4 Rare Medieval POLLAXE types

Four types of medieval pollaxe that you (maybe) haven't seen or heard of before. How many did you know? Blunt Axe Video: • Why were MEDIEVAL Poll...
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[@TheRealmDrifter]

Yes, indeed, if you happen to blind someone and then kill them, you've effectively blinded them _for life._

[@elricthebald870]

"Give a man fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm the rest of his life."

[@guiorgy]

​@@elricthebald870where's that from?

[@Lord_Machiavelli]

​@elricthebald870 haha!

[@Rikki-Tikki-Tavi]

​@@guiorgyIt's a Terry Pratchett quote. From one of the Discworld novels, I believe.

[@dominikdalek]

Man, did I feel clever writing the exact same comment.

[@Kaiyanwang82]

That blinding pepper pollaxe is the sort of wacky stuff your most creative D&D players would come up with just for you telling them "come on, man".

[@57WillysCJ]

I heard about it from a Christian Cameron book in his Chivalry series.

[@texasbeast239]

Keen Poisoned Pollaxe of Sharpness

[@not-a-theist8251]

I thought the same thing lol

[@Kaiyanwang82]

@@not-a-theist8251 "I understand that this is a fantasy game with Dragons and brain-eating Dr. Zoidbergs, but keep it grounded guys, OK?"

[@Dragowolf_Rising]

I was unaware these were a thing but made a warhammer akin to this in D&D. You can submerge the head in sea water and speak the command word to absorb salt, or cause it to spray on impact. I named it the A'salter.

[@mikloskoszegi]

You are a noble lord, you'd surely never use something as underhanded as blinding powder in your pollaxe. Here is the recipe. Pure gold.

[@TheSaneHatter]

"I'd use it . . . and don't call me Shirley."

[@jonasbarka]

There were apparently a lot of medival texts about what you should never do, with detailed recipes. The ones mentioned were cosmetics and stuff causing an abortion.

[@texasbeast239]

Sounds like the D&D Book of Vile Darkness. No one but the worst of the worst would ever read such pages. Here are 300 of them. Have at it!

[@SSR2902]

I used paper spray in the open in the opposite direction just to see what it dose, and for the next 30 minutes, my eyes were watering, my nose and mouth burning and my skin was eaching. So you might think that is a good idea until it gets you ass well. (There is a reason way paper spray is just garbage if you tray to attack someone, unless you have a gas mask).

[@texasbeast239]

@@SSR2902 That's also a big reason why bear spray is less effective than lead.

[@istvansipos9940]

"Wait, good sir. I wanna duel you with the wind in my back. Uhm... well... Family tradition. What say you, good sir?

[@archloy]

Works also with flatulence ☝

[@TheLoveTruffle]

The pepper spray pollaxe is wild, and over here my mind has still been reeling thinking about the axe heads not being sharp.

[@ligonapProduktion]

Yes, comparable to pocket sand.

[@DPXerxes]

0:38 I only knew about one Matt, not four. Does this mean there's Matt Easton, Matt Weston, Matt Southton, and Matt Northton?

[@M.M.83-U]

Nice, but yoy forgot Matt Center(t)on.

[@texasbeast239]

Don't forget about the cousins: Matt North by Northeaston, etc. ... 🧭

[@TanitAkavirius]

There's Matt Easton, Weston, Suston and Middleton. Weirdly enough there is no Matt Norton, only Matt Mercia

[@corybourn8947]

Obviously the short pollaxe was for dwarves and halflings

[@soupordave]

That poleaxe pepper spray is just begging to be used by the underhanded villain in a movie! It's the perfect thing to make the history nerds groan and yell at their screens!

[@texasbeast239]

"A 'spritz-spritz' here and a 'spritz-spritz' there And a couple of 'Ow, my eyes!' That's how we work our days away On the bloody old Blinded Isles!" 🎶😵

[@jb7483]

Why a villain? If you're not cheating, you're not trying. Only losers fight fair.

[@CazadorSlayer]

+2 Blinding Poleaxe.

[@joaosimao6325]

"I have been Matt Easton, and I'll continue to be" Sounds suspiciously like something that someone who isn't a Matt Easton to say. Great vid btw. The "Tactical" Pollaxe with screw-in attachments is peak weapon design.

[@texasbeast239]

Sorta like, "I'm Batman ... Forever."

[@tombearclaw]

The modular poleaxe seems like an instructor’s weapon or in pairs minimizes the number of weapons you had to keep on hand

[@MrBottlecapBill]

Yes and it makes replacing damaged/ worn shafts easier as well. I don't know how well I'd trust one not to come apart on the battlefield however.

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

@@MrBottlecapBill World's first melee grapeshot XD

[@texasbeast239]

​​@@MrBottlecapBill Medieval blue Loctite 😂

[@jswets5007]

All new to me. The more I learn, the more I favor the pole axe.

