I'm having trouble finding reliable information on the Bec de Corbin, such as lengths, head weights, staff cross section, and dates of use. I suspect it is due to the 'fluid nature' of pole-arms in general, but any information on museum pieces, or even general annecdotal type evidence would be greatly appreciated.

When was its inception, and where was it most commonly found? Is their a pole-arm section to Lichtenaur's verses (as the plates in later Talhoffer)? I'm looking mainly for information on 'pole-hammers', as opposed to 'pole-axes', if there is such a thing.

There is a Bec de Corbin at the Tower of London and British Museum. I don't know much about it.
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Photo by Eric Tracy.

As far as I'm aware, Master Liechtenauer's teachings do not include pole-arms other than spears and lances. You should try sending a PM or e-mail to Christian Tobler. He'd be the one to ask. Just do a "members search" to find his profile.

Fiore has a bit on the use of the pole hammer/pole axe which contemporaries seems to have viewd as very much the same weapon as far as actual usage was concerned.

http://www.varmouries.com/wildrose/fiore/fiore.html , look in the fighting in armour chapter.

Personally I find Fiore's techniques to be lacking, but I can't offer a better source other than Talhoffer. :(

You need to pick up a copy of Sydney Anglo's Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe. It has a good polearms section and lots of illustrations.

Le Jeux Del le Hache(certainly horribly misspelled) is all about these. I know I've seen it online in a number of free access sites but can't think of which at the moment.

Ahh, yes of course, Le Jeux De le Hache. That is turning up some interesting information. It appears there are some references (unverified by me, here: www.the-exiles.org/virtual/www.the-exiles.org...esson.htm) as early as 1388 to pole-axe combat in a tourney format. I suppose one could assume the weapon design itself would have already been 'in-use' to be seen at Judicial and tourney duels. However it appears much more common during the 15th century, supposedly due to greater effectiveness of armour. I suppose it is the whole chicken/egg thing,or arms/armour race, if you will, but it appears that the rise of the pole-axe followed the rise of plate armour.

Being fairly common in France, England and Italy, would the pole-axe have seen as much use the further east one goes? I'm thinking specifically of northern Germany, Poland, Prussia, etc.

Thanks very much for the information, my pole-hammer project is progressing quite nicely, however I fear it may not match up very well with my armour projects dated mid 14th century.

And his damned campaign mannaged to remove all the PLATES from those public domain websites, too; over which he has no claim. AEMMA now only has the original french: no plates, no translation.

Angelo can go sit on a poleaxe. :mad:

And intimidating hosts by raising a stink to remove information from the public domain -over which one has no claim- does nothing to elevate the vaunted "body of knowledge" we scholars are assumed to esteem so highly. The man acted contrary to the ideals and motivations he expressed in his book, and in so doing badly damaged the WMA/reenactment community. In fact I rather hope my comments somehow make it past his computer screen, just so he realizes that his actions to NOT happen in a bubble, that the WMA practicioners he hurt in his campaign are the same ones who buy his books, and that he lost at least one customer.

With respect, Patrick, I think disgust is a perfectly good thing to express -especially here on a public/academic forum like this one. These small internet communities are how we mobalize as an economic and "political" group. Would John Clements or J. Christoph Anderston have recieved the fallout they did if not for the forums where thier antics were publicized? Would Albion, John Ludenmo, Lutel or Victor Cervinka ever have taken off to the extent they have if not for forums where thier products were so glowingly praised and reviewed in detail?
To be frank, I am hoping to arouse some well-deserved anger towards Mr. Angleo. He single-handedly took away the one good poleaxe fechtbook we have in its entirety, without offering any method for getting it back, all because he *happened* to be the one to do the translation. Not translation and interpretation, mind you; no original work, just simple translation. And I, for one, am still hopping mad.

But I won't say what he can do with his translations anymore. Good enough?

David,

Again, I agree with you and sympathize with your frustration. However, myArmoury.com is not the place for a personal crusade. This forum will not become part of any political or economic agenda. Do not intentionally use this forum as a means of arousing anger towards anyone or anything.

For the most part our readership is an intelligent group of people. Simply relating the facts is enough to allow them to draw their own conclusions. Just keep it civil, informative, and on topic.

Thanks