With Tobias Capwell (Wallace Collection) discussing medieval Pollaxes

www.wallacecollection.org/
/ historicalfencing

[@TheOhgodineedaname]

"Six or seven inches" "It's not a particularly big thing, but it's big enough to do the job it's intended for" -Matt Easton

[@Forscythe80]

I’d reply but I don’t wanna get my account banned. :)

[@brandons9027]

It depends on context :)

[@strydyrhellzrydyr1345]

Jez... 6 or 7... Most men would be way happy... Lol... That's way above average... Lol

[@jonnyy4088]

I can watch as many of these as you and Tobias can make.

[@timbirch4999]

+jonnyy40 Seconded. Tobias Capwell has a manner that contrasts really well with Matt. Could watch these all day.

[@Feldscher1039]

What is a poleaxe? Well, essentially it's the battlefields multi-tin-opener with various tools to get past that hindering metal and into the soft meat inside.

[@texasbeast239]

The Victorinox Swiss Army Knife of the late Middle Ages? 'Twould be mighty cool if a child scout showed up to summer camp packing one of these bad boys!

[@NotSoEmoPanda]

Did that woman behind you say something about 'dutch penis' at 5:20?

[@alexanderdavid8441]

Love the interview with Tobias, I really appreciate how seriously he takes these amazing artifacts.

[@medievalreview]

This was absolutely fascinating. Such good videos.

[@stormboss57]

Yes! I have been quite been quite pleased with this series. Most excellent!

[@ravebiscuits8721]

I just cannot fail to crack a smile at 'Bolognese sauces' even after hearing him say it so many times..

[@MPPRODUCTIONSger]

this is very childish of you... I'm really glad that I'm not alone :D

[@outlawtorndoa]

I love these videos with Toby. Two of my favorite weapons experts ever combining forces

[@aesoundforge]

Always impressed with how well made these things are. Used to go to the Higgins armory near me. Had a large collection. They had a few pollaxes just like these.

[@100dfrost]

Matt, these videos on the Wallace Collection are great. Thank-you very much, Dante.

[@Wooteq44]

Loving these videos at the wallace collection. Hope there's more to come. :)

[@RobKinneySouthpaw]

11:50 This seems to be a long-standing tradition across times and cultures. In WWII and modern wars, you see people painting ornate messages or images on bombs and other ordnance, and those are only meant to be deployed once. Doesn't seem unreasonable that some knight back in the day wouldn't have "sleep well" or something engraved on the face of his mace.

[@call_sign_Nomad]

What a great video series, great job Sir Mathew!

[@BigZ7337]

Another great video, and btw, from the comments on the last video I watched and really enjoyed Tobias' documentary Metalworks - The Knight's Tale.

[@badpossum440]

These Wallace collection videos' are very interesting, please keep them coming, i like the in-depth descriptions.

[@almusquotch9872]

Is the Wallace collection going to be a regular feature on the channel, from now on?

[@scholagladiatoria]

+Almus Quotch I have a couple more videos to publish from this session, but we are planning to do more filming in the future, yes.

[@almusquotch9872]

Good to hear.

[@Feldscher1039]

+scholagladiatoria That would be great, I very much enjoyed the videos of you two together.

[@rhemorigher]

+scholagladiatoria Squeeee! >.>

[@cravenjooooooooooooo]

+scholagladiatoria Exelent!

[@bjmccann1]

Thanks for these videos, Matt. I'm sure that most of your audience will never get the opportunity to visit the Wallace Collection. We're learning a lot.

[@pizdamatii5001]

great video as always. thank you for your great work. one small piece of advice: i do not know exactly what kind of camera do you use, but some models allow you to attach an (relatively) inexpensive polarization filter which would cut down/ eliminate the reflections when filming things behind glass.

[@Imperiused]

Toby is a pretty informative guy. You guys make a great tag team. Learned a lot!

[@godofimagination]

I'd love to see an exploded view of a pollaxe

[@TheLordArion]

Thanks for another great video Matt! This taught me alot that I didn't know about theese before.

