Weapons

Dominating strikes could be done with an ax, mace, or war hammer, [a mace is a weapon that usually had a rugged metal head.]
 
 
 

Ax

War Hammer

Mace

The flail is a very dangerous weapon that has an iron sphere usually having spikes attached to a chain.
 
 
 
 

Flail

Caltrops were iron spikes thrown to the ground in front of lame horses and men.
 
 
 

The longbow was easy to use, but you would need great strength to pull back the string.  The longbow could be shot up to six times a minute. The shaft plus the metal tip is more than thirty inches long.
 
 
 
 

Longbow

arrow

 
 
 

Powerful crossbows could shoot about six hundred yards with their bolts, or quarrels, which were short-vaned iron-tipped arrows or darts.  Increasingly, a special tool was used to help wind back the gut bowstring.
 
 
 

Crossbow                                                                       Quarrel
 
 

The sword, a symbol of knighthood, was cared for and kept close at hand in its scabbard, even during peacetime.  King Arthur's legendary sword was named, Excaliber, many other knights named their swords also.  A typical European sword of the 1100's had a extensive, flat, two-egded slashing blade, with a groove down the center.  By the 1300's, the increasing use of plate armor meant that a knight now had to force the blade through chings and gaps.  Swords of this time were made for stabbing and thrusting.  The blades became more slender, and no longer flat.  There was a variety of types to suit the conditions: a baselard, [also known as a dagger or short sword] was used for stabbing at close quarters; a great sword which measures up to four feet long, the great sword was so heavy that it had to be swung with both hands on the handle; and a broad-bladed, single-edged slashing sword called the falchion.
 

Pollaxe