Battlefield Pollaxe Portrayal

[Jeffrey Hull]

I have read now and then opinions that the pollaxe, ravens-beaks and whatnot were only wielded in duel and not in battle / war.

Besides the fact that such notion would not explain why said weapon would thus be singled out as basically the only weapon for armoured duel which was then somehow not found also in armoued battlefield warfare, I was sure that I had seen historical portrayals of such in artwork.

So here I have run across such a portrayal, circa 1455-60, basically in the middle of the 15th Century known for its various pollaxe treatises like the French Le Jeu de la Hache, the Italian Di Accia Armato di Tutt'Arme, and of course German Fechtbuecher by Talhoffer and Kal:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Roncevaux_Pass

You can click on the picture to get a larger view. Of course the picture dipicts a scene from 778 in the anachonistic conventions of 1455-60.

Notice the knight praying for the fallen Roland, while a great battle rages behind them. Both men are of course wearing the plate harness of their day. And we see that apparently the knight had just propped his pollaxe against the hilly ridge before kneeling to pray.

I should think that there are other contemporary battle / war scenes with pollaxe portrayed -- you all are welcome to put links in replies if you know of other pictures of such in the Web.

[MJuingong]

Is it not recorded that at the Battle of Edgecote Moor (Wars of the Roses) on July 26, 1469, one of the Herbert brothers passed through the "battle" of his enemy, wielding his poleaxe?

[Scott A. Richardson]

I know of no contemporary illustration that shows a pollaxe in battlefield action off the top of my head. I had thought perhaps the Maciejowski Bible would show something, but the illustrations predate the development of the pollaxe.

However, I would think it just silly that such warriors would have a weapon like the pollaxe at their disposal that they chose not to use in actual combat, exactly when a weapon like that would prove most effective. I think it very likely that it was used on the battlefields of Europe whenever possible.

[Carlos Chavez]

Hello, been lurking awhile and after bumping on this topic about one of my favourite weapons I just had to add my $2.0 pesos.

There are numerous Pictorial portrayals of Pollaxe in use in Battles as well as by members of a marching army.

All the following references are free for browsing on the National Library of France's MANDRAGORE catalog ( a HUGE database!)
http://mandragore.bnf.fr/jsp/rechercheExperte.jsp

Sorry, but I could only post the links, linking the image directly is way too tricky. (be careful not to click accidentally on the images)

http://ark.bnf.fr/ConsulterElementNum?O=IFN-8100022&E=JPEG&Deb=44&Fin=44&Param=C
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Français 3, fol. 106, Bataille de Mérom

http://ark.bnf.fr/ConsulterElementNum?O=IFN-8100023&E=JPEG&Deb=25&Fin=25&Param=C
BNF, Français 4, fol. 137v, Bataille entre Alexandre et Darius III

http://ark.bnf.fr/ConsulterElementNum?O=IFN-08100616&E=JPEG&Deb=10&Fin=10&Param=C
BNF, Français 12575, fol. 53, Mort du roi de Traquo

http://ark.bnf.fr/ConsulterElementNum?O=IFN-07824400&E=JPEG&Deb=1&Fin=1&Param=C
BNF, Français 9342, fol. 217v, Bataille de la Gabiène (-316)

All of these pictorial representations will be as Scott implies, XIV cent. or later as thats when the Pollaxe came on scene.
Strangely, save for the german fechtbuchts (displaying 1 vs. 1 judicial duels with pollaxes) I have only seen Pollaxes portrayed in french manuscripts.

(edited so that the links would work correctly)