THE MACE AND MARTEL-DE-FER.
The mace is a very ancient weapon in its simple form, its use and shape having been evidently suggested by the club, and it was probably a sceptre before it became a fighting club of metal.
The type of the Bayeux tapestry, which was only used by the Saxons, is elementary and club-like, and the shape did not alter much before the beginning of the fifteenth century, when we have round, oval, cog-wheel, and dentated forms; it was sometimes provided with a short spear, welded into the top, but this was rather a French than an English form. The mace and battle-axe were the great weapons of the Plantagenets. The mace (temp. Edward I.) assumed the form of a slightly projecting cog-wheel, which became somewhat more pronounced in the next reign, as may be seen on one of the sleeping figures in Lincoln Cathedral; and the weapon was sometimes made of lead. The shape did not alter much before the beginning of the fifteenth century, when we have the round, oval, cog-wheel, and dentated forms much more pronounced than under Edward I.
Asiatic specimens are generally round in the knob, and are much lighter than European weapons. The mace hung at the saddle-bow, being passed through a socket which was attached to the saddle, and the weapon was used in the lists as well as in battle.
It survived as the weapon of the sergeant-at-arms, and fell into disuse as a weapon of war in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; after which it became a processional emblem, and was made of silver or copper-gilt, and ornamented with a crown, globe, and cross.
The small variety of mace was termed the “mazuelle.” The baston (German streitkolben) is a heavy mace of hard wood, bluntly pointed, polygonal in form, thickening towards the head, while the pommel is round, and it was used in tournaments.
The martel-de-fer or pole-hammer is of ancient origin. That it was in use in the eighth century is shown by the sobriquet “Charles Martel.” It was a popular weapon in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries for both horse and foot. The Lucerne hammer is only another name for the same weapon; it is both long and short handled, while the head is either a simple war-hammer, or has a small halbard-shaped blade with a plain or dentated hammer at the opposite side, and a longer or shorter spear at the extremity.
THE BATTLE-AXE AND POLE-AXE.
The battle-axe or francisca was a leading weapon of the Franks during the Merovingian period, and it was then often used as a missile. The francisca of Childeric (457–481) was found in his tomb at Tournay, and is now in the Louvre. Procopius refers to the francisca of the sixth century as having a broad blade, sometimes double-edged, with a short haft. Roughly, the battle-axe is short in the handle, while the pole-axe, as its name implies, is long in the shaft. The former is a knightly weapon, while the latter was wielded by footmen only.
The battle-axe was greatly used by the Normans of the twelfth century. It is a weapon of the Bayeux tapestry; indeed, William the Conqueror was armed with it at Hastings—the form of the blade resembled that of an ordinary hatchet, with a curved blade.