[Felix R.]

Hello, I am looking for information on the Kuse, there may be some from the late 14th century and of course from the 15th cent onwards. Any helpful information, be it pictures, sources, etc. are very welcome.

[David Gaál]

Hello

I recommend you John Waldman: Hafted Weapons in Medieval and Renaissance Europe the sixteenth chapter is about what you are looking for:

"A sturdy cut and thrust weapon, appearing to originate in France, and used between the twelfth to sixteenth centuries is variably named vouge (voulge), vouge française, and couteau de brèche in French, couse (kuse in German), and coltello da breccia in Italian. The term vouge derives from the Latin “vidubium,” and becomes the Gallic “vooge” of the twelfth century.
More than any other weapon, this group presents enormous problems in the matching of the name to the weapon itself. The current literature is replete with apologies for the ambiguity in this matter, and this is definitely understandable; as there is not a clear-cut illustration associated with the terms mentioned, and the final “facts” are a matter of conjecture."

"A weapon having some similarity to the vouge is the couse, and bearing the synonym, of couteau de brèche. The classic couse at the end of the fifteenth century, was a cut and thrust weapon whose blade is much thinner than the vouge, but with a larger surface area. The cutting edge of the blade is slightly more convex than the back, which is almost straight (fig. 152), and in this example, measures 63 by 8.5 cm. The bottom edge of the blade is pulled in at a right angle except that it also contains a cut out arch. The shaft socket is in line with the back of the blade, and either square, or octagonal. Two or four langet are usually present, containing, in this weapon, six nails each. A rosette-like perforation is present with six holes surrounding a central one, as well as a mark 4 cm. above the socket joint. A rare “couse” is in the collection of the Museums of the City of Vienna, from its now dismantled arsenal and is shown in fig. 153, fitting somewhere in between the two weapons in structure. It has a short stout backspike or beak, showing a slight downward curve, and dates from the early part of the sixteenth century. The socket is constructed somewhat in the manner of a halberd.
Despite this exercise in logic and association, there are weapons present in relatively large numbers in the arsenal in Graz, manufactured by the weapons-smith Peter Schreckeisen of Waldneukirchen in Upper Austria, (as well as by other smiths such as Pancraz Taller), which throw some doubt on the foregoing nomenclature. They have long blades resembling in their structure and cross-section the vouge Française, but have at the base a beak like a halberd, from the top edge of which a half-moon curl arises, pointed forward (fig. 154), and which are also typical on late and decorated Styrian halberds. Most bear a smiths’ mark, and are referred to in the 1581 inventory of the Arsenal as a “Gusy”. This word must refer to the term “Couse”.
What sets the couse and vouge apart from other similar weapons (i.e. partizans, roncones, military forks, corsekes), is the fact that the haft, that is to say, the socket, is not centrally placed under the blade, but offset to one side. The weapons therefore resemble long-shafted knives. The glaive, possibly the ancestor of these two weapons, is centrally shafted in the more “modern” forms of the late fifteenth and sixteenth century, but is similarly offset in the earliest illustrations, such as in the Maciejowski Bible."

Trying to post pictures later. Hope it helps.

Cheers,

Dávid

[David Gaál]

Bit later type example: http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/LotDetails...ID=1479918