Medieval Weapons of the 15th Century | Polearms & Side Arms | Wars of the Roses

[@lanzknecht8599]

Finally we meet the entire History Squad! Thank you both for your entertaining and highly informative work!

[@thehistorysquad]

Our pleasure!

[@strydyrhellzrydyr1345]

Honestly... I have a feeling their are more people in the Squad... Omg.. I was gonna say. What about the camera person... That may very well be the wife... Orrr... A close friend.. But I'll be damned. I guessed right. Lol Cheers mate... She does a pretty good job at it to...

[@rolandexclusive6306]

Hear hear! Fantastic channel!

[@hadrianwall9157]

Yes, I agree. Thank you both for your dedication and fantastic work you do. The history community is fortunate to have you both.

[@ronanogrady7298]

That's s brilliant! Well done ye both. She's fabulous Kevin, and patient too I'm guessing 😉😃

[@cameron.the.drummer4834]

By far my favourite history channel of all time

[@dancing_odie]

Amazing stuff Kevin! Its great to finally see the whole team. What a wonderful wife you have to come out and film you playing with your toys.

[@Specter_1125]

In case anyone would like to know, the pollaxes are shorter because they’re intended to be used in armor. Even though other pole arms out reach it, armored men would be able to close the distance thanks a to their armor and their allies, where they will have a significant advantage.

[@DizzyMarrow]

Another benefit to them is they commonly had a spike on the butt end which made them a lot more versatile than other pole weapons when in closer quarters too.

[@lifeschool]

Nice to hear about all the different pole arms. Also to meet the History Squad TEAM!

[@byronwolters2363]

I can only imagine how history class would have been, if the instructor would have been kitted out like this - everyone would be clamouring to sign up - no worries about filling seats! Have you ever thought of doing a set of videos on siege engines? I'd love to see you build a Ballista or a Catapult and laying siege to - Dundurn. Maybe an enormous wooden rabbit... . Cheers!

[@thehistorysquad]

😂 now there's an idea 😜

[@zentark360]

Please let your son Josh know that he has an awesome guy for a dad. Much thanks to the fantastic armorer and supportive crew as well.

[@thehistorysquad]

Thanks mate, will do 👍

[@jetplane10]

Battle-axe, nice weapon. Pole-axed..a phrase I heard but didn't know at all. I am Welsh. Can't beat a spear really but the modern Welshman, I know favours the hammer lol The cutter-de-breche strongly resembles a modern day sewing instrument, a miniture version. Dangerous work doing the demonstrations. The triangular blade is a shocker for the wound it would inflict..but I bet the bollock knife is most sort after because of the name. Great collection to see 😀

[@philipmason3218]

Josh bravely taking one for the team there 😂. I really wouldn't fancy taking a bollock knife for real. Now we know what a bollocking actually is. Thanks to the crew for another interesting film.

[@thehistorysquad]

Haha, cheers Philip 👍🏻

[@brian5832]

Aww! You two, along with your son are great. I really enjoy your films.

[@thehistorysquad]

Cheers Brian 👍🏻

[@mrsillywalk]

We are all mad about something. Great to have someone to share it with. Quality work, old chap and the missus too.

[@thehistorysquad]

Glad you enjoyed it, cheers 👍🏻

[@faceomlette]

Best history channel/show ever! Glad we got to see the whole squad!

[@dennis2376]

Nice to see the rest of the the crew. Thank you and have a good week.

[@knowshet313]

Thank you for the wonderful history. You truly are a treasure you and your wife both

[@lucdrouin]

Charming woman! You are a most fortunate man, Kevin!

[@thehistorysquad]

Haha, yep I know. Cheers Luc!

[@projectinlinesix]

Hi Julie! You're doing a great job! Thank you both!!

[@thehistorysquad]

Hey Chase, you're welcome 👍🏻

[@soma4u289]

I like the developing weapons point in your presentation and also the demonstrations by those wicked fellows which gives a clearer understanding of the weapon shapes.

