Message for Scott Kowalski
I may have some photos taken with a standard /simple digital camera from the right side of the Bruce Monument; if so I will certainly post them here for you.
If I don't have any, I may be able to get them quite soon as I live not too far away from Bannockburn and as my wife loves shopping in Stirling which is basically next door, the photo opportunity does exist.
Cheers to all on this great topic

I don't think there's much historical evidence to suggest Richard the Lionheart used an axe. Out of curiousity, where did the information suggesting he used an axe come from? As far as I know, Richard was known for using his lance, his sword and (when he was confined to a litter due to poor health) a crossbow.

By searching for "Robert the Bruce" via flickr I was able to find the following pics of the statue / axe:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=robert%20the%20bruce&w=all

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xanthias/1724049917/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianhutchison/481745925/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gerry_straathof/494189370/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yancs/48784166/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickregan/635236448/


Here's a nice pic of a scottish axe, I think this would be called a "Tuagh-gatha", however I could be wrong:

http://www.scotlandforvisitors.com/bannockpic.php


There's also this scottish axe, perhaps once again called a "Tuagh-gatha":

http://www.futuremuseum.co.uk/Default.aspx?Id...p;item=417

Enjoy

Danny

Hey Danny , thanks for the info , there has been some interesting stuff added so far, still can't find my notes :o(
I'm trying to find about uses of battle axes before say 1450 ?.

Thanks

M.

Thank you for finding those Danny. Sometimes it is easy to forget just how much information is floating around on the internet.



Matt,
I think one of the hardest things is the fact that so few axes remain that can be positively dates to the time periods we are interested in. I for instance am looking for the latter half of the 13th century. Luckily there is the Maciejowski Bible that can be used to find images from.

Scott

"Horseman's Axe, ca. 1475" from wikipedia, I have no idea if this
description is correct or not. Anyone have any information on this axe?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_axe

Here's a German site that reconstructs 13th century weapons and armour.
I don't speak German, so I don't know how authentic their reconstructions are.
There is a reconstruction of a battle axe.

http://www.die-spiessbuerger.de/Seiten/Spiessdet/nspiessdet.html


Last picture on the page, 1423-1483.
All in French and I don't speak French. I have no idea where these pics are from or how accurate they are:
http://www.cs.usu.edu/~watson/bartholomew/armor05.html


12th century battle axe about midway down the page:
http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manu...ng_axe.htm


13th century Hebridean axe:
http://www.albion-swords.com/axes/hebridean.htm

German axe, 12th to 14th century:
http://www.cs.usu.edu/~watson/bartholomew/armor02.html
http://www.jamd.com/search?assettype=g&as...entury+axe


The pics of the 15th century Horseman's Axe I found on Chris Dobson's website, however they are no longer on his website.

The pic of the German Hand Axe is from the book "Axes of War and Power" by James Douglas Gamble.

The pics of the 14th century horseman's axe is from the Dorling Kindersley Book "Eyewitness Guides Knight"

The pics of the 14th century german axe are from George Cameron Stone's "A Glossary of the Construction...." book and
the book "The Illustrated History of Weaponry From Flint Axe to Automatic Weapons" by Chuck Wills.

I hope they help.

Danny

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Oops, missed the pic from George Cameron Stone's "A Glossary of the Construction...." book

See attached

Danny

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My lord !! you sucked the net dry !! but seriously ,some of that stuff is perfect, joygasm :o)

Looking forward to anything else that may turn up !

What Matt said Danny. Those are some great pictures of axes. From looking at them it seems that in some cases at least the design of the axe head did not change much from the Viking era. If you have any more by all means keep posting them. Especially if you can find any from the latter half of the 13th century.


Scott

Christie's Auction House
14th / 15th c European Axe
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_detail...ID=4953284

Christie's Auction House
2 axes - 16th and 14th century
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_detail...ID=4953286

There's a pic of a very similar axe in George Cameron Stone's "A Glossary of the Construction...." book.
The label say's 14th century. I have attached the pic.



Hermann's Historica Auction House
15th/16th century axe
http://www.hermann-historica.de/auktion/hhm53...at53_p.txt

There's a pic of a very similar hammer-axe from Ewart Oakeshott's book "European Weapons and Armour".
He states this type of axe is a late 14th century axe. I have attached the pic.



See attached 14th century axehead and macehead from the book "Arms And Armour" by Vesey Norman.



See attached pic titled "Long Handled Axe" from Dorling Kindersley Book "Weapon A Visual History of Arms And Armour".
I think this axe is from the Royal Armouries Museum in England. Can anyone confirm?

I hope these help


Danny

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Ooh ooh ! the 14th century german axe pushes the right buttons ;o) loving your work Danny !

Something like this with a 'crows beak' , uuh huuhhuhuuuuugh ,*drbbles*

I'm going to add it to the list :idea:

Best,

Matt

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You must have the bottomless well of axe pictures Danny. I would also like to thank you for digging all of these up and also these other sources to look for additional information and images.


Scott

I'm not sure if I should post my questions here as an extension of this post or start a new topic. If anyone thinks a new topic is in order I will start a new thread. I am starting to look into having a custom one handed axe made of a size bigger than a hand axe circa 1300. My questions that I have so far are as follows:

1. Would a grip area such as on the following axe be appropriate?


2. What would the appropriate edge type be? As shown in the following picture or more of a sword type bevel for an axe designed for use against targets both armored and unarmored?


Scott

Message for Scott Kowalski in particular
Well I finally got to Bannockburn.somewhat later than I had hoped
Am having some problems loading up a few pics of the axe that you were after
Hope this one loads up ok
Cheers
Malcolm

LOL Still having problems with te pics!
Will work on it and get back to you

Gosh Danny that's a great site,

If that 12th c. axe is dated correctly that is the first axe I have seen from that specific era. There is a great deal of interesting information on this site!

I wonder how other forumites feel about the accuracy of this site. Not to offend Danny- I just like to be sure especially with all of the interesting information!

Thanks,
Jeremy

I have a question. I had heard that the larger hand and foot axes saw extensive use from the Vikings to the Crusaders, but after that, were they a common infantry weapon? Or did the use of larger axes fade away? I know that smaller foot soldier axes and cavalry axes came into play when the sword's effectiveness against armour began to wane.
Thanks in advance.

Hi Craig,

Thanks for your reply. I have always known that I need a copy of this book but have never picked one up. Hopefully someone could post the pictures you speak of. Do you believe these "other than Danish axes" would have had similar length hafts.

THis is very intriguing to me. Seems like something I will "have" to have a commission of eventually. Any weapon of thee 12th c. is primo for me!

Also I would imagine that an axe of this type would have thereinforced edge shape we see on Danish examples- due to functuality and even more so due to construction. For me the ky is finding a smith who is comfortable with working with wrought iron as mild steel really doesn't look quite the same. I want iron on my commissions whenever I can get it.

Thanks,

Jeremy