Bill (weapon)

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Bill (weapon)

The bill is a polearm used by infantry in 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....
by Vikings and Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading tribes in the south and east of Great Britain starting from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, lasting until the Norman conquest of England of 1066....
as well as in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. It was a national weapon of the English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England who speak English language in England. The English identity as a people is of early medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn....
, but was also common elsewhere, especially in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
. Derived originally from the agricultural billhook

Billhook

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The bill is a polearm used by infantry in 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....
by Vikings and Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons

English people

Italy

Billhook

The billhook is a traditional cutting tool used mainly in European agriculture and forestry, but also common in other parts of the world where it was introduced by European settlers....
, the bill consisted of a hooked chopping blade with several pointed projections mounted on a staff. The end of the cutting blade curves forward to form a hook, which is the bill's distinguishing characteristic. In addition, the blade almost universally had one pronounced spike straight off the top like a spear head, and also a hook or spike mounted on the 'reverse' side of the blade. There were many types of bill. English bills tended to be relatively short, with broad chopping heads, while Italian bills (ronche) often had very long thrusting points. The English distinguished between several varieties of bill, including the black, brown, and forest bills, but the differences between them are currently not fully understood.

George Silver

George Silver

George Silver was a gentleman of England during the late 16th and early 17th centuries, who is known for his writings on fencing. He is thought to have been the eldest of four brothers , and eleventh in descent from Sir Bartholomew Silver, who was knighted by Edward II of England....
, writing in 1599, stated that the (military) black bill should be 5 or long, while the (possibly civilian) forest bill should be 8 or long.

The bill is similar in size, function and appearance to the halberd

Halberd

A halberd is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. Possibly the word halberd comes from the German words Halm , and Barte ....
, differing mainly in the hooked blade form. Other terms for the bill include English bill, bill hook or bill-guisarme
Guisarme

A guisarme was a pole weapon used in Europe primarily between 1000-1400. It was used primarily to dismount knights and horsemen. Like most pole weapon it was developed by peasants by combining hand tools with long poles: in this case by putting a pruning hook onto a spear shaft....
.

One advantage that it had over other polearms was that while it had the stopping power

Stopping power

Stopping power is a colloquial term used to describe the ability of a firearm or other weapon to cause a penetrating ballistic injury to a target human or animal, an injury sufficient to incapacitate the target where it stands....
of a spear and the power of an axe, it also had the addition of a pronounced hook. If the sheer power of a swing did not fell the horse or its rider, the bills hooks were excellent at finding a chink in the plate armour of cavalrymen at the time, dragging the unlucky horseman off his mount to be finished off with either a sword, spear or the bill itself. These characteristics also made it effective against heavily armoured infantry, dragging them into the melee or exploiting the weak points in their armour. The small point found on the trailing edge of some bills was useful for puncturing armor as well -- concentrating the force of the blow onto the point.

During the 16th century when most European states were adopting the pike

Pike (weapon)

A pike is a pole weapon, a very long thrusting spear used two-handed and used extensively by infantry both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a counter-measure against cavalry assaults....
and arquebus

Arquebus

The arquebus is an early Muzzle -loaded firearm used in the 15th to 17th centuries. In distinction from its predecessor, the hand cannon, it has a matchlock....
, the English preferred to stick with the tried and tested combination of bill and English longbow

English longbow

Self bow longbows, widespread across Europe since Mesolithic times, were used in Middle Ages Europe as a decisive weapon of war. Particularly powerful bows were employed to penetrate all but the best of contemporary armour....
that had been so successful during the Hundred Years' War

Hundred Years' War

The Hundred Years' War was a prolonged conflict lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne, which was vacant with the extinction of the senior House of Capet line of French kings....
, the Wars of the Roses

Wars of the Roses

The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars fought in England between supporters of the Houses of House of Lancaster and House of York....
and in constant conflicts with the Scots

Scottish people

The Scots people are a nation and an ethnic group indigenous to Scotland.Historically, as an ethnic group, they emerged from an amalgamation of Celts, Picts, Gaels and Brythons....
. Even in the Elizabethan period bills were still common with levies sent to fight the Scots. The Battle of Flodden Field

Battle of Flodden Field

The Battle of Flodden or Flodden Field was fought in the county of Northumberland in northern England on 9 September 1513, between an invading Scottish people army under King James IV of Scotland and an English army commanded by Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey....
(1513) was a classic match between Continental-style Pikes formations (Scots) and Billmen (English).

Along with the pike, the bill is mentioned as being one of the main weapons of the Irish rebels in Ulster

Ulster

Ulster is one of the four Provinces of Ireland of Ireland, in addition to Connacht, Munster and Leinster. The name is sometimes informally used as a synonym for Northern Ireland, one of the countries of the United Kingdom, although Northern Ireland covers only two thirds of Ulster....
during the 1798 rebellion.

The shorthanded bills were used by the army of historic India as well, mainly by infantrymen of Bengal. Nowadays smaller versions are used as agricultural tools and as kitchen appliances.

Footnotes

A.T.Q Stewart, The Summer Soldiers, pg 215.