[@hazmatt4637]

How many times can I see this man and not get bored ? None. This man has an armored ticker. Love the history you share while lessening is awesome

[@thehistorysquad]

Cheers Hazmatt 👍🏻

[@tedgreen6]

I had no idea that there were so many and varied types of these hand-held weapons. They're quite frightening. Very nice to meet your lovely family, too. Thanks again for showing a side of history unavailable any place else on KZbin.

[@thehistorysquad]

Cheers Ted!!

[@Xplora213]

The demonstration of the bill, the hammers and the hooks was extremely illuminating for me… it makes sense that if you can trip someone or get their plate armour to lock out at the end of the range of motion that forces them to ground is extremely dangerous, and is a very smart response to the ability to resist sword attacks. Dented armour eventually stops moving properly. Very clever.

[@sharonwhiteley6510]

What a treat to meet THE HISTORY SQUAD. You really don't realize how effective earlier weapons could be until actually shown and explained. Thanks HISTORY SQUAD

[@mistac5050]

Another great video Kevin! Thanks for introducing us to the other half of the Squad!

[@thehistorysquad]

You're welcome 👍🏻

[@jacobvisor3034]

Props to Josh for eating a few pretty good shots and being a trooper

[@thehistorysquad]

Absolutely 👍🏻

[@jacobvisor3034]

@@thehistorysquad terribly sweet of you to introduce us to your wife as well, buddy. Your channel is incredible and you guys are a killer team.

[@thehistorysquad]

@@jacobvisor3034 cheers mate 👍🏻

[@muffinsponge2496]

Easily one of my favorite KZbin channels. So much passion, so much charm and charisma. I hope this channel continues to grow and grow! Keep at it, Kevin and thehistorysquad!

[@thehistorysquad]

Thanks, we will do.

[@franksnyder1038]

Thanks to the Hicks family.

[@thehistorysquad]

Just as soon as I can get back to the UK 👍🏻

[@connor7o7]

This man is just so wholesome lol. You can really feel his enthusiasm for the subjects he covers and it’s a really joy to watch

[@kingpoxy2289]

Kevin just straight up standing in the back smiling at everything and just watching and adding onto the history is just amazing

[@3928damian]

Thank you, for the "peak behind the curtain" and thank you to your lovely Lady wife, for helping to bring us all of these wonderful videos!

[@thehistorysquad]

No worries Erik, it's our pleasure 👍🏻

[@thomasbell7033]

Another winner Kevin. Love seeing your subscriber count rise. Quality will be rewarded.

[@johngolombek61]

Great video again sir, the weapons you shown amazing. I liked particularly the one that trapped you. Cheers to Miss Julie for the great camera 📸 work. Thank you all for the great content from NY .

[@thehistorysquad]

Cheers buddy 👍🏻

[@matthewhudson5685]

thehistorysquad is producing some of the best videos out there! No silly cartoons, camera tricks or terrible music. Just simple facts and demonstrations. Well said, clean and clear.

[@thehistorysquad]

Wow, thanks Matthew 👍🏻

[@bobbypugh2666]

Quite the honor to meet the Mrs. Hats off to your "better half" for allowing us to share ya. Love these weapon films! That poll axe was a nasty bugger, and really all of em are. Our innovation and imagination really shines when it comes to defending ourselves.

[@thehistorysquad]

It certainly does.

[@keithskelhorne3993]

brilliant video, I really like this type of history. Keep up the good work

[@matthewhudson5685]

So well done. Simple, honest and informative.

[@d.b.4201]

I do too!! Thank you! Im binge watching now! 👍

[@owenshale8719]

Thank you for your service Kevin and and two All veterans

[@theidahotraveler]

Yes!!!! Cheers buddy thank you! From Idaho 🤠 Yeehaw

[@thehistorysquad]

You bet!

