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Flail (weapon)
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The flail is a medieval weapon made of one (or more) weights attached to a handle with a hinge or chain. There is some disagreement over the names for this weapon; the terms "morning star", and even "mace" are variously applied, though these are used to describe other weapons, which are very different in usage from a weapon with a hinge or chain, commonly used in Europe from the 13th century to the 15th century.
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The flail is a medieval weapon made of one (or more) weights attached to a handle with a hinge or chain. There is some disagreement over the names for this weapon; the terms "morning star", and even "mace" are variously applied, though these are used to describe other weapons, which are very different in usage from a weapon with a hinge or chain, commonly used in Europe from the 13th century to the 15th century. In construction, the morning star and flail have similar, if not identical, spiked heads. Thus, morning star is an often used name for this weapon, especially as the name "flail" is also used to describe a style of whip used for flagellation.
Flails also sometimes had blunt round heads or flanges like a mace. Some written records point to small rings attached to chains on a flail used to inflict greater damage, but no historical examples are known to exist.
History
The martial flail began as a variant of the normal agricultural flail. The term "flail" was given first to a farming implement used to separate wheat from chaff. This was normally a block of wood attached to a handle with either leather or rope. It was probably farmers called up for military service or peasant rebels who discovered its usefulness as a weapon. A few added spikes made the flail even more dangerous. The Hussites fielded large numbers of peasant soldiers with flails.
Later, special military flails were made, such as the iconic short stick with the chain and spiked metal ball. A mace and chain is a type of infantry weapon, most commonly used during the Middle Ages. It consists of a mace, only with the handle replaced by a chain, which itself connects to a shorter handle. Soldiers using a mace and chain grasped this short handle with either one or two hands, and swung the weapon at the enemy in battle. Soldiers could swing the mace in a circle to gain momentum, before releasing it on the enemy. This would cause major damage to an enemy.
Other characteristics of the flail
- Unlike a sword or mace, a flail does not transfer vibrations from the impact to the wielder. This is a great advantage to a horseman, who can use his horse's speed to add momentum to an underarm swing, and runs less of a risk of being unbalanced from his saddle.
- A flail is difficult to block with a shield or parry with a weapon because it can curve over and around shields or weapons.
- A flail needs space to swing and can easily endanger the wielder's comrades.
- Controlling a flail is much more difficult than rigid weapons.
- If a flail is swung with enough force, it can crack open plate armour and stun the wearer.
Variations
A variation of the flail is a handle with several chains attached to it rather than one, none of which have a spiked metal ball at their ends.
The flail was not just a European weapon. Examples existed in India and many other countries. In southeast Asia, lighter flail weapons such as the nunchaku or sansetsukon were more common.
See also
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