[@puma0085]

I really like those videos about the Wallace Collection. As I am from Austria, it not possible to visit it in an one day trip. But when I am visiting the Uk again, I will try to visit the Wallace Collection.

[@justsomeguy3931]

Great information as always, thanks. I found the details of the difference between halberd and poleaxe particularly enlightening

[@tomosan1967]

A very interesting series!

[@JoJeck]

Excellent, very informative. I learned a lot. Thanks

[@morallyambiguousnet]

While watching this, being a mailer, my gaze kept drifting to that beautiful mail collar or aventail. Any chance we'll be hearing about that? Perhaps you have some closer looks?

[@petrikokko1441]

I notice that the axe to the right is exactly the model that left traces on the bodies of the battle of Wisby 1361.

[@ducomaritiem7160]

I did some reenactment with armour & pollaxe. Very surprised when I managed to penetrate someone's buckler (1,5mm iron) with the small hammer spikes... Mine was a bit like the meat tenderizer with small studs. It's a very versatile and dangerous weapon. It would be my weapon of choise when going into battle. The spike on the bottom of the pole is also very usefull. I used the "Windmill" technique, like step to your opponent striking with the axe, continuing the move when he evades the axe and so hitthing him with the spike at the end of the pole in the same move. Very efficient.

[@tumblebomb]

History of Bolognese Sauces, now I've heard everything! ;-)

[@medicinemandude8426]

Fantastic video! Would love to see a future video about pollaxe fighting techniques. Maybe featuring Toby?

[@MegaHasmat]

As soon as you said that the poleax on the left was in a lot of books, I knew immediately that my book had it. Loe and behold, page 86.

[@rasnac]

Tobias should co-host the channel with you, Matt. You two make a good team.

[@scholagladiatoria]

+rasnac He is far to busy unfortunately, but I will be doing more videos with him in the future.

[@joeritimmerman7993]

I have been thinking a lot on the "coronel hammer" as well but it struck me as a device to get more purchase on armor, as a way to transfer the shock of impact even in a glancing blow. The hammer is positioned in diamond configuration to have a prong jutting out at every angle of attack. Also it does not matter much if it is a solid surface or a forest of needles is used to bring the blow to the enemy, when looking at hammers. A solid surface just could bring more weight (if talking about the same volume).

[@rogerwilco2]

With a polarizing filter on your lens, you can often get rid of most of the reflections in glass.

[@GoldenChild27]

the thing I've noticed as a theme is it would be nice if you addressed the timeline of the evolution of the poleax over the years, and which countries designed them their specific ways

[@DevinSmith56]

+NonDeUn Well, halberds are generally more of a common infantryman's weapon, which means it is quite a bit longer. Due to this, the wielder can be safer by using his reach advantage, and wear less armour. It should be noted, though, that if the weapon is longer, it will almost always have a lighter head.

[@tastycheddar7958]

Everyone always talks about blade thicknesses but I would personally love to see a video on the the dimensions of handles and guards, especially sabre guard. For example how thick is a cast brass guard in comparison to a cast steel guard? How wide and how long do the handles tend to be? These are important considerations for the comfort, balance, and performance of a sword and I have never seen these measurements listed for swords!

[@TheRealJman87]

looking forward to the discussion on halberds

[@TukenNuken]

I wonder why Viking era two-handed axes didn't have a spike or a spear at the end? It seems like a very useful thing, especially if the only thing you need to pierce is chainmail, leather or cloth. You could hook the shield and leave the guy open, then stab.

[@TheValakyr]

Pollaxe (video description), Pole-Axe (label in the cabinet) or Poleaxe (as I've known it)?

[@DoktorWeasel]

+TheValakyr Pollaxe is the most correct as far as I know. As he mentions in the video the name doesn't come from it being an axe on a pole, it's based on an archaic use of poll to mean head (same origin for the term poll in opinion polling, where it means taking a head count). Pole-Axe and Poleaxe are both used commonly enough (including by the Wallace Collection apparently) and people will know what you're talking about if you use them, but are probably not quite as accurate.

