What is a partisan?

Today we take a look at an original early 16th century partisan, a type of elite pole-arm from the late medieval and Renaissance period. Dr. Nathan Clough explains what characteristics these weapons had, how they were used, and some of the wide variations in how they were designed and constructed. We also take a look at a custom partisan that we have recently completed and compare it to the original antique.
Arms and Armor Inc. is one of the world's most famous makers of historically accurate European weapons from the past millennium. Our small team of artisans hand craft all of our products at our shop in Minneapolis, MN. USA. Our hand-made products are designed and built to look, feel, and function just like the historical originals on which they are based.
Check out our webpage here: www.arms-n-arm...
And our pole-arms here: www.arms-n-arm....
Nathan Clough, Ph.D. is Vice President of Arms and Armor and a member of the governing board of The Oakeshott Institute. He is a historical martial artist and a former university professor of cultural geography. He has given presentations on historical arms at events including Longpoint and Combatcon, and presented scholarly papers at, among others, The International Congress on Medieval Studies.
Craig Johnson is the Production Manager of Arms and Armor and Secretary of The Oakeshott Institute. He has taught and published on the history of arms, armor and western martial arts for over 30 years. He has lectured at several schools and Universities, WMAW, HEMAC, 4W, and ICMS at Kalamazoo. His experiences include iron smelting, jousting, theatrical combat instruction and choreography, historical research, European martial arts and crafting weapons and armor since 1985.

[@lyooyiylklykyokyklky]

Partisans are cool, they seem like a fantastic weapon for dealing with unarmoured/lightly armoured folk. Have you guys done any test cutting with your replica? Would love to see a follow up video with some if you do!

[@shapsterpentius9720]

partisan has to be the worst nightmare for a swordsman in one-on-one combat or duel if a normal spear gives you a considerable advantage this weapon if used well would be the worst headache for someone with a sword

[@edi9892]

Not really. Many poleaxes hit harder and will crash through any block. The Japanese Jumonji Yari and the European Spetum have sharp wings that can cut when the spear is pulled back.

[@epicwoad8999]

​@@edi9892 reach is often more important then power depending on the circumstances

[@edi9892]

@@epicwoad8999 Sure, but there are other factors at work as well. For instance, against an unarmoured swordsman, an arrowhead on a long bamboo pole could be a total nightmare, as it combines length and speed. If you use a partisan instead, it's shorter and a lot heavier. The advantage is that the blade is longer, hits harder, and the opponent can't just chop through the pole... Plus, it's better at parrying. However, it's much slower by comparison. A nice middle ground would be a small spearhead on a long wooden shaft. It's not as durable, and can't chop that great, but it's probably able to outmaneuver a guy with a partisan. You can get away with a much longer wooden shaft and still safe weight! Adding small sideblades, make it a lot nastier, as small movements can still cause some serious harm, even when you thought that he'd missed...

[@emeralddragongaming2930]

I also read that partisans were used against bear attacks and other large animals in Europe and especially in what is now U.S. by the European settlers in combination with an early firearms and were find quite useful

[@taistelusammakko5088]

Whoever cut this thing in half did not care jack shit about this historical beauty. It makes me mad

[@armsarmorinc.4153]

alot were done to ship them over more cost effectively.

[@TDSFounder]

I didn't know the blades got that big. That blade is so long you could take away the haft and have a sword.

[@amosbackstrom5366]

Cool video and great build, I've never heard of this weapon before.. I definitely think it makes more sense to put the langet in line with the blade as you did. Not only is it in the right position to parry a blow but all the material is where it needs to reinforce the head from a heavy swing. That strip of steel would have to rip in tension for the staff to break off at the head, whereas in the other orientation it could just crinkle sideways offering little resistance.

[@JeanLucCaptain]

I can already see the partisan warfare brewing in the comment section.

[@The_PotionSeller]

I'm looking to make my own out of a leaf bladed sword when I get some more time in the workshop. It'll be too short to be of battlefield length, but 7ft long is good enough for me to feel happy about it. It'll be my sword based pollaxe

[@davidhughett6081]

Fascinating weapon.

[@johng1097]

Loved this info !

[@pickcomb332]

Needs a restoration video

[@DogsaladSalad]

Nice work

[@hansjohannsen6722]

Polearm love!

[@rallyl7053]

Wow those are both beautiful weapons. What is the price of you making one?

[@NathanClough-rt7hs]

We haven’t worked out a production price yet, but between 1k and 2k

[@stevenclifton624]

Lovely, well done, particularly like the inletting on the langets. Given the long blades and the tremendous amount of force involved, are these found broken often?

[@NathanClough-rt7hs]

Most existing pieces are in palaces and armories and such. I suspect broken ones were recycled historically into shorter blades eyc

[@kingmasterlord]

now I'm just imagining game with a sword called Broken Partisan where the remnants of the langlets are bent into the broken wood for a pommel

[@thomaslambert5317]

My favorite Leonard Cohen song

[@vyr01]

Excellent -- shaft diameter? how long is the socket? how deep does the shaft go into it? what kind of wood? and how much?

[@shadowthegreat4304]

I almost guarantee it's ash wood

[@armsarmorinc.4153]

The shaft is 1.25" ash. The socket is about eight inches long and the shaft is shaped to pressure fit. We haven't figured out a price for a production piece, but a custom one would be between 1k and 2k depending on size, thickness, langet design, decoration etc.

[@zoffrielee8335]

look like a gladius on a stick to me

[@Deeznutz002]

Sweeeet, absolutely outstanding. Appreciate what you lot do.

[@armsarmorinc.4153]

Much appreciated!

[@epicwoad8999]

Partisan are honestly one of my favorite types of polearms. They are one of the most versatile weapons in my opinion. Great videos sub!

[@bruisedhelmet8819]

Damn the fools that damaged that beautiful murder-sword-stick of yore.

[@boxingpanda6515]

It's very dangerous to put your videos on in the background because it makes me want to buy another item every single time.

[@armsarmorinc.4153]

our evil plan becomes apparent :-)

[@hellequingentlemanbastard9497]

A friend of mine made me some years ago a Partisan that has 2 sets of wings. 2 smaller ones 4 inches above 2 bigger ones. Also mine has a counter-spike at the end and is a bit shorter, something around 1.9 m from tip to tip. I prefer this pole-arm to my Pole-axe, Halberd, Italian Bill or Glaive, although I cannot use it in training fights since it's very sharp, but it keeps unwanted "house-guest" in their place.

[@hellequingentlemanbastard9497]

@@tatumergo3931- I don't know what "Hard2hurt" is? But since we have been more or less disarmed in South Africa over the years, anything that keeps violent home-invaders at bay and as hyena, shark or crododile bait, helps.

[@hellequingentlemanbastard9497]

@@tatumergo3931 - Thanks. I wish we had that too. Unfortunately our constitution is fairly NEW and those who helped writing it are the ones that have been driving the disarmarment of the law-abiding. The criminals don't care, they buy the formerly legal and over the years confiscated weapons from the corrupt police.

[@entropy11]

I don't think I've seen a partisan with a blade that big before.

[@raphlvlogs271]

you can use the unhafted head of a partisan as a short sword similar to the Cinquedea

[@beepboop204]

[@Mr3Xpensive]

weird question, i'd imagine its a pain in the ass, but what if you did a spiral layettes (sorry if i spelled that wrong.) alone the shaft?

[@armsarmorinc.4153]

while is would look cool, I don't think it would work as well in securing the head to the shaft and reinforcing the wood. I've never seen an original piece with spiral langets, but maybe there is one somewhere....