Battle axe

Battle Axe

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Battle axe

A battle axe (also battle-axe or battle-ax) is an axe specifically designed for use in combat. Battle axes were specialized versions of utility axes. Many were suitable for use in one hand, while others were larger and were wielded two-handed. Axes designed for warfare ranged in weight from just over 0.5 kg to 3 kg (1 to 6 pounds), and in length from just over 30 cm to upwards of 1.5 m (1 to 5 feet), such as the Danish axe

Danish axe

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Danish axe

The Viking axe is an early type of polearm, primarily used during the transition between the European "Viking Age" and early Middle Ages. Other names for the weapon include Dane-axe, English long axe, Danish axe, and hafted axe....
or the sparth axe. Anything longer than 1.5 m would arguably fall more into the category of polearms. Through the course of human history, commonplace objects have been pressed into service as weapons. Axes, by virtue of their ubiquity, are no exception. Besides axes designed for combat, there were many axes that were both tools and weapons. Axes could be designed as throwing weapons as well (see the francisca

Francisca

The francisca is a throwing axe used as a weapon during the Early Middle Ages by the Franks, among whom it was a characteristic national weapon at the time of the Merovingians from about 500 to 750 AD and is known to have been used during the reign of Charlemagne ....
for an example). Axes were always cheaper than sword

Sword

A sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used as a cutting, thrusting, and clubbing weapon in many civilizations throughout the world. The word sword comes from the Old English language wikt:sweord, cognate to Old High German swert, Middle Dutch swaert, Old Norse sver? Old Frisian and Old Saxon swerd and Dutch langua...
s and far more available.

Overview

Battle axes generally weigh far less than modern splitting axes, especially mauls

Maul

A splitting maul is a heavy, long-handled hammer used for splitting a piece of wood along its grain. One side of it is identical to a sledge hammer and the other side is an axe....
, because they were designed to cut legs and arms rather than wood; consequently more narrow, slicing blades are the norm. This facilitates deep, grievous wounds, additionally, a lighter weapon is much quicker in combat. The handles of military axes were often reinforced with metal bands called langets, so that an enemy warrior could not cut the wooden handle. Some axes even had all-metal handles.

Stone axes have been in use since at least the 3rd millennium BC, see Battle-axe people. They were followed by copper, bronze, iron and steel axes.

In the eastern Mediterranean the double-bladed labrys

Labrys

Labrys is the term for a symmetrical doubleheaded axe, known to the Classical Greeks as pelekus or sagaris, and to the Romans as a bipennis....
axe was prevalent, and the sagaris

Sagaris

Sagaris was the Greek language name for a weapon used by Scythian tribes by the Persian_Empire, Mossynoeci, and others, and according to Aristarchus of Samothrace by the Amazons....
, described as either single or double bladed became associated with the mythological Amazons

Amazons

The Amazons , ) are a nation of all-female warriors in Classical and Greek mythology, who were possibly historical. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatians....
, though these were generally ceremonial rather than practical tools.

Battle axes were also common in Northern Europe in the "Viking Age

Viking Age

Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the eighth to eleventh centuries....
" (9th and 10th C) and up to the 16 Century. See Viking Age arms and armour

Viking Age arms and armour

Our knowledge about arms and armour of the Viking Age is based on relatively sparse archaeological finds, pictorial representation, and to some extent on the accounts in the Norse sagas and Norse laws recorded in the thirteenth century....
.

Most medieval European battle axes had broad, socketed heads (meaning that the axe head has an opening into which the haft is inserted.), and some included long strips of metal (langets) along the haft to prevent the haft from being damaged during battle. Many polearms, such as halberds and poleaxes, are variations of the form of the battle axe. The axes had fallen out of favor among knights and nobility, and were replaced by swords. However, when armor designed to defeat swords appeared, simpler weapons were employed. The mace could crush though armor and damage the tissue underneath. The battle-axe took this one step further, by concentrating the weight on a wedge it crushed through armor and easily cut flesh.

In Napoleonic times

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts involving Napoleon I of France First French Empire and changing sets of European allies and opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815....
and later, equine specialists, or Farrier

Farrier

A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of a horse's horse hoof and the placing of horseshoe to the horse foot....
s in military service carried heavy long axes. Though these could be used for fighting, their primary use was logistical. The branded hooves of horses were removed to prove that they had died. Napoleon's Pioneer Corps also carried axes that were used for both clearing a path and fighting.

This is an example of a battle axe that was specialized for the use of horsemen. Note the hole on the haft for the accommodation of a leather strap to be passed over the wrist, the belt hook for ease of carrying when not in use and the langets. This example dates from the last quarter of the fifteenth century and is 69 cm (27 inches) long. The haft is a replacement. The punched decoration on the blade suggests German manufacture. Other variations of this design include a hammer face instead of the spike behind the blade.

A good reference, contemporary with their use, is the Maciejowski Bible of ca. 1250.