[Sean Flynt]

I've found several (purportedly) historical weapons like the MRL German Halberd shown below, but most or all of them have later replacement hafts. As a result, I'm having difficulty getting a sense for the common orginal lengths for this distinctive style. MRL has chosen to haft theirs to poleaxe length. That seems like a reasonable interpretation, but I'm interested in rehafting one of these to a length more appropriate for a halberd of the early 16th century, adding to the MRL length perhaps one or two feet of haft to put it in the 6.5'-7.5' range. Any evidence of this style at that length?

I welcome any insight y'all can bring to my deliberations, and I'm especially interested in contemporary artistic depictions of the type. I've exhausted my own library, my wife's and every historical art resource I can find online but, like Bono, still haven't found what I'm looking for. Albrecht Dürer shows a vaguely similar weapon of the length that interests me, but that weapon is just different enough that I'm not quite convinced that my plan is historically justified. Thoughts?

[Eric Myers]

It's not the same sort of blade, but here's a photo of a Swiss Vatican Guard, for whatever it's worth.

[Sean Flynt]

That's the general length I'm contemplating, and it's in the length range for the weapons depicted in contemporary illustrations of Landsknechts, but I need to see a head the style of the MRL weapon on a haft the length of the one you've shown here (thanks for the length illustration!). That's going to come from contemporary artwork or an original weapon with original haft (or working-life replacement) intact.

[David Lindberg]

Sorry, no pics, but there is a woodcut in Osprey's 'Landsknecht Soldier' that shows four men with halberds, and one of the is carrying a similar weapon to this. The halberds have very long top spikes, but the total length looks to be about four inches longer than this weapon. The total length for both would seem to be in the seven foot range

HTH,
David

[Sean Flynt]

We may be thinking of the same image. Is this the one you mean? I had confused it with the Dürer images I've been sifting through. This one (as you say, from the Landsknecht book) is by Hans Sebald Beham, c. 1540. That would certainly be later than the MRL weapon, which seems to be c. 1500. Maybe this is a later form of that type. Anyway, this is as close as I've come to a contemporary illustration showing both type and length. I agree with your estimate of length. Looks like just a bit over 7'.