[@sergeykomarov2203]

Do you guys know what happened to "Tod's workshop"? Tod has never been missing for so long.

[@scholagladiatoria]

Tod's okay, I spoke to him a couple of days ago. Just busy with other stuff, I think.

[@boogaboogaboogaable]

I watch his channel regularly

[@texasbeast239]

Hiding all the crossbows away after the recent proposed legislation...

[@Riceball01]

@@texasbeast239 Yes, I'm sure he took them on a boating trip to go use while fishing and they all tragically fell overboard when a rogue wave nearly capsized his boat.😆

[@texasbeast239]

@@Riceball01 Durned rogue waves. What can ye do? 🤷‍♂️

[@purplepothos5794]

de'i Liberi really pulling a blinder there, eh?

[@joshforbes1320]

I knew about the short ones and the cross guard ones. The modular one sounds really cool. Id bet it was made but maybe wasn't good in durability. I think even today we might have difficulty making the connection points stand up to the stresses, but im not engineer.

[@Jim58223]

Someone should test the pepper spray pollaxe but with flour or something and not actual pepper.

[@josephpotter5766]

Sun spurge [Euphorbia helioscopia] is very poisonous and a serious blistering agent. So it's less like 'pepper spray' and more like mustard gas.

[@russellfisher1303]

And they should wear goggles.

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

@@russellfisher1303 Considering it's delivered via "Getting smacked real hard in the head by a giant metal spike," they probably should test it on a dummy head not a person

[@Myomer104]

@@gearandalthefirst7027 Matt mentioned that delivery is by the blow being blocked.

[@NathanielSimpson1481]

Powder food colouring and goggles would give a fairly good test bed ... One for Tod's weird weapons?

[@conradharris8167]

I'm an enormous fan of bronze age history, and would love an exploration like this of any bronze age weapons, blades, spears, javelins, slings, or whatever! I should say, I am talking about pre-classical, from 4000-1000 BC

[@lexion21]

I didnt know about the staff of blindness, now thats some magic right there

[@knightforlorn6731]

I love the idea of the pepper spray axe. what a neat idea and yet one more reason to believe the concept of "enchanting" weapons with special elements. straight outta the movies with this one.

[@timwaeyaert8339]

I would like to suggest that the pole axe which has replaceable parts is not intended for combat or battle, but to allow people to try different parts much like a sales kit.

[@screwtape2713]

I knew all but the last one. Sounds like the sort of "dirty tricks" weapon a cheating dellist would use. And you could reasonably expect to get away with it, because after using the concoction, you could immediately kill your disoriented opponent, and nobody would ever know that he was blind and helpless when you did him in. Basically murder in the broad daylight of a judicial duel. The later equivalent would be the duelling pistol with the rifling that started a couple inches down the barrel, so it *looked* like a legitimate smoothbore weapon but had secret hidden rifling to make it much more accurate and give that duellist an unfair advantage over his opponent armed with the actual smoothbore pistol.

[@patrickwilliams3108]

Well, yes and no. Euphorbia (sunspurge, poinsettia, etc.) all contain a latex sap that has phytoirritants. Blindness is a 'relatively rare' result and would take many hours, perhaps even days to occur. But exposed skin and/or the conjuctiva of the eyes would swell and blister within 2 to 4 hours and would continue to become more severe for about 12 hours. If the sap (fresh or powdered) got into your nose, throat, or lungs ... well, within 2 to 4 hours you'd be in big trouble. So, if you used a weapon like this, and even if you managed to kill your opponent, within a couple of hours it would be quite noticeable that you had used it.

[@JohnFleshman]

So the Zombie spiked axe I made thats pretty much cane length is considered a pole axe? cool.

[@AnimeSunglasses]

A poll axe, actually. But yes!

[@MartijnVos]

I think even temporary blindness in a pollaxe duel is blindness for life.

[@ianchristian7949]

I guess a modular pike would be helpful to Landsknecht reenactors because it would be easier to get into a Morgan, Mini or 2CV and who can imagine a LK reenactor driving anything else?

[@TheSaneHatter]

The "short" and "modular" poleaxes could easily be the same implement, if you think about it, and that would be the most practical combo on the list. As for the "pepper-spray axe," if dei Liberi really didn't think that noblemen would use it, he wouldn't have provided the recipe for the powder: he would have supplied the recipe for the antidote, instead.

[@stonedog5547]

How to be a Nobleman. Be the second biggest B'stard around and be mates with the biggest B'stard around (because he's gonna be king sometime soon)....... Remember, its not cheating if you're winning.

[@Valdyr_Hrafn]

the pepperbox pollaxe was truly a surprise for me, but so incredibly fun and creative (in theory). will definitely try to sneak that one into my game

[@daltoncook209]

3:35 that is the most orc thing I’ve ever seen and I want one

[@smsfte4699]

I get pysched whenever Matt pulls out the Poleaxe!!!