[@edoardocornacchini2567]

I do have a small question. In the ninth technique for pollaxe in Fiore ( i believe in the Getty's version) there is a description of a hollow shaft used to store some kind of poisonous dust that was meant to be fired in the opponent eyes. Is there any archeological evedence of that or was Fiore just messing around? Great videos btw! Hope to see you soon in some hema events here in Italy!

[@scholagladiatoria]

+Edoardo Cornacchini There is no surviving evidence for the blinding dust, but I don't see a reason to doubt it - he gives the recipe and those items would certainly blind a person and cause a lot of pain.

[@wanadeena]

+Edoardo Cornacchini How would you 'fire' the dust?

[@LoricSwift]

+wanadeena I was presuming by blowing down the hollowtube.

[@wanadeena]

LoricSwift Perhaps there's a tube from inside that one can take out and then blow?

[@edoardocornacchini2567]

Thanks for the reply! btw i have no clue. it always seemed to me too cool to be an actual thing. just imagine a full plate armored knight blowing his pollaxe! (lol)

[@Roderik95]

Awesome weapons.

[@Ragamuffyn]

How many points of strength and dexterity do you need to wield those weapons?

[@JeffJeffington66]

+Ragamuffyn 10 DEXTERITY, BUT DON'T TELL ANYONE YOU LEVELED THAT UP

[@bloodybagal]

+Ragamuffyn filthy fukin casul go use a zweihander

[@ZiePe]

10:15 Arent those hammers with the beak called lucerne hammers?

[@wastedangelematis]

poleaxes hooray!!!!

[@CarnelianUK]

What are the pros and cons of a flat axe blade as opposed to the curved one? Intuitively I feel like a curved one would be better at chopping, but I don't know if that's actually the case

[@nikitaonassis6090]

Thanks for covering the pole axe ! One wonders how unweildy this multipurpose swiss army tool is with all the types of points on its head where balancing is a fine point to get it to contact perhaps which needs somesort of very simple equilibrium..and maybe a container for the pommel at the bottom..

[@nikitaonassis6090]

Abd why do you pronounce treatises with a capital I ? =P

[@nikitaonassis6090]

Any HEMA on poleaxe based on treatises ?

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

5:33 Did you find out what the tiny holes along the rear edge were for? Or rather, if they have a function beyond decoration?

[@strydyrhellzrydyr1345]

It's kool to hear back in these days... When in modern videos they are changing terms... Toby says pole axes are all the pole versions... But everyone is debating that these days... 6 years later... Wow. 6 years ago. Ex... He says long poles without an axe type head. And with a hammer and a spike in the other end.. is still called a pole axe... Which is kinda wierd

[@thegeneral123]

I've fancied a good Poleaxe for quite some time. The only issue is the one I see doing the rounds is just the top half. There is no shaft supplied. I don't fancy messing around making the shaft. I'd rather purchase a complete unit. Anyone have any suggestions?

[@finkster]

Michael Bluth sure knows his poleaxes!

[@Zmego1234]

Hey Matt have you ever seen pole axes or war hammers with a knob rather than a meat tenderizing end if that makes sense?

[@Schmunzel57]

Nice Video. Is the brass on the newer one only dekoration? What are the exact measurements and what is the weight? (That is olways missing in books). Are the ends on the same floor then your feet?

[@Tullio238]

Could you possibly do a video on pollax techniques sometime?

[@NonDeUn]

So what exactly is a difference between poleaxe and a halberd, just that the halberd has a hook instead of a hammer-head or is it something more?

[@PadraicSmith]

14:10 Look at the Bolognese sauces.

[@bahamutkaiser]

So the lucerne hammer is on the older one? why did they go with a grated hammer on the newer one?

[@gilledgar2243]

You were talking about a hammer that you thought originaly was a 2 handed one, but you never showed it. Is there a possibility to show a photo of it?

[@gideonwhitehead8062]

Are there examples of these being used with a shield? Or were these a strictly 2 handed weapon?

[@stelthtrekker9445]

I wanted to see the bottoms of the pole axes.

[@bambam144]

and a book about this great armour collection in solothurn: "the old arsenal in solothurn" verlag vogt-schild solothurn ISBN: 3 85962 078 9 from 1985 this book is in three languages german french and english what u can find there are armour form 16-17 Jhr. swords and pollweapons.

[@antonymash9586]

He said that the Victorians restaffed pole weapons as horseman's hammers and axes. Do we have any evidence if people did this in the period as well? And Visa Versa?

[@Robert399]

Is there a reason that pollaxes always seem to have a flat axehead with a large flat hammerhead or a curved axehead with a small, pointed hammerhead? Presumably each of them had advantages and disadvantages; why didn't anyone choose to have the curved axehead and large, flat hammerhead, for instance?

[@KanaiIle]

Hey Matt, In "Ahlspieß", the A is pronounced like the o in "love" and "spieß" is pronounced "shpeess".

[@GermanSwordMaster]

Ahlspieß. Not -schmeiß :D Nice vid :) Pollaxes are the only weapons which can compare to swords in elegance imo :D

[@rotellam]

This got me thinking...were there ever swords with a spike for a pommel for pommel strikes? Or even a coronel?

[@scholagladiatoria]

+Mike Rotella Yes

[@rotellam]

Very cool, thanks for replying! I've become very interested in historical arms watching your videos so I'll definitely do a bit of research on this. Cheers.

[@scholagladiatoria]

+Mike Rotella Have a look at Codex Wallerstein for examples.

[@rotellam]

Thanks again Matt! This is really fascinating stuff. I appreciate you bringing it to a wider audience.

[@WolfClant]

when you'll come back, could you talk about chinese weapons and armor?

[@timbirch4999]

Forget the "Dutch penis", has nobody noticed the Batman symbol behind the helmet?!!!

[@MikeMafiaII]

'All schmeiss'? Did you mean ahlspiess?

[@JohnnyChimpo577]

toby so handsome~~~~~

[@Jagdpz5]

I have one question. Isn't axe balde a bit uselles in enviroment where everyone wears at least a gambeson? Because cutting through it even with hefty blow from an axe may be dificult.

[@scholagladiatoria]

+Jagdpz5 Well, firstly it's about force concentration - regardless of whatever you are hitting a narrow point of impact is going to do more damage at that point. An edge is easier to hit with in a frantic fight than a point (bigger margin for error). Secondly, significant numbers of people would have parts of their body that were only covered by a doublet - many common infantrymen, be they billmen or archers, would have exposed arms and legs, not to mention faces and hands.

[@Jagdpz5]

+scholagladiatoria That anwserd my question. Thanks.

[@deviantbladeslinger]

+Jagdpz5 It does make a damn good hook.

[@Jagdpz5]

+Kai Beckett I was wondering if beak wouldn't be a better alternative.

[@edi9892]

+Jagdpz5 I guess that for any armor stronger than mail, the other side was used.

[@Altrantis]

À bon

[@MrALAVDAE]

Matt, you really look like Henry V.

[@GarrettDore]

That guy's look at 1:48-1:51 is like "Oh my god kill me already."

[@the51project]

Enjoy your vids. I've made corporate videos for years. You might like to invest in a couple of cheap (£70) Zoom H1 ditital recorders, which will slip into a pocket, and a couple of Olypus ME-15 lapel mics (£15) - these would have made this type of video broadcast quality, instead of tinny on-board mic quality..

[@ronanobrien88]

If you look at the bolognese sauces... WHAT? oh, sources!

[@gyubbi]

i wonder if they used poison on medievil weapons

[@BladeFitAcademy]

"I'm getting one!" - Pippin Took

[@gilesflowitt-hill5745]

lol, Bolognese sources :P seriously though, nice discussion

[@deathscythehellfunk]

Remember to protect the shaft, kids.

[@scholagladiatoria]

+GundamSentinel And the head. The head is even more important actually. Of a penis anyway.

[@bambam144]

great video as always thx maybe a very interesting collection for matt has this museum here:emp-web-45.zetcom.ch/eMP/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalSearch&module=exhibition&fieldValue=[Exh_Title_S|Stangenwaffen]&viewType=detailView

[@sushanalone]

Scott you seem a bit impatient with the informed man's rambling. Did you have to visit the restroom? ;P