![]() ![]() The Two-Handed Flailĭuring the Middle Ages, peasant armies were seen to have carried two-handed agricultural flails. When used as an agricultural tool, the flail is called “dorikke”, but when used as a weapon, it is called “pyeongon”. In Southeast Asia, lighter flail weapons such as the nunchaku or sansetsukon were more common. The flail was not just a European weapon. When fully stretched, this flail reaches 30 inches and can penetrate even the best armor. This medieval flail weapon has an iron head attached to a steel chain for extra strength. One of the weapons used during Middle Ages was flail. The thirst for power and wealth excited the warlords to engage in battles, where many kinds of lethal weapons were used. His experiences include iron smelting, jousting, theatrical combat instruction and choreography, historical research, European martial arts and crafting weapons and armor since 1985.Wars were commonplace in medieval times. He has lectured at several schools and Universities, WMAW, HEMAC, 4W, and ICMS at Kalamazoo. He has taught and published on the history of arms, armor and western martial arts for over 30 years. 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.Ĭraig Johnson is the Production Manager of Arms and Armor and Secretary of The Oakeshott Institute. He is a historical martial artist and a former university professor of cultural geography. is Vice President of Arms and Armor and a member of the governing board of The Oakeshott Institute. This weapon was a specialized armament meant primarily to oppose rapiers and perhaps two handed swords like montante in combat. This can be seen below at the feet of the figure on the frontispiece of the Handbook of the True Skill of Arms in Thirty-Eight Assertions by Miguel Perez de Mendoza y Quixada, published in 1675 (below). The final variety of flail we examine is the Iberian flail or mangual. By altering the head of the flail to include a heavier piece of wood or adding metal spikes the tool could be turned into a common weapon. Peasant flails were a repurposed agricultural implement used to thresh grain. Our German Flail, a reproduction of a famous example from the Metropolitan Museum in New York, is an excellent example of the former.īesançon BM MS.1360 Bellifortis of Konrad Kyeser 1401-1450 We make a distinction between knightly flails such as that pictured below in an early 15th century illustration, and agricultural or peasant flails. While we've previously examined some of the dynamics of these weapons, and smashed a big block of ice, here, in today's blog we focus in on the strengths and drawbacks of several varieties of flails. In today's video you can see Craig menacing Nathan with a Flail, and some boards getting clobbered by a mace and flail as we explore how these weapons really work. Despite many period representations of these weapons, and some famous surviving examples, there is little truly known about how they were used and why a warrior might choose to wield one of these instead of another more common weapon such as a mace, sword, axe, or hammer. Medieval flails, sometimes inaccurately called "Morningstars", are an iconic weapon of the Middle Ages. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |