the.com/halberd
a battlefield Swiss Army knife that let peasants disagree with knights on horseback
means A two-handed medieval polearm combining an axe blade, a spike, and a hook on a long shaft, used for chopping, thrusting, and dragging riders off their horses.
from From Middle High German 'helmbarte,' a fusion of 'helm' (a staff or handle) and 'barte' (a broad axe) — literally a 'staff-axe.' It reached English in the 15th century by way of French and Italian, picking up a tangle of spellings along the way. The weapon and its name are closely tied to Swiss and German foot soldiers, who made this peasant-friendly hybrid famous on the battlefield.
- three weapons
- Axe, spear, and hook fused on one pole
- horse hook
- The back spike yanked riders off mounts
- swiss favorite
- Made Swiss mercenaries Europe's most feared infantry
- papal duty
- Swiss Guard still carries them in the Vatican
- royal end
- Killed by gunpowder, demoted to ceremonial flex
swiss guard halberd — papal guards at vatican city still carry 16th-century halberds as ceremonial weapons
battle of nancy 1477 — charles the bold's burgundian forces defeated partly by swiss pikemen wielding halberds