[@arthurdoucette1786]

Greetings once again from nova Scotia, what a lovely video, I love your natural gift for teaching, it really shows. I also enjoyed meeting the other half of the team, what more does a man need, hello Mrs History Squad. great video, thank you once again, and as always best regards, Arthur

[@thehistorysquad]

Cheers Arthur - I hope you're keeping well 👍🏻

[@kenreeve6549]

Kevin and Julie ! what a great team thanks for all your effort

[@thehistorysquad]

Our pleasure!

[@freddyfagerstrm8561]

as both a history enthusiast and a beforeigner it is a joy to see this content, i like the way you do this and i give you my most humble and sincere thanks. it is also nice to see a family do something fun and that everyone is happy with it, i look forward to see more content from you, what you do is really interesting and fun but most importantly educational.

[@thehistorysquad]

Thank you very much!

[@davidstrother496]

Thanks again for a very informative video. They had some nasty weapons for the time, combat back them would have been a hard and bloody close up affair. Nice to meet Mrs. History Squad too.

[@ChuntyCops]

My 13 yr old son and I really enjoy your videos. It’s not only the great information that we love, but also the way it’s told by yourself. Thanks a lot for doing what you do. Big love from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@thehistorysquad]

Wow, that's great to hear, thanks both for watching 👍🏻

[@petehall889]

That was a very interesting display of arms and their uses, Kevin - first class! I was unaware of some of the polearms. Hope Josh wasn't permanently wounded! Great to meet the very talented Julie, to whom we should be grateful for her skilled camera work. What a team you make! Looking forward to the next film...

[@thehistorysquad]

Thanks Pete, Josh was fine bless him, he's a great sport and yes, I'm very proud of Julie too, we're a good team 👍🏻

[@froglight]

For real I felt like I was in Lancaster Basic Training. Took my fear of knights right away.

[@petehall889]

@@froglight I see what you mean, but I did a double take when I saw your reference to Lancaster Basic Training, as my father flew Lancaster bombers on his second tour of operations during WW2. I got caught in a time warp there! Both the Lancastrians and Yorkists would have used the same weapons and I wouldn't want to have been on the wrong end of any of them. From my own point of view, I still think Richard 111 was a good chap and a victim of sustained character assassination by the Tudors. I'm a white rose man...

[@froglight]

@@petehall889 that’s so cool! I’m American but I’ve been getting into Tudor history lately, mostly thanks to Mr. Hicks great videos. I’m still learning but I’ve told my wife (loves Anne Boleyn) that I’m now a Queen Mary 1 man 😅

[@petehall889]

@@froglightExcellent! Well, you can't go wrong with Kevin. His presentations are very well researched and entertaining too. Britain has such a long history that there's always plenty to explore. Very best wishes from England to you and your wife, Pete

[@JCOwens-zq6fd]

Well done as always gents! Its always nice to see some of these other weapons demonstrated for people. Everyone thinks swords, knights on horseback etc. However its the common soldier & their pole arms that were the real backbone of the army. As infantry still is today actually. "God loves the infantry"

[@bostonrailfan2427]

denting…that alone made my day: it makes a lot of sense to damage and minimize movement than to outright kill. i honestly never saw that being discussed on history shows before. you set yourself apart here, it’s impromptu yet it gave better information than some BBC programs! you made my day with mentioning a weapon never seen by you before, and it was a nasty one at that

[@thehistorysquad]

Thanks for your kind comments, they're very much appreciated 👍🏻

[@matthewhudson5685]

There are several accounts of knights having to be cut - or hammered- out of their armor after a battle because it was so dented. So you are correct. Damaging a knight's armor to immobilize/impair him was just as effective as killing him. Like knocking the treads off a tank!

[@kwalorblmn5295]

Every video is just brilliant Thanks Kevin for the great content

[@thehistorysquad]

You're most welcome 👍🏻

[@drboone357]

Thanks to you and Julie for all your hard work. Outstanding!

[@eddier9455]

I find the medieval weaponry and how they were used fascinating. Really do enjoy watching this channel.

[@7thangelad586]

I wish I had one of every weapon you covered. So awesome to see these!

[@alanhoff2762]

Great information, explained well, things you never thought about. To often I think about medieval weapons I think swords, spears, but this is a different level of information. Well done as always.

