It was probably introduced into England in the reign of Edward III., being mentioned by Froissart, anno 1342, and did not fall into disuse much before the time of Charles II., when a writer in 1703 refers to it as a weapon “formerly” in use, the bayonet having superseded it. Viscount Dillon states in Archæologia, vol. li., p. 221, that “In 1515, Pasqualigo, the Venetian, writes that he had seen in the Tower pikes for 40,000 infantry, and that they have a like store at Calais, a place near Scotland!” The pike has a narrow lance-formed head, to which long strips of iron four feet in length are attached, which are screwed down the sides of a long wooden pole, the end of which is shod with iron, for fixing into the ground, to resist a charge of horsemen. There is a tassel along the shaft for easing the shoulder when the weapon is carried at the “port,” and also for preventing the rain from running down the shaft.
The earlier length of the pike was ten feet, but Sutcliffe, in his Practice of Arms, speaks of it as up to twenty-two feet in length. A statute of 1662 fixes the length at sixteen feet. During Elizabeth’s reign the cost of a pike was three shillings and eightpence, and it was “fifteene foote long besides the head.” The usual length, however, was about ten feet.
It was the bayonet that deposed the pike.
The partizan, like the pike, was introduced in the reign of Edward III. The blade is long, broad, and double-edged, with hatchet-like or pointed branches at the base. It was greatly used as a pageant weapon, and much skill and taste were expended in chasing it and inlaying it with gold. The spetum is narrower and lighter, a long spear at the point, and narrow curved side branches.
The ranseur is very similar to the partizan, with a long broad blade in the centre, and projecting shorter blades on each side. It was much used in the reign of Edward IV.
The spontoon is a half pike, or something between the pike and partizan, and was carried by infantry officers.
A selection of staff and club weapons are represented in [Fig. 49], and most of the weapons referred to are there given.
PART XXIV.
EARLY ARTILLERY.
It is stated that some sort of cannon was known to the Moors very early, and that artillery was used in Spain during the second half of the thirteenth century in the defence of fortified places; but this is believed to be merely traditional, and that the piece of ordnance stated to be mentioned in the Archives of Ghent[46] as being in possession of that town in 1313, was probably a very rough weapon and highly tentative in character. Without wishing to cast doubt on this statement, occurring in a work published in 1843, we may remark that frequent efforts have since been made to find the passage, but without success.