Germany / c. 1550
Halberd
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Halberd as arms and armor (Germany · c. 1550).
The lives of both Leopold III, Duke of Austria, and Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, were ended by a halberd strike.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this arms and armor as steel, with pierced trefoils; wood haft (rectangular with planed corners).
The museum's collection notes: The most effecient weapons used by the infantry (foot soldiers) during the 15th and 16th centuries were pole arms (or staff weapons). The halberd, like the examples shown here, was a weapon of great versatility. The word halberd comes from the German words Halm (a staff) and Barte (an axe). The halberd is, in fact, an axe mounted on a long pole with a very specialized shape and function: the axe blade was used for hacking, the spike for thrusting, and the beak either for piercing plate armor or for pulling a knight from his saddle. Used by shock troops, the halberd was the weapon of choice for Swiss and German mercenaries. From about 1550 onw
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The Cleveland Museum of ArtHalberdOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.