WEAPONS
OF THE MIDDLE AGES

BROADSWORD

BROADSWORD

Earliest form of medieval sword.

Blade was about 2-3 inches wide.

Sword was about 3 1/2 feet long.

Generally weighed about 4 pounds.

Generally used in close combat.

Usually used for cutting or slicing.

Could decapitate an enemy in a single stroke.

CROSSBOW

CROSSBOW

Generally made of wood, iron, or steel.

Usually about 2 feet long.

The string was drawn by winding a crank.

Made it easy for even unskilled warriors to use.

Could penetrate a full set of a knights armor.

BATTLE AXE

BATTLE AXE

Created as single and double bladed.

Could be thrown like a missile.

Various different handle sizes ranging from 1 to 5 feet.

Crescent shaped blade of about 25 cm long.

Could easily crush the skull of an opponent.

FLAIL

FLAIL

Made of one or two iron or steel spiked balls chained to a wooden stick.

Could be used by knights on foot or horseback.

Could be used to tear armor off of knights.

Used in close combat of a sword or axe was lost.

LONGBOW

LONGBOW

Generally between 6 and 7 feet long.

Could pierce armor from over 260 yards away.

Could have 10-13 arrows fired per minute.

Extremely effective against plate armor.

HALBERD

HALBERD

Made of a spike and an axe blade on top of a six foot long pole.

Generally used to mow down soldiers from horseback.

Soldiers using halberds were often equipped with swords or daggers to use in close combat.

WARHAMMER

WARHAMMER

Consisted of a hammer head and a spike.

Extremely versatile and could be used as a weapon or a tool.

Could crush parts of enemies bodies with single blow.

Could crush an enemies shield making it easier to attack them.