[@WhatIfBrigade]

I had seen the one with a crossguard and I'm pretty sure I was aware of the short ones, but the lego poleaxe and chemical weapon poleaxe were a surprise. Not sure it could ever be made robust enough, but if you successfully made a modular poleax I think it would be a great way to sell accessories!

[@Csatadi]

3:46 Swordstaff. It has a wiki page if interested.

[@saikeshi]

I am loving all the recent Pollaxe videos. I am learning a lot, its very inspirational for creative endeavors.

[@morbihan9857]

That fourth one really caught me by surprise.

[@Aeiouuoiea777]

A modular pollaxe with my granny's wooden hoof on, would be unbeatable!

[@erikvarela2045]

As soon as "dismountable pollaxe" was mentioned, I immediately thought KURGAN FROM HIGHLANDER! I am pleased that I was 100% right.

[@Bamboozlenoodle]

Super interesting video, thanks!

[@yowza234]

"You're a noble man, surely you'd never do this, BUUT.. just in case--" - half of fiore lol

[@DONJUILIO]

This is great thank you

[@LivingManuscript]

I use a little shorty polaxe in group melees, it's pretty useful when things get crowded

[@Souptyme]

Bernard Cornwell describes the main character's band of archers in his novel Agincourt using cut-down pollaxes

[@AggroPhene]

I like how the battle rendition went soft at the end.

[@cloudcleaver23]

Base building is one of those things in the same category of crafting for me; sounds good on paper, haven't ever seen it actually be fun.

[@Mangowaffle]

You don't always have to make it short and concise, Matt. We're here because we like to hear you!

[@lalbus1607]

The modular pollaxe is really fascinating. I wonder how commom were screws on this period and what were their intended purposes.

[@evanmorris1178]

Screws were in use, but were individually hand cut and filed. Often used in wheel lock guns, attaching lance rests and haute pieces to armor. You can see them in “ Der Weiss Koenig” for instance.

[@bigcunt5689]

A tonne of complex metalwork that’s common today was invented during the Middle Ages, just not possible to mass produce yet

[@nicksluder4764]

That's awesome! Definitely never heard of the pepper spray one, very clever!

[@chonconnor6144]

Loved the Kurgan reference, better to burn out than fade away.

[@scottchadwick1247]

Poison sprayer pollaxe, huh, sweet. Sounds like something that would be useful in d&d.

[@jamesj4827]

Just the scew in poleaxe was new to me, very cool

[@titanscerw]

Sophisticated and intricately prepared pollaxe and concoction just to arrange for some good ol' shankening to happen :D

[@alafosca5724]

Fiore the type of guy that would sneak ninja techniques in a fencing manuscript lmao

[@LCCWPresents]

I know it’s part of your Dian martial tradition but the nine bladed whip sword is always cool to research

[@not-a-theist8251]

Love the last one.

[@yellowboot6629]

Pure Beauty ❣️ Thanks

[@GoldenChild27]

I would love another video exclusive to the modular Polaxe so fascinating

[@scottchadwick1247]

Hells to the YES! That sounds awesome!

[@megaoptamas759]

New video yay!

[@NDOhioan]

Interesting! I'd never heard about these pollaxe varieties before! Thanks for sharing, Matt! If you're looking into other Medieval weapons to do videos on, would it be possible to do a video on clubs? I know they were a fairly common sidearm for poor soldiers in earlier parts of the medieval period, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of information about them out there compared to other medieval bludgeons (hammers, maces, etc.) I'd love to learn more if you'd be willing to do a video on them!

[@overlorddante]

Perhaps it's blunt because it's not actually an ax blade and more of a thin hammer. Kinda like one big flange. Makes it easier to bash joint armor.

[@JustClaude13]

I only knew the first two. The chemical weapon sword is the most surprising one.

[@-RONNIE]

Thank you for the info. I did not know about that one I would rather have the older medieval kind

[@mikewilson858]

Oh that last one is ingenious. I think some orcs or goblins might like that one.

[@matthewzito6130]

If you did manage to blind an opponent, you'd probably want to maintain your distance and land heavy strikes, rather than closing to grappling range where your opponent doesn't necessarily need to see to know where you are.

[@anthonyjbargeman5280]

Number 4 was a pleasant surprise

[@Riceball01]

Tod really needs to make a hollow pool axe for you test out, Matt. I'd be curious to see how well it works and whether or not you'd up dusting yourself half the time. Obvisouly don't fill it with FIroe's concoction, or anything like it, but maybe talcum powder, salt, or whatever, while wearing safety glasses.

[@asa-punkatsouthvinland7145]

But Matt I do not want you to keep it short!

