsh barf, Lat.. barba, though, according to the New English Dictionary, the connexion is for phonetic reasons doubtful)
• BEARD, WILLIAM HOLBROOK (1825-1900)

beard, and so called from its shape; the first part is either helm, handle, cf . " helm," tiller of a See also:

• SHIP

ship, the word meaning " hafted axe," or else helm, See also:

• HELMET (from an obsolete diminutive of O. Fr. helme, mod. heaume; the English word is " helm," as in O. Eng., Dutch and Ger.; all are from the Teutonic base hal-, pre-Teut. kal-, to cover; cf. Lat. celare, to hide, Eng. " hell," &c.)

helmet, an axe for smiting the helmet . A common derivation was to take the word as representing a Ger. halb-barde, half-axe; the early German form shows this to be an erroneous guess .