le jue de la hache (french poleaxe)

8/12/2019 Le Jue de La Hache (French Poleaxe)

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Le Jue de la Hache

Table of Contents

Aim of Lesson:

To impart a basic knowledge of:

What is a Poll Axe? Observations on Period Weapon Technique Fourteenth and Fifteenth Century Poll Axe Combat Technique of Poll Axe Guards and Wards of Poll Axe Attacking with a Poll Axe Exercises Display and Practise the following techniques of Le Jue.

Students should by now have seen the effects of stepping into and out of cuts and

deflecting thrusts and stepping to the side to avoid them. This should act as bridgeto:Technique 4, 5 and 6 - Tour de Bras from the opponents right hand side, move in

to, stationary, move out of range.Technique 17 - Voiding the thrust

Technique 12 and 16 - Redirection

Technique 9, 10 and 11 - using the queue to throwTechnique 22 variations A, B and C and counter 23 - which includes hooking

Display a technique from Talhoffer.

As a result of conversation held on the Swordforum, we tried out some other

variations that ended up with one of our Axe shafts breaking - if you areinterested then click here.Broken Axe
http://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#pollaxhttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#pollaxhttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#observationshttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#observationshttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#fourteenthhttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#fourteenthhttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#techniquehttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#techniquehttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#guardshttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#guardshttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#attackinghttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#attackinghttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#exerciseshttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#exerciseshttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#exerciseshttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#attackinghttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#guardshttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#techniquehttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#fourteenthhttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#observationshttp://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Le%20Jue%20de%20la%20Hache%20Lesson.htm#pollax


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What is a Poll Axe?

"La Hache" is the French word for the Axe. In the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries

this referred to, what the English termed the pole axe or the poll axe, which

literally translated means head axe, poll meaning head.

The term, poll axe, can apply to any weapon that has the following features:

A hammer head with a back spike, hook, or axe head, with a spike on the head,with or without a butt spike.

This description can apply to any bicuspid pole weapon with at least a spike on itshead. Such weapons that can fit into this list include the Halberd, the Bec de

Corbin, the Bec de Faucon, and the Lucerne Hammer only to name but a few.

The poll axe is quite distinctive from these other types of pole arm, however, as

you can see from the pictures (Figs 1, 2 & 3).

There are essentially two types of poll axe that can be discerned from the

surviving examples and period illustrations:

1 - an axe blade balanced by a hammer, spike or curved fluke

2 - a hammer head balanced by a spike or curved fluke.

The top of the head ends in a long metal spike, that is either rectangular in

section, or shapped like a spear head or dagger blade.

The bottom end of the shaft, the butt, would be protected by a metal cap, whichwas often sharpened. This metal cap was often sharpened into a spike, which was

called a "dague dessoubz".

The head was fixed to the shaft by metal bolts. These bolts, pyramid in shape,

would project so far out as to be considered spikes in their own right. This can beseen clearly in Figure 1.

The manner of assembly can be seen from the diagram below, which is takenfrom Talhoffer 1459, Alte Armateur Und Ringkunst. It almost appears to be a mixand match assembly set that all screws and bolts together.

Most pole weapons would be fitted with long steel bands or strips, calledlanguets, and poll axes were no exception to this. These would run down the shaft

from the head on either 2 or 4 sides. These would strengthen the shaft and also

help protect the wooden shaft from damage.Often a rondelle, a metal disk, would be fitted to these languets, roughly a third to

half way down the haft, with sometimes a second one fitted a little way up from

the bottom of the haft. These were meant to give the hands some extra protection,

which are very exposed when the axe is being used.Some poll axes were fitted with a leather strap or ring. This might have been to

prevent the weapon from slipping through the hands when being wielded and

would have made it easier to recover the weapon if knocked from the hand. Thisfeature can be seen on a poll axe preserved with its original shaft in the

Bayerisches National Museum in Munich. The same feature can also be discerned

in manuscript illustrations, though not very clearly.


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Figure 5 - British Library, Cotton. MS Nero D.IX

The size of the pole axe is more difficult to determine. This is because very few

of the pole axe hafts have survived through the centuries, and many have been re

hafted, so there is no way of telling what their original sizes would have been.The museum in Munich is lucky enough to have one of the few examples of this

weapon with it's original haft.

When looking at contemporary artwork and fechtbuchts it can be seen that the

length of a pole axe would have fallen between 4ft and 7ft. In Talhoffer the lengthof the pole axe seems about equal to the height of the men wielding them, while

in Flos Duellatorum the pole axes seem to be about 4ft to 5ft in length.

This is certainly seems to be reflected by later authors such as George Silver, whorecommends a similar sort of length for this type of pole arm.

"In any of these weapons there needs no just length, but commonly they are, or ought to be five or

six foot long, & may not well be used much longer, because of their weights, and being weapons

for the wars and battle, when men are joined close together, may thrust, & strike sound blows,

with great force both strong and quick."

George Silver - Paradoxes of Defence (1598)

In my opinion, however, I feel that the length of the pole axe should be no longer

than the length of one's body. In this statement lies the truth of the matter. Thelength of a pole axe is a subjective issue, and what might suit one combatant need

not necessarily suit another combatant. Le Jeu does not mention the length of the

poll axe, though Pietro Monte states that the length, up to its hammer head shouldbe one hand longer than the height of the man using it. This could place the length

of the poll axe up to nearly eight feet, including the spear at the top. This

coincides with Silver's recommended length of the short staff, which heconsidered to be a perfect weapon, length wise.


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A Poll Axe Dissected

We have looked in general at what a poll axe is, and in general what a poll axe

looks like, but to be able to understand the text of Le Jue de la Hache properly we

need to fully understand the terms that are likely to be encountered. In general,throughout the document, I will be using the terms stated here rather than any

modern equivalents.

The terms used by the medieval chroniclers to describe poll axes areunsatisfactory. The narratives for axe fighting tend to date from the middle

decades of the 15th century and are mainly of Burgundian origin. These naratives

unfortunately tended to be written by contemporary chroniclers who, it would

appear, did not either know or understand the subtleties of the poll axe. Theytherefore tended to report only big sweeping blows. Whether this is an attempt to

sensationalise the encounters or whether this is due to ignorance I would not like

to attempt to say. I feel that the truth could well be a combination of the two.Olivier de la Marche is the only author of this period that makes a serious attempt

at writing detailed and accurate reports. In spite of this attempt, de la Marche,

uses a wide range of terms for the parts of the poll axe including taillant, maillet,mail, bec de faucon, la teste, dague dessus, point de dessus etc.