[@guyagena8205]

"Do pay attention, 007, that is not a toy."

[@Tommiart]

I nominate the stuff of nightmares: the spadroon poleaxe. (I think Matt just sneezed)😅

[@Paladin357]

I don't study Fiore and didn't know about the hollow one, but did know about the others. Loved the vid you did with Tod about the crossguard pollaxe. I personally would call it the sword-hilted pollaxe. I'm planning on making one at some point; just have to finish all the other projects on my list. I've seen the modular pollaxe before and found it quite interesting. I imagine that if Tallhoffer himself never had one made, someone studying his work afterward would have. I'm sure Tod would do a wonderful job making one if he has the time. Can't think of any other makers off the top of my head who work on stuff like that, but I'm sure they're out there.

[@ironanvil1]

Christian Cameron has the pepper pollaxe used in one of the William Gold novels - Hawkswood's Sword iirc

[@gadlicht4627]

It would be interesting to make pepper spray polaxe with non-harmful substance that mimics consistency of pepper-spray and see how well it would actually work...

[@emarsk77]

The other one on that page of the Getty manuscript is pretty interesting as well.

[@koosh138]

I've been fascinated with possibly getting the glaive at 3:30 custom made for me, but I'll probably never get around to it. The other stuff was new though.

[@piotrjeske4599]

Very cool

[@edwardpate6128]

I've always felt these were amazing weapons which gave a non-mounted foot soldier a very effective weapon.

[@gorbalsboy]

Saw a guy using a blinding powder during ninjitsu training and it was very effective (just flour, actual one would have pepper and iron dust also)love these oddball weapons 😊

[@baltasartranconywidemann5129]

Some modular pollaxes even come with a throwable pommel.

[@pressurechangerecord]

Great!

[@davidbrewer359]

That one weird weapon that armourers hate.

[@speakp4ngolin]

Time to find a short, modular, pepper containing, crossguard pollax

[@dominikdalek]

I'm not sure if you know that, Matt, but if you blind someone temporarily so you can stab them to death, you literally blinded them for life.

[@TheUncleRuckus]

The hollow poleaxe is new to me the others I've seen before.

[@chadgarrison5220]

Hey Matt; Do you have videos where you demonstrate Poleaxe techniques?

[@BGH1961]

re: Fiore - "blinded for life"... well, yes, definitely the last two minutes of one's life...

[@Wodan85]

A video about the pretzel guard would be interesting, why and where was it used?

[@AjenjoAnejo]

I am a simple man. I see a pollaxe, I click.

[@blakebailey22]

Didn't Fiore draw several crazy conceptual weapons? Could you make a dedicated video about his or other medieval people's weird conceptual weapons?

[@uncleheavy6819]

I wonder if the modular poleax was the inspiration behind the modular musket.

[@jamespuckett9753]

That pepper spray pollaxe is fantastic. I'll chuckle for a week.

[@toby6638]

I'd like to see a video about the Flamberge. Was it just for controlling pikes? Is it for some specific wind-bind techniques? Would it cut comparably well to a straight blade?

[@LouseGrouse]

Random question that stumbled into my head seeing this video in my feed: Have you considered making a video in which you state areas you don’t have expertise/knowledge in, especially areas you’d like to know more about? This could be subjects in HEMA and other martial arts, or basically anything I suppose. Could be helpful in setting up future collaboration or other interesting projects ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@draven86]

Blinding pepper pollaxe AKA the Ninja pollaxe 🤣

[@RyanDB]

Possibly for life. All 30 seconds of it.

[@henryfleischer404]

I did know about the short pollaxe, but not the long one...

[@Leftyotism]

I'd have made that blinding mixture and put it into clay balls that break upon impact, or something similar, and have had them slung into enemy formations. Maybe they did that or something similar at one point in medieval Europe? 🤔

[@barretharms655]

The reason he would have put that in. There is most likely because it is possible that it could be used on you and what a better way to avoid it than to know how it is done and thereby how to avoid it. When can put flower in there? In order to figure out how to avoid being attacked by it.

[@nathanielreichert4638]

I’ll have to use the pepper spray one in my DND campaign😂

[@adenbishop9683]

Would there be possible a "back scabbard" for short polaxe? Something to hang it on the back while on the move

[@garythomson713]

Can you do a video on the weapons of the Maori? They never seemed to develop ranged weapons, instead they focused on edged wood/stone/bone fighting clubs and little or no armour.

[@peterchristiansen9695]

So, this is a Matt Easton-version of a ‘YT-short’…? 😁

[@scholagladiatoria]

I know, under 10 minutes!

[@crazypetec-130fe7]

Still hoping you'll give us your thoughts on the short polearm known as the Vulcan Lirpa. Please accompany that video with old school Trek fight music.

[@Leftyotism]

"Honestly this time!"