[@poorboyman5565]

I have to say that your representation of what it used to be like living in the Medieval Times is most interesting. I enjoy your videos immensely.

[@thehistorysquad]

Thank you 👍🏻

[@MZeki-gw2xg]

Great video and collection, amazing team; wish you all the best.

[@michaelnagler9691]

very great content as always, thanks to the whole crew!

[@als3022]

Your son is a good sport being the one that gets poked at with the weapons. And that is an interesting to see all those different weapons. Love to see one for ranged weapons of the War of the Roses time. Know the longbow gets all the love but know it would be interesting to see others that were used. And cool we get to see the other side of the history squad. Good to see.

[@eduedu7986]

Keep up the good work! I enjoy your channel :)

[@phillipallen3259]

Nice to finally meet the one who gets it done! Always a pleasure to see Josh. I love the work you folks do. The more history we learn the better off we are. I look forward to the next time you get on the England.

[@thehistorysquad]

Our pleasure! I think next time, I'll try to arrange a meet up and put a post out on here inviting people to come and hang out & share a beer 👍🏻

[@bcfcbennjy99]

Great family you have got there Kevin. Keep up the great videos. I'm going to Warwick castle again on Wednesday for the umpteenth time, and I still cant wait!

[@thehistorysquad]

Have fun!

[@prawnenjoyer]

This was probably my favorite video of yours so far. I loved seeing this assortment of weaponry. Thanks again for another wonderful video! And thanks to Julie for shooting this!

[@allanchurm]

pleased i found this channel

[@sugoma9323]

It's really interesting to see how the swords were advancing. From the common sword to the elegant Sabre. Well done as usual.

[@ivanstrydom8417]

Such pleasant people. Splendid video sir. I always love the common arming sword.

[@patrickmcmahon6303]

Loved it, yet again. Especially the way some weapons are /were used. So this lead me on to a story I heard about a Knight who's headgear was so badly beaten (in an arranged) fight that, his men had to physically rearrange to shape of his bashed in helmet,, just so

[@patrickmcmahon6303]

Sorry I hit the wrong key. Yust so they could remove his helmet, he'd been beaten so heavily they had to have blacksmiths re-manipulate his headgear,,, just so he could get out of his own (obviously. effective) metal protection. Is this likely? Also without damaging your lovely son, it would be good to see how much of a beating can a suit of armour take,,? And is it worth it, I mean wearing 50lbs of metal, when you can be unbalanced by a well placed implement, unbalanced by a poor man's farming implement? I guess I'm looking to go back in time and see it?? And I suspect that the experienced fighter of "the day" will have a greater advantage... Love it all Kevin. Please don't stop.

[@thehistorysquad]

Yes, that's a great story Patrick and true, it was William Marshall at a joust and apparently he couldn't collect his prize. 👍🏻

[@stephenfarmer3908]

Magic as an old longbow man myself I really enjoyed it Thankyou and please do more 👍.

[@bassemb]

Another excellent presentation. I had never heard of or seen a couteau de brêche, fascinating. And a thank you to Julie as well, bless her.

[@thehistorysquad]

Our pleasure!

[@frogmad13]

I am loving this channel. I like learning about medieval weapons.

[@darkmattergamesofficial]

Wonderful video. Great to see the whole crew! Thank you both!

[@johndemaria9408]

It was interesting to see how the pole arms were used. It cleared up why the odd shapes of some.

[@davidc6510]

An extra thumbs up for Julie! Great summary of these nasty big and little weapons from the 15th century. I love the content! Keep it going Kevin. Thanks for sharing.

[@thehistorysquad]

Cheers David, will do 👍

[@MatTeo-ph2iv]

thank you for your content, they are extremely intresting and we can see thr love and passion you put in every video. love from italy

[@milieu7015]

Your channel is very entertaining and fun to watch! I'd love to see more of WW1/2, like your gas mask video, that was probably my favorite video of that era you have covered.

[@ponyote]

So nice to meet the other member of the squad. Thanks for the lovely videos and keep up the great work.

[@thehistorysquad]

Cheers Wayland 👍🏻

[@OdachiForge]

Awesome video, with lots of info! Thank you guys for making these! They really inspire me and it’s always exciting when I see a new one has been published.

[@thehistorysquad]

Great stuff, thanks very much!!

[@daneofarrell9460]

Julie is adorable!!! I truely thought you had a small team at the very least, well done to the both of you

[@thehistorysquad]

Thank you so much! She's a gem 👍🏻

[@joshuayates6186]

I’ve seen a few old videos on YT of you doing presentations in Sherwood Forest and wanted to ask if you’d ever do something like that for us KZbin folk. Thank you for your contribution to the teaching of our fascinating history!

[@thehistorysquad]

Hi Joshua, do you mean about Robin Hood? If you mean medieval history/archery, just check out my archery playlist, you'll find some videos there.

[@joshuayates6186]

@@thehistorysquad Sorry, yeah the Robin Hood presentations! Would be great to get one.

[@mickusable]

As usual Kev, another interesting, informative video, lovely to meet Julie, great team, keep up the good work, looking forward to anything on the 1st Nation peoples of America/Canada 🤘🏹

[@thehistorysquad]

I'm going to be taking a trip out to a local battlefield here in Saskatchewan, for a video walk around sometime next month 👍🏻

[@mickusable]

@@thehistorysquad Brilliant, look forward to that 🤘🏹

[@bacon81]

Great video. Learned a lot. Very fun. Julie is a fair lady indeed 🤓

[@HzHzder]

You're simply an amazing crew. Thank you.

[@thehistorysquad]

Thank you too!

[@tudyk21]

3:38 The height of British excitement. wow Just teasing a little, men. Wonderful demonstrating the weapons. 👍🏻

[@jumpfortyfour9965]

great to see julie behind a great man a grater woman . history comes alive with your squad thank you all

[@thehistorysquad]

Our pleasure! Thanks 👍🏻

[@mjnomy]

Thank you both for the content. Cheers from the states!

[@PoInTmAn003]

Keep em coming Kevin, my favourite channel at the moment, cheers.

[@thehistorysquad]

I hope we can keep it that way, cheers mate 👍🏻

[@taintedunicorn3551]

The bollock dagger being a pick, could you go into more detail about that? I have a similar blade myself todd cutler made it

[@MrCombatmedic00]

You prove once again why history rocks

[@thehistorysquad]

😃

[@seanhennessy57]

Great team, many thanks guys and girls.

[@trime1851]

Very interesting - thanks for posting! good to see the "whole crew"!

[@thehistorysquad]

You bet 👍🏻

[@TheDeeps6911]

I recommend the claymore for the battle against Ornstein & Smough. Another Banger Video!

[@stephengarrett8076]

Nice to see you ! Thank you both so much for your knowledge.

[@thehistorysquad]

Our pleasure! Cheers Stephen 👍🏻

[@joeklasen2845]

Nice to see the other half of the crew

[@Grizzlox]

Fantastic video

[@zerotonic2659]

As always: I lover your videos! Keep up the good work and see you next time. Thank you Mr. Hicks.

[@thehistorysquad]

Thanks again! 👍🏻

[@nancytestani1470]

Simply Fantastic..

[@j.g.elmslie9901]

Not sure it'll be of interest or make you rethink the equipment portrayals, but we have exceptionally little evidence, textual or archaeological for the use of langes messer in the British Isles. There's a tiny number of tasak style shorter knives with nagels ( to the best of my knowledge, 3 found so far, I'm sure there's more), and a single contemporary depiction in art. I've had anecdotal stories of a single messer-like find in a Scottish Hebridean find context but have yet to see any photograph, or examine the piece myself to verify it. So far, however, there's nothing verifiable in excess of about a 30cm blade length that I know of in a British context. It should perhaps also be noted that copper-alloy hilted quillon daggers with a cast "fan" shaped projection seem to be a more common British ethnographic substitution for the shorter tasak style messers, a design style which so far hasn't really been noticed by the reenactment community - not surprising as only a few survive intact, and none are in major museum collections. However, the archaeological record of partial remnants is packed with dozens of examples of the sort of cross guard; in the Portable Antiquities scheme, take a search for find ID: SUR-8BC009, LEIC-F0FBD6, and IOW-585324 (an excellent indicator of single-edged blade profiles in that example) to see just three which are typical of the group - its clearly a popular style, now almost entirely forgotten. For sword-sized single-edged arms, It seems that the "Wakefield hangar" types are our ethnographic equivalent to the messer, replacing it in fashion, and mirroring it in function - the side guards on the likes of RA IX.2627 serve the exact same function as the messer's nagel, after all. The evidence suggests that the hangars develop roughly parallel or just lagging a decade behind the mainland European messers, in terms of design intent, although earlier pre-wakefield hangar type single-edged swords do exist in the archaeological record - Royal Armouries' IX.2638. from the Castillon Hoard, is an excellent example, earlier examples exist too, from excavations in London. On the subject of Wakefield hangars, it should be noted that the use of copper-alloy pommels is much more common in Wakefield Hangar group items than messers (where copper alloy components are almost non-existent over the entire continent), an intact copper-alloy pomelled example of a Wakefield Hangar is known from a private collection, its find-place was the stream of Cock Beck, Towton, and multiple other examples of identical copper-alloy pommels have been logged in the PAS database, which is good evidence for one of the first centres of national blade-smithing at any sort of scale. Evidence of any blade-smithing in the British Isles larger than civilian tableware is almost non-existent, compared to the industrial scope of the Germanic centres of production in Passau and Solingen, so those copper-alloy survivors demonstrate that it did exist to a degree.) Its also of note that there's a small but significant body of surviving examples of quillon daggers with the characteristic "hammer" head profiles of the ferrous pommeled examples of the Wakefield group exist, but which are again under-represented in reenactment, where a Blues Brothers-eque situation of two dagger types, Bollock and Rondel has become a little entrenched, in the style of both kinds of music, Country, and Western... However, returning to messers, given the evidence I've mentioend there, outside of reenactment of Stoke, with the presence of Swiss-German mercenaries who might have carried similar items, I would be highly cautious of the messer being appropriate for the period or geography of the WOTR. As for the cinquedea, I would be interested to see any evidence of its use outside of North Italy before the start of the 16th century, and am extremely sceptical of its use in the British Isles in the 1480's, let alone earlier. I'm afraid that strikes me as very much being equivalent to doing a WW2 BEF reenactment portrayal carrying a Kalashnikov...

[@kiwifruit27]

Lovely to see the whole squad. Keep up the great work

[@thehistorysquad]

Cheers Kiwi 👍🏻

[@michellemichaels3258]

Wonderful to meet the whole crew ❤

[@yvonnepetty3400]

Very interesting. Thank you Julie looks lovely. You make a great team. 👍 😊🇿🇦

[@patriot5.56]

Another fantastic video! Thank you Kevin!

[@thehistorysquad]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@sharhune2735]

Nice to see my wife's namesake behind the camera. Ha Ha. Always love to see how historical weapons were used and love the videos. Even though you have a small crew, your putting up quality content. Take care, Kevin

[@thehistorysquad]

Cheers!! We appreciate it 👍🏻

[@zombiehampster1397]

I love the fact that you and your wife are working together on this, that is awesome. Love your channel as well :)

[@thehistorysquad]

Thanks so much!! We're glad you enjoy it 👍🏻

[@fredsimmons2793]

Impressive, a good dose of reality,Sir!

[@salty5402]

Great informative video! Really great content; and Kevin, you are a very authentic and engaging host!

[@kirkmorrison6131]

Great video the weapons and their uses were quite interesting. Say high to Ms Julie

[@frankieblue1945]

The Couteau de breche, to me, seems very fitting... it looks like a simple can opener.

[@thehistorysquad]

It certainly does 👍🏻