The author of Le Jue is much more consistant with his terminology.

The following list has been gathered from a variety of sources.


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Period Name Meaning

arret de la hache alternative to lower rondelle, leather ring or strap

bec de faucon curved fluke on backside of the head, Oliver de la Marche

la croix intersection of head and haftla croisse bolts fixing head to haft, projecting so far as to constitute transverse

spikes

dague dessoubz butt spike, Oliver de la Marchedague dessus top spike, Oliver de la Marche

demy hache center of the haft, esp. when hache is used like a quarter staffle gros bout the end of the poll axe furthest from the head, Angelo. The "Big End"- the end of the poll axe with the head, Rob Lovett

hache poll axe, with axe blade or hammer, the former balanced with hammer,

spike or fluke, the latter with spike or fluke with a long spike on top, metal ferruleor dague on the bottom.

languettes Strips of metal that encase the wooden shaft of the poll axe for

protection

mail hammer head , Oliver de la Marchemaillet hammer head, Oliver de la Marchequeue, la butt of poleaxe

rondelle circular piece of metal on the shaft to protect the hand from the axeslipping down the shafttaillant axe head with cutting edge, Oliver de la Marche

teste, la head of the hache, per Oliver de la Marche

Figure 6 - Parts of the Poll Axe


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Observations of Period Weapon Technique

There are some major differences between period weapon technique when

compared to that of Historical Recreational Hobbies (HRH) such as re-enactment

and the SCA. This is due mainly to the difference in the ultimate end result.Modern HRH has two essentially different end goals:

To recreate an historic or fictitious battle or event for a gathered audiencewith the intention of providing an entertaining display

To gather together and fight mock tourneys or battles with the purpose ofultimately winning. This is not intended to be a display for the crowd.

In both instances the onus is on safety, both as a responsibility of the organisers

and the participants of the combats. This type of event can be characterised by thesaying, "We all have to go to work on Monday morning." This immediately

means that the style of fighting is not authentique and neither is the weapon

usage.

In spite of this, however, Historical Recreational Combat (HRC) is based on

"experimentation" and the premis that "form follows function". This hasessentially meant that study of weapon use has stopped there, and the primary

sources that are avaliable have been largely ignored, either due to a lack of

availability in the past or through a reluctance to change the already establishedways of fighting. This is unfortunate as Professor Anglo has commented in the

past,

"There is an immense corpus of materials which may be analysed to yield

information on all chivalric combats, and broadly speaking these comprise five

main categories; arms and armor; tournament rules and articles; narratives, both

act and fiction; pictorial records; and combat manuals which are themselves

requently illustrated".All of these sources that Anglo refers to are important and necessary for the study

of Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA). Having said this though it isimportant not to forget the two central tennants that are part of HRC, "form

follows function" and "experimentation".

Taking all of this into account, the biggest difference that can be seen between

HRC and HEMA is the absence of grappling and wrestling. In HEMA, the

medieval arts especially, the concepts and moves that lie behind the wrestlingdepicted in the manuals, seem to be the central tennant of this period of combat,

where the same moves appear again and again whether armed with dagger, long

sword or unarmed.

"Wrestling, which goeth much together with all weapons on foot."

From Castiglione, Baldasssare; The Boke of the Courtier;

Trans. Sir Thomas Hoby; London 1598:

This sentiment is reflected by various other contemporary sources, from Medieval

Fechtbuchts to accounts of 15th century tourneys. The English Knight wasadvised "To wrestle all manner of wayes" or to fight "with Gripe, or otherwise" in

his tournaments - up until 1507. Pietro Monte recognised this in the 1480's where

he said that wrestling was "the foundation of all fighting". If one takes the time to

look at the techniques displayed in Fiore's Flos Duellatorum you will soon notice


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that the techniques that he displays in the unarmed and dagger section, which is

noticebly the first section, are repeated time and time again with all manner ofother weapons.

This importance of wrestling is not the only difference between HRC and HEMA.With HRC movement is not so important as with HEMA. This can easily be seen

when watching displays, especially between two combatants where quickly the

combat settles into a very static combat that essentially boils down to a trading ofblows. There is little voiding, redirection or binding that occurs.

This has a further knock on effect where the actual blocking tends to turn intovery hard blocks that "stop" the action. Although a "stop" is certainly a technique

that was used historically with blocking, it was certainly not a primary one. This

has virtually become the main technique for defending one's body within HRC.

The reasons for these differences are easy to see and understand. The importance

of safety and displaying to the crowd has really encouraged these differences tobecome the normal standard. With stop blocks it is easier to prepare one self for

the next blow, it is easy to telegraph the blow and so it leads very much to an

extended combat. A HEMA combat tends to be over very quickly and will not

last more than a few seconds. For an uninformed public who wish to beentertained and who have been fed a diet of Hollywood combats this is the style

of combat that they expect to see and would feel very much cheated if they did

not.

However, this is not to say that the public should not be re-educated in this

respect. This re-eductaion will take time and a family weekend display is notnecessarily the appropriate place to introduce authentic combat techniques.

This seems all very much irrelevant to the study of period poll axe technique.However, I feel that it is important to recognise the differences between authentic

medieval martial arts and modern HRC to do the study of period fight manuals,such as Le Jue de la Hache, any real justice.

Fourteenth and Fifteenth Century Poll Axe

The poll axe appeared more or less with the advent of plate armour anddisappeared with its demise. The poll axe therefore seems to be a weapon that is

born out of the need to beat the more advanced armour forms that were being

developed during the 14th and 15th centuries. As the need for armour disappeared

with advances in military weapons then the need for the poll axe also diminishedand so led to its demise.

The poll axe appeared to become a popular weapon both on the field of combat

and on the tourney field, and was probably used by Knights and soldiers both.Much of the evidence of poll axe use comes from the many recorded tourneys and

combats that occurred between Knights. However, this should not lead one to

form the wrong impression that this is solely where the poll axe saw use.

It was noted by Professor Anglo that:

"...it is difficult to resist the impression that they (les haches) were designedrincipally for showy fights within the lists: a view borne out by accounts of

ifteenth century combats where knights battered each other unmercifully,


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denting, puncturing and even knocking bits of each other' armor, and yet

eventually emerged unscathed and often not even out of breath. This suggests thatarmour was very efficient, but that axes (les haches) were not."

I will stress what he says again - "it is difficult to resist the impression that.".The poll axe was an extremly effective weapon. If it was not then it would not

have seen as much use as it did on the battlefield. After all what would the point

be in a weapon that would do little damage to your opponent.The poll axe was a weapon with one aim in mind. That aim is to compromise

armour and to deliver concussive blows if the armour cannot be compromised.This is achieved by piercing the armour with the dague dessus or the bec defaucon, hammering the combatant continually with the maill, and when the

armour is finally compromised, if the poll axe is so equipped, to deal fatal blows

with the taillant.The effectiveness of the poll axe can be clearly seen in Talhoffer's Fechtbuchts

where the armoured poll axe combatants can clearly be seen pouring large

amounts of blood from the wounds that the poll axe made, at the same time as it

compromised armour.

Figure 7 - 134 verso,Talhoffer 1459 "Alte Armatur und Ringkunst" - The Royal Library,

Copenhagen

The poll axe was certainly not only regarded as popular within judicial combats

and tourneys. It was a popular wepon of war. On the finding of a mass grave

dated to the time of the Battle of Towton, which some people have poeticallydescribed as "The Bloodiest Battle" of British History, analysis was conducted on

the remains found therein. This analysis of some of the skulls showed that theyclearly bore damage that research has shown could have been delivered by the

hammer of a pole axe.


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Figure 8 - Skull from Towton - wound possibly made by Poll Axe

The poll axe was indeed a very popular weapon among the knight classes. Itbecame the weapon of choice in combats on foot, both pleasance and outrance.

Though some undoubtedly refused such combats as it was felt that the handscould never be adequately protected by gauntlets. In fact, this was the reason thatFrancois I rejected Henry VIII's proposal to fight at the Field of the Cloth of

Gold. The reason given was, "as there is no gauntlet made sufficient to protect the

hands". This again can be argued as part of the effectiveness of the poll axeagainst armour.

Poll axe use has generally become associated with the great fetes d'armes of the

cadet houses of Anjou and of Burgundy, though I feel that its popularity as a

weapon was much more widespread, as certainly it saw much use from Scotlandthrough to Italy.

In 1388, it was reported that a French Knight versed an English Knight in the

company of the exiled Duke of Ireland. In 1389, combat a outrance included 9courses of poll axe was held before the Duke of Burgundy. In 1408 and 1409,

John of Cornwell challenged the Seneschal of Hainhault to fight with poll axe,

but no combat took place. In 1435, the second day of combat between Juan de

Merlo and Pierre de Bauffremont was conducted with axes. In 1439, Jean deLuxembourg fought "a Swabian knight of 65' who fought skillfully with the axe

at the joust conducted for the betrothal of Charles the Bold and Catherine of

France. In 1443, at the Pas de L'Arbre de Charlemagne a duel with axes as part ofchallenge and Pedro Vasquez de Saavedra fought Pierre de Bauffremont,

chamberlain of Philip the Good with the visors of their helmets raised.

In 1446, Galeto Balthazar and Phille de Ternant at Arras fought with axes as the

third part of their combat: It is interesting to note that in this account sometechnique can possibly be discerned.

"Tenant managed a sidestep as the Milanese squire came towards him in the firstencounter, and nealy fell him with a massive blow to the neck"

This clearly states that Tenant voided the attack from Balthazar and managed to

reply at the same time with a massive attack of his own. This attack is very

typical of Medieval Combat, where the best form of defense is to be where the

blow isn't, while at the same time making your own attack at your opponent. Asimilar technique can be seen within Le Jue de la Hache, where the agent attackes

with a thrust and the patient agent merely voids the attack while at the same time


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gaining a more advantageous position - (Verse 17).

Jacques de Lelaing, a famous knight of the mid 15th century often choose to fightwith poll axe, though this was by no means the only weapon that he used.

In 1445, Jacques de Lelaing, in his first feat of arms, fought an Italian called Jean

de Boniface. This Italian knight had been making a reputation for himselftravelling from the court of the Italian King, Alfonso of Aragon and Sicily. He

had travelled through Lombardy, Savoy, Flanders and Burgundy distinguishing

himself in combat. He reached Antwerp where Jacques took up the challenge.

Pole axe combat was to commence after 6 lances had been broken on the other

and after hurling spears and swords at each other. Early in the poll axe combat ,Jacques knocked the Italian's axe from one of his hands, this features in many of

the techniques of Le Jue de la Hache, but the Italian managed to quickly recoverfrom this setback, again one part of Le Jue deals with this sort of event. Jacque

continued to fight the Italian knight and struck him a blow that was powerful

enough to nearly turn him around, which could give some impression of howpowerful the poll axe blows could be. Eventually Jacques managed to disarm the

Italian completely, after which Sir Jean then tried to close with Jacques, who kept

the Italina at bay with the point of his axe. The fight was stopped shortly

afterwards.In 1447, Jacques de Lelaing fought in Castille against Diego de Guzman. The

combat took place in Vallaloid on the 3rd Febuary. The combat on foot was totake place first and was to include poll axe, sword and dagger. It was reported that

as Jacques and Diego fought with their poll axes, their blows were so fierce thatsparks flew from their armour, which is a tribute both to the strength and quality

of the armour but also to the strength of the attacks.

"Then Jacques de Lalaing, seeing how aggressive his adversary was, whirled the

point of his polaxe around, and struck 3 blows on the eye-slits of Diego, one after

another, in such a way that he was wounded in 3 places in the face...the first blowlanded on his left brow, the second on the point of his forehead, and the third

above the right eye."

The fight was soon stopped after Jacques disarmed Diego.

In 1449, Jacques travelled to Stirling in Scotland to fight with members of the

Douglas clan before the King of Scotland. This combat took place on the 25thFebuary before a crowd of five to six thousand.

The combat was to be a combat of six. Jacques de Lelaing, his uncle Simon de

Lelaing and a squire from Brittany named Herve de Meriadec forming one side,while James Douglas, brother of the Earl of Douglas, another James Douglas and

John Ross of Halket were to fight to uphold Scottish honor. The combat was to

take place on foot with sharp weapons, including spear, poll axe, sword and

dagger, although the throwing of spears was not to be allowed. Jacques and his

companions immediately dropped their spears and used poll axe against the Scots,the Scots however decide to retain theirs. Jaques came against James Douglas, the

earl's brother, and was quickly disarmed of both his spear and poll axe. Jaques

eventually won this combat.Simon de Lelaing, also, quickly disarmed his opponent, John Ross, of his spear.

The two then fought with poll axe. John Ross was a powerful man but Simon

bided his time and waited for the Scot to tire himself, at which point Simon wenton the offensive with both the dague and the dague dessoubz, which is a

technique that is mentioned and advised by Le Jue.

Herve de Mariadec fought the other James Douglas. James made a thrust atHerve's face with his spear and missed. Herve stepped in at this moment and

struck Sir James on the head so hard that he fell to the ground stunned. One might


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say he had been "poll axed". Which again is further evidence to the effectiveness

of the poll axe in combat.Later this same year Jacques was challenged by an English Squire known as

Thomas Que. This time the combat took place in Bruges, Flanders. The combat

this time was to take place on foot with poll axe and with sword. Before thecombat began, Jaques lodged a complaint about the English man's pole axe saying

that the dague and the taillant were too long and sharp. The Duke, who was

udging the contest, declared that the Englishman would have to change weapons,

but Thomas pleaded so much that Jacques capitulated and allowed him to carry

his own poll axe. The fight started well for Jacques, who quickly forced theEnglishman backwards, but unfortunately as he struck Thomas, Jacques bought

his hand down on the spike of his opponent's poll axe. The point enteringunderneath the gauntlet and pierced entirely through, "cutting the nerves and

veins, for the spike on the Englishman's axe was wondrously large and sharp."

Jacques eventually went on to win the fight by discarding his poll axe andgrappling Thomas Que to the ground. Luckily the wound that Jacques suffered

did not proove to be crippling nor did it end his career.

Also, Jacques de Lelaing fought Diego Guzman at Bruges. It was reported that

"Guzman wounded in the forehead & blinded with the bleeding, threw down his

axe, wrenched Lelaing's out of his hands, siezed him by the throat & wastempting to throw him when the combat was halted."

Which goes to show how desperate and dangerous, these friendly poll axe

combats really were.In 1449, at the Pas de la Fontaine de Pleurs, the Passage of the Fountain of Tears,

at Chalon sur Saone, anyone striking the white shield fought with poll axe against

Jacques Lelain. Much of these combat that took place during this Passage wasuneventful. However, it is interesting to note that combat between Jaques de

Lelaing and Sir Jean de Boniface, who he had fought a few years earlier. In their

combat with poll axe Jacques caught hold of the Sir Jean's poll axe, with his right

hand and struck him three times in the face with the dague dessoubz using theleft.

Jacques also did something similar with a Squire named Gerard de Rousillon.

During the combat Jacques stepped in and grasped Gerard's poll axe with his righthand and with his left hand struck him with the dague of the poll axe. This is a

very similar technique being used as in the fight with Sir Jean. Gerard, who by

this time was bleeding profusely, wrenched Jacques' poll axe from his left hand,after which the combat was soon stopped.

Jaques also did this later in 1450, against Claude Pitois, who was a squire. Jaques

took hold of Claude's poll axe with the right hand, however this time Claude also

did the same to Jaques. The fight was soon stopped as both combatants started to

grpple with each other, however, they both managed to retain their poll axes tothe end of the combat.

This was obviously a successful technique as one of his later opponents,Jaques de

Avanchier, a squire from Savoy, used this very technique of grabbing the axewith the right hand against de Lelaing. De Leliang's respons to this, however, was

very different to that of Gerard de Rousillon. De Lelaing grabbed hold of the de

Avanchier by the gorget and dragged him forward by three or four steps, andwhile the Savoyian was unbalanced disarmed him of his poll axe and threw him

to the ground.

This technique is obviously one of some importance, as many people seemed tobe both aware of it and had various types of counters to use against it. I find it

reminescent of certain staff techniques that have been illustrated by Swetnam, and


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have since appeared in both the United Kingdom's Scout manual on Staff fighting

and in Terry Brown's English Martial Arts.Jacques de Lelaing died on July 3rd, 1452, aged 30. Unfittingly perhaps he was

felled by cannon fire while taking part in the siege on Poucques as part of the

campaign waged by the Duke of Burgundy against the Flemmish city of Ghent.The last set of accounts also, open up some interesteing thoughs about both the

effectiveness and the techniques of poll axe. They are centered around a poll axe

combat that took place on the second day of an Anglo-Burgundian Feat of Arms

held in Smithfield, sometime during June in 1467. This account deals with the

combat between Anthony Woodville, Lord Scales and brother to the Queen ofEngland and Anthoine, Comte de la Roche, The Great Bastard of Burgundy,

bastard son of Charles the Bold. This fight was reported at the time as being thefiercest axe fight ever seen.

The Bastard also advanced resolutely holding his axe firmly with both hands.

Lord Scales then marched out clearly intent in doing deadly execution with hisaxe which he moved about menacingly, carrying it on his shoulder, then

brandishing it aloft, and all the while shifting it from hand to hand.

During the combat, Lord Scales used mainly the head of his axe whilst the

Bastard used the "small end". According Le Jue, this would indicate that theBastard was an expert fighter with an axe, though I think that the truth of that is

probably more complicated.Lord Scales commenced his attack with the Axe-spike driven at his opponents

visor while the Bastard replied with a haft-stroke to the breast. Lord Scales at onepoint lost his grip on his weapon but was able to recover.

Lord Scales, with the point of his axe, broke through one of the "ribbes of the

bastards plates". He went on to close and strike the Bastard "in the side of theviscerne of his bascinet" and had "the poynt of axe in the vysour of his enemyes

helmett, and by force thereof was lykly to have born him ovyr".

Given the danger of the situation, the King threw down the baton. The combat,

however, continued on. Lord Scales continued to aim blows at his opponent. TheBastard was forced to retaliate with "vng cop de tests de hache moult puissant".

At the end of the combat it was noted that Lord Scales armor was rent with greatgashes from the spike of the Bastard's axe and was broken in several places, whileamongst other things the Bastards third shoulder plate was completely hacked

away.

From this small and detailed account there is the hinting not only of techniquesand styles but also, more evidently is the effectiveness of the poll axe against

armour.

Where Anglo says that "it is difficult to resist the impression that they (leshaches) were designed designed principally for showy fights" and that "knights

battered each other unmercifully, denting, puncturing and even knocking bits of

each other' armor, and yet eventually emerged unscathed and often not even out

of breath. This suggests that armour was very efficient, but that axes (les haches)were not", I would say that it is not only a salute to the skills of the obviously

efficient armour that was made during the 15th century but also to the

effectiveness of the poll axe and its past practitioner's that they were able to cause

damage against not only the armour but also to those that were inside the armour.

With the decline of plate armours, the poll axe was soon forgotten, and by themiddle of the 16th century was rarely mentioned in the Fechtbuchts and other

manuals, a possible indication of change in not only in how war was fought but

also a change in society as well, where the aim of the manuals was not so much

for the battlefield, the tourney or for judicial combat, but for survival and self


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defense upon the street and skills of weapons that had fallen out of every day use,

such as the long sword, and were now but weapons of the classroom.

Poll Axe Technique

Le Jue de la Hache, like so many of the Fechtbuchts and manuals on combat were

not written for the beginner unlike those written in later periods. This can be seenby the complete lack of explanation of any of the basic guards or principles thatmay underlay technique surrounding that of the poll axe.

If an understanding of the poll axe is to be gained it is necessary to first look at

the basic principles that might surround a staff weapon such as this from another

source that does explain the techniques. To this end I feel that it is best to look toGeorge Silver, who wrote in simple terms about two handed weapon play, basing

much of his technique on the staff.

In his "Brief Instructions Upon My Paradoxes of Defense" George Silver says,

"Remember that at the Morris pike, forest bill, long staff & two handed sword,

that you lie in such sort upon your wards that you may both ward, strike & thrustboth double & single, & then return to your former wards slips & lie again &

then are you as you were before. (AS IN THE FIGHT WITH THE SHORT

STAFF) The like fight is to be used with the javelin, partisan, halberd, black bill,

battle axe, glaive, half pike, etc.."

In other words, the nature of fighting with all of these weapons is based upon theshort staff fight. That is not saying that you use this type of weapon as a short

staff but rather the rules and principles that govern the nature of fighting with a

short staff also governs the nature of the fight with those weapons that Silver lists,

the poll axe most definitely falling into this same category.

Return to top

Guards and Wards of the Poll Axe

Holding the Poll Axe

There are many different ways to hold a poll axe, essentially depending on what

you are trying to achieve with the weapon itself. The hands can be both up, both

down or one up and one down. They can be positioned near la teste with thequeue in front, half way down the queue, as with demy hache or at the end

furthest away from la teste.

The easiest way to pick up a poll axe is to hold it like a staff. If you lay your poll

axe on the floor, stand by the queue. Face the poll axe and with your legs about

shoulder width apart, your left arm should be closest to the dague dessoubz andyour right should be closest to la teste.

Move the foot that is nearest la teste, so that you are now facing la teste of the

poll axe, both of your feet should now be pointed at the la teste. If you looked


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down from above you would see that you have created a right angle with the

queue forming one length and your body forming the other. Now bend the kneesand with your left hand take up the queue of the pole arm. You should have about

a foot or so of pole poking out from behind your left hand. This part forms the

queue properly.

Now move your right foot so that is in front of your left foot, still shoulder width

apart, and twist the left foot so that the toes are pointed towards the shaft of thepoll axe and the right foot is pointed towards la teste.

Now with the right hand grab the shaft so that your hands are roughly shoulderwidth apart and lift la teste of the poll axe so that it is roughly level with the

height of your nose.

If you are facing someone it should be pointing directly at his or her mouth. The

dague dessoubz should be roughly level with your hip. This is essentially the

medium guard of the poll axe. Your weight should be distributed roughly 50/50between the feet, or very slightly weighted towards the back foot.

Remember to keep your knees slightly bent as well, as the knees are "the key to

movement".

This position is known as the Medium Guard.

Medium Guard from the Side


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Medium from the Front

Guards and Wards

In my opinion there is a difference between a guard and a ward. Sometimes

Wards and Guards do overlap but this does not get away from the fact that these

are two very different things.

A Guard is a starting position. From a guard you should be able to either defendyourself or attack your opponent. A Guard usually shuts down a line of attack and

invites your opponent to attack another line that appears to be less well protected.

A Ward is where you actively defend a line from being attacked by moving yourweapon to that position.

Let me give you an example. You are standing in a medium guard, from here youare in an excellent position to attack your opponent with a thrust and you can

move your weapon to protect or ward the inside and outside lines with little

movement.

Guards

With poll axe there are essentially 12 guard positions that are possible (see

pictures)

Low with head forward on left side of body right leg forward

Low with head behind on left side of body right leg forward


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Low with head forward on right hand side of the body left leg forward

Low with head behind on right hand side of body left leg forward

Medium with head forward on left side of body right leg forward


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Medium with head behind on left side of body right leg forward

Medium with head forward on right side of body left leg forward


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Medium with head behind on left side of body right leg forward

Reverse with the head forward on rightside of body with left leg forward


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Reverse with the head behind on rightside of body with left leg forward


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Reverse with the head forward on leftside of body with right leg forward


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axe had any guard that you should assume, that he felt it was unnecessary to

explain something that his audience should already know or that the sword guardscould easily be applied to the the pole axe.

I think that the latter is most probably true. If you take a look at Dei Liberei hedoes exactly this and displays a set of 6 guards that are based on and named after

the sword guard positions. There is Posta Breve Serpentina, Posta di uera erose,

Posta de Donna, Porta di Ferro Mezana, Coda Longa and Posta di Fenestra.

Le Jue de la Hache, also explicitly states several guards. Among them areincluded a contra poix, garde de la croix, garde de la dague, garde de la demyhache and garde de la queue. We will concentrate on these latter.

Wards

According to Silver, every poll axe has either four or eight wards depending on

the orientation of the head. There are four wards for the staff part of the weaponand four wards for the head of the weapon. This means that if the head is in the

rear position the weapon only has four wards that can be used. These eight wards

are as follows:

High Outside with Staff


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High Inside with Staff

Low Oustide with Staff


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Low Inside with Staff

Pole Arm Head High


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Pole Arm Head Low

Pole Arm Head to the Outside


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Pole Arm Head to the Inside

The Half-Staff (Demy-Hache) Technique

There is one set of wards that have not been dealt with in this section so far, andalthough it has been left to last is a very important part of the style that needs to

be addressed. This is the Half-Staff Style, Le Jue de la Hache refers to this as

Demy Hache while Olivier de la Marche noted it as a contra poix. This includesan extra Ward as well as including the other wards and guards that have already

been discussed.

The Half-Staff style is where the hands are positioned in the centre of the poll axe

leaving and equal amount of pole on either side. The obvious benefits to this style

is that it is easier to bring either end of the poll axe into play, and this was one ofthe reasons why this way of holding a pole arm was advised by the past masters.

Although this style seems to give an advantage in that you appear to have twoends to threaten your opponent with youu infact only can use one at a time, the

other end will be always widespaced at any given time.

Finally, when using this type of style your body will have a tendency to stand

more square to your opponent which gives your opponent a greater target to aim

at

In spite of all these disadvantages this style is very useful but only in the

execution of certain techniques. Even when you are using a half-staff style within

the execution of a technique you are only in the half-staff style for the time ittakes to ward.

There are two extremely useful things that the half-staff style provides:

The St George Guard. This guard is an extremely strong guard against downward

blows to the head. With this guard the whole body is behind the ward and it is

virtually impenetrable. The problem with this guard is that the whole weapon is

pulled into a high position that means that you are susceptible to a quick blow tothe legs.

Picture


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Allows the poll axe fighter to close distance between themselves and their

opponent. This is not useful in itself and must only be done when a grapplingtechnique is going to be performed.

The Guards of Le Jeu de la Hache

Although there is a lot of mention within Le Jue de la Hache about having thequeue, la croix or la dague forward there are only two guards mentioned

explicitly. These guards are la garde de la queue and la garde de la dague.

La Garde de la Queue

La garde de la queue is mentioned in Verses [12]. [53], [65] and [70].

"[12] Item aultre couverte de tours de bras, vous estant sur la garde de la queue

sans vous bougier pouez receouir demy hache tant que vos bras se pouvrontestendre en hault. Et incontinent le coup receu pouez de la queue de la vostre


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cueillier la sienne, ainsi quil la vouldra leuer. et tout dune venue la ruer en auant.

Et se elle ne vole hors de sa main au mains vous lesbranleuez tellement que aureztemps pour donner coup ou estocq."

"[53] Item se il auoit retire sa hache sy a coup quil vous conuenist faillir retirezvous prestement sur la garde de vostre queue."

"[65] Item se il le vous faisoit deuez si prestement que vous vous sentez enferrebaisser le gros bout de vostre hache en la tournant par dessoubz la queue de la

sienne sans guieres la esloignier et tant que vostredicte hache viengne sur ladarriere de sa queue. Et de la pouez esbranler tant que aurez loisir dedesmarchier en arriere pour tourner en la garde de la queue car elle est plus

auantageuse que celle de la dague."

"[70] Item se vostre homme vient a vous sur la garde de la queue et quil la tienne

comme basse pouez frapper de vostre queue contre la sienne auant main pour la

esloignier sur son deuant. Et se le pouez faire en suyuant lung pie apres lautreouez vous mettre entre sa hache et luy et de la deuez mettre vostredicte queue

entre ses cuisses iusques a demy et deuez subleur vostre homme sur ladicte queue

le plus hault que pourrez. Et pouez faire cestedicte prinse de plusieurs aultres

entrees ne plus ne mains comme est mis au Jeu de droittier a droittier."

In spite of this lack of explicit reference the importance of la garde de la queue

should not be under emphasized. We have already seen this particular guard inuse from various accounts of tourneys in earlier sections. This was the guard that

was used by The Bastard of Burgundy in 1467.

Implicity the guard is mentioned more regularly and in fact features in roughly

56.5% of the verses of La Jue for the principle target of the piece.

One last thing to note and mention for this particular guard is that it is mentioned

implicitly in verse [19].

"[19] Item se il est joueur de la hache et qu'il viengne la queue de sa hache"

[19] If he is an expert axe-fighter, and he advances with the queue of his axe

forward

Many people have argued that this in fact means that expert axe fighters prefer to

use the queue of the axe. This I think is reading far too much into this statement.It is quite possible to be an expert axe fighter and advance using la dague, or to be

an inexpert fighter and advance with la queue forward. This statement includes

the use of the word "and". It is stating that if your opponent is an expert axefighter AND if the expert axe fighter decides to advance with the queue forwardthen you may.. Clearly the author is not stating that an expert will use the

queue over and above everything else. However, it must be remembered that this

guard appears in over 50% of the techniques and it explicitly states in verse [65]

to "step back to the guard of the queue because it is more advantageous than thatof the dague.", though this could either be refering to the position that you are left

in performing that particular technique or advice in general

If this was the case surely Lord Scales in 1467 would have used the queue in a

similar manner to his opponent and Jacques de Lelaing would not have been


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striking sparks from the armour of his opponent with the head of the axe.

However, it is an important and versatile guard since many of the techniques do

use it and show it coming against you. Also it is featured in Dei Liberi as well,

and appears featured in some of the Talhoffer techniques though, as mentionedearlier, no guard for the poll axe is mentioned explicitly here either.

La Garde de la Queue, from my studies shows that this guard is simply one with

the queue of the axe forward, whether in the medium position or in the reversed

position.

La Garde de la Dague


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La garde de la dague is mentioned explicitly just the once in verse [28].

"[28] Item se ile dessaisoit ceste prinse que luy aurez faite en la maniere

dessusdicte et quil fust sur la garde de la dague pouez pareillement mettre laqueue de la vostre soubz sa demy hache en marchant visage contre visage et

asser vostredite queue par dessus son bras droit et donner bonne secousse pour

luy faire perdre le gros bout de sa hache, et de le aurez loisir de donner coup ou

estocq."

Implicitly, la garde de la dague is mentioned a further three times, by stating that

the dague is forward for the principle character, which is roughly 3.6% of theverses of La Jue. This is a major drop from la garde de la queue, and was

obviously not favoured by the author.

La garde de la dague is formed quite simply by standing either in the medium orreversed position with the dague of the axe forward.

If this is the case then further mentions of parts of the head of the axe, such as the

croix, must mean that la garde de la dague has been assumed. The position of the

croix is important however from the point of view that this is an area of the pollaxe where much parrying and warding will be performed. If you take these

additional mentions of the head into account then the percentage of the techniquesthat use la garde de la dague will rise to roughly 9.5%, barely a tenth of the versesadvise you as the principle to use this particular guard position.

There are quite simply no more guards that are mentioned. This at first seems


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quite a shocking concept to take on board, until you begin to look at later writers

for pole arm weapons. Di Grassi, Silver and Swetnam only ever describe a totalof three guard positions - medium, low and reverse. Most of the writers in fact

encourage use of only one of these guard positions - the medium. When one starts

to consider the poll axe in these terms the lack of guards does not seem sosurprising.

Other areas of the poll axe are mentioned, but never in the static sense that Iwould expect to see from a guard position, they are all being used in an active

sense to either stop, parry, redirect, hook, or grapple the opponent.

Attacking with a Poll Axe

As with all other weapons there are three types of attack:

Thrust Cut Slash

Thrusting

Thrusting types of attacks can further split into three distinct categories:

A thrust made be slipping the staff through the hands

A thrust made by keeping the hands in one position on the staff.

A thrust made with one hand.

Thrusting is the easiest attack to make with a poll axe in terms of the recovery.

The reason for this is the force is being directed in a single line and can easily bebought back along the same line by pulling the rear hand back.

The thrust can be made very easily form the medium guard that was discussed inthe "Holding a Poll Axe" section. There are three different ways to do this.

Loosen the grip on the right hand and push the pole through the right hand with

the left hand, lean very slightly forward. When the thrust has reached its targetthen pull the pole back through the right hand until you are back in your starting

position, also return the weight distribution to its starting point. This is a thrust

made by slipping the staff.

Thrust the pole arm forward without moving the hands, at the same time shift theweight of the body forward. This is a very strong thrust. This can be further

augmented with a slight gathering step

Thrust just with one hand, as you thrust forward release completely the grip with

the right hand and step forward. This can be done either reversed with the right


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hand holding the staff or with the left hand thrusting forward.

The slipping thrust can be a very quick thrust and can be performed very rapidly

but it can lack power and can also be very easily turned aside, and if you are not

careful you can loose your grip with the right hand.

The second type of thrust is a very strong thrust and is not so easy to turn, thedisadvantage of this sort of thrust is that you do lose some distance.

The one handed thrust is extremely powerful and can have an amazing range.This sort of thrust can easily be put aside but it is also extremely quick. The

problem with this thrust is that you need to be very quick at recovering the

weapon especially if the thrust did not land.

The main thing that should be remembered with poll axe is the maintainance of

distance. This doesn't matter so much if you are facing other weapons of a similar

length but is crucial when dealing with swordsmen and shield men. An accuratethrust is one manner in which you can help your maintanence of distance.

Direction of a Thrust

There are three different heights a thrust should travel in along two different lines.The heights are essentially low, middle and high.

Low - aimed below the waist most probably at the knee Middle - aimed roughly at waist and chest height High - aimed at the throat and face

The two lines that the thrust can be made on is either the Inside or the Outside of

your opponents weapon. The Inside Line is to the right of your opponent's

weapon, ie as you look at your opponent, to the left of his weapon. The Outside

Line is to the left of your opponent's weapon, ie as you look at your opponent, tothe right of his weapon. The position of the two lines of attack will change

constantly depending on the position of your opponents weapon.

This gives a total of 6 lines that you may be able to thrust on.

Cutting

Before discussing the cut and the slash, the swinging motion should be explained.

This is very important. If the swing misses then it is vitally important that the poll

axe man should recover as soon as possible to a guard of some sort. Surprisingly,

this seems to elude some poll axe users.

Swinging a pole arm is very similar to the technique that you would use to swing

a pickaxe or similar sort of implement. Do you swing a pickaxe just by holdingone end and swing? No, this is not a very accurate way of aiming the pickaxe nor

is it particularly efficient. What you do is hold the pick axe with hand at one end

and the other hand at the other end and then when you swing it you allow the poleto slip through the hands which lengthens the pole and increases the energy and

momentum of the head. After the swing you then return the weapon to the starting

position by slipping it back through the hands. This is the essence of swinging apole arm and is a technique that is important to master especially if you have


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missed the target you were aiming at.

The cut is made in exactly the same way as you would a pick axe in the example

above. As you swing the poll axe you allow the pole to slip through the lead hand

and when the poll axe starts to reach the end of the swing you pull the poll axeback and shorten its length with the rear hand. As you do this you should allow

your shoudlers and hips to move round with the blow and if necessary to step

forward with the blow as well. This sort of attack should not be done relying onthe strength of the wrists and elbows, it requires, if done correctly the

involvement of the whole body, driving from the rear foot forward.

If you should make contact with your target you should then drive the cut into the

target with the chopping motion.

Slash

The slash is very similar to a cut. The difference comes when the dague of thepoll axe comes into contact with your opponent. When this happens you draw the

poll axe back in towards you, either with the hands, twisting the body or

preferably with both. The actual cutting motion, the swing, which sets you up for

the slash, need not be very big.

This attack has very little effect against armoured opponents.

Effects of a Spike.

Some poll axes are adorned with a spike or beak. This spike although ideal for

piercing armour is also extremely effective at piercing people. This can work as a

benefit, as obviously, if you manage to make the armour fail with this tool, youare likely to pierce the person encased within. Adversely, this can also be a

disadvantage, the spike can lodge within the armour and can be problematic to

remove easily, even if it has pierced the body inside the armour. There are manyaccounts of combat, both on the battlefield and in the tourney, where warriors

have continued fighting after being pierced with this part of the weapon. This sort

of occurrence, although seemingly incredulous, did actually happen and anexample of which we saw earlier in the account of a Jacques de Lalaing.

It can be seen from this that though such a blow with the spike of a poll axeweapon would have most certainly been debilitating, it would not necessarily

ensure that the battle would have been finished.

The Spike would also have been used for hooking the opponent.

Directions of Cutting and Slashing

There are eight lines of attack on which all blows must come. They are:

straight down diagonally down from left to right diagonally down from right to left horizontally from left to right horizontall from right to left diagonally up from left to right diagonally up from right to left


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straight upThere have been a variety of names and numbering systems given to the eight

cuts. The number system that I use is based on the method for labelling all

forehand cuts with odd numbers and all backhand cuts with even numbers. Thissystem became popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. The names are those used

by the Italian Masters. Memorizing the names is not necessary but doing so will

aid in your own research.

These are the eight directions of cut.

Figure 24 - Direction of attack

Fendente - A straight descending vertical blow.

Squalembrato reverso -- A diagonal downward blow that cuts from the right

shoulder of your opponent to his left flank.

Squalembrato mandritto - A diagonal downward cut that cuts from the left

shoulder of your opponent to his right flank.

Tondo roverso -- A horizontal blow that cuts from your opponents right flank to

his left flank.

Tondo mandritto -- A horizontal blow that cuts from your opponents left flank to

his right flank.

Ridoppio roverso or Squalembrato (montante) roverso - A blow that cuts

diagonally upwards from your opponent's right flank to left shoulder.

Ridoppio mandritto or Squalembrato (montante) mandritto -- A blow that cuts

diagonally upwards from your opponent's left flank to right shoulder.

Montante -- A blow straight up, usually made with the false edge.

Grappling

Grappling or wrestling is an essential part of Medieval Martial Arts, and no less

so than with the poll axe. Wrestling in my opinion is part of the essence of


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Medieval Martial Arts and appears in many of the techniques of Le Jue de la

Hache, as well as other contemporary fechtbuchts and manuals.

This has already been discussed in an earlier section.

Attacks of Le Jue de la Hache

The attacks of Le Jue de la Hache can be are varied and show a high degree of

sophistication. The types of attacks that can be seen within Le jue include blows,

thrusts, slashes, disarms, levers, pushes and throws.

For the sake of this analysis I will split the attacks into three general categories,

blows, disarms and pushes/throws. The blows will include all the blows, thrustsand slashes, the disarms will contain those that involve one or other of the parties

being disarmed, while the pushes/throws will include all those moves that include

someone being thrown, pushed or tripped.

The Blows

Blows

The first attack that we see in Le Jue de la Hache is a "tour de bras". This attack is

a big swinging roundarm blow. This attack is featured in verses 4 X2, 5X2, 6X2,

7X2, 8x2, 9, 10, 12, 22, 26, 52, 54 and 55. This is a total of 18 mentions or 13mentions out of 69 techniques. Although this attack must have been quite

impressive to observe it is rarely recommended by the author as a blow to start

with. This large round house is normally left to finish your opponent with after

you have off balanced or widespaced him.

The next type of blow that we can see within Le Jue is one called a coup. This is a

short string blow, that is normally delivered sideways. There are within Le Jue dela Hache several variations of this type of blow including a backhanded blow -

coup darriere main, a blow with the hammer head - coup de mail, a blow to thehead - coup sur la teste and a blow to the knee - coup de genoul. This types of

blows are featured in verses 24 verses out of 69 and mentioned 36 time. Much of

this might be argued that it is merely a generic term for a blow however it is was

delievered as there are many times that it is used to describe a tour de bras.Taking this into account it is, in the majority of cases very different from the tour

de bras.

The last type of blow that can be identified from Le Jue is the tirer. The tirer is a

short blow. This blow is used in verses [46], [48], [60], [61], [66] and [67]. Thisword is more often associated with a pull or a push and is used as such in themajority of cases within Le Jue. Having said that, in these few cases it is refering

to tirer as a short blow, that I would imagine is meant to be quick and sharp with

the main aim of pushing the opponent or the weapon out of the way.

Thrusts

The next group of attacks that we should look at in this section is the thrust or, as

it is termed within Le Jue, estocq. The estocq is used in a variety of different

ways thrusting to the face - estocquer au visage, a thrust made by slipping the

queue through one's hand - destocq de ladicte queue en coulant par la main


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gauche, a jabbing thrusting with the queue - lestocq de la queue, to mention but a

few. This type of attack features in verses4,5,6,12,13,14,17,23,24,28,30,34,43,44,48,49,60,67 - 18 out of 69 verses. The

main target of this attack was the face, though the hands and the feet were also

often target as well. In fact Le Jue advises you to thrust often at the feet as theseare not well protected in the authors opinion. These thrusts are delivered both

with the queue and with the dague, though the queue is preferred over the dague.

Percentage Blow Use

coup - 46.2%

estocq - 23.1%

tour de bras - 23.1%

tirer - 7.6%

The amount that the tour de bras is used can be viewed as somewhat misleading

in the respect that this blow is most often used in conjunction with another attackand is really only used to finish the technique.

Disarms

There are many disarms included within Le Jue de la Hache. A disarm is where

either one or both hands are forced from either your own or your opponent'sweapon without actively contributing to it as part of the technique.

Disarms are generally performed by pressure of the poll axe acting on the

opponents weapon and their arm, or by tugging or pushing their poll axe in a

different direction to what they were expecting, or by attacking the pole arm with

a short sharp blow.

The disarm is not always successful, but the author of Le Jue has taken this into

account by advising the reader on what the follow up action should be. Also theauthor of Le Jue has taken the precaution of advising the reader on what to do if

this sort of thing is attempted against them in the majority of cases.

This form of attack is relatively important within Le Jue de la Hache as it appears

in about 22 % of the techniques. Although this is not more than all the various

forms of blows and thrusts taken collectively, it is still more than each of themtaken seperately.

Falls, Take Downs and Pushes

This is by far the most important type of attack that is included within Le Jue de

La Hache. Unlike Talhoffer and Dei Liberi where much of the grappling isperformed with the body, the author of Le Jue recommends the use of the poll axe

itself, there is only one technique where there is actual bodily contact.

Also, within these techniques the aim of some of them is to push your opponent

from the lists. This, in my opinion, clearly shows that this document is describing

moves that were primarily meant for use within a tourney. Therefore, whenpractising these techniques, you must remember this fact, as these techniques are

clearly not meant for use on the battlefield, though many of them could easily be


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adpated as such.

As with the disarms, the author of Le Jue advises the reader what to do if the

same move is attempted against them or what to do if the move fails.

This type of technique is clearly important within Le Jue, and that is in keeping

with the flavour that is set by medieval combat in general. There obviously is anassumption of previous knowledge within these techniques of the nature of

grappling.

These sorts of techniques appear in about 38.71% of the techniques and their

importance cannot be over stated.

Summary

Thrust (19.35 %) Big Swing (8.06%) Disarm (22.58%) Fall/Push (38.71%) Swing

(11.29%)

This summary is important to be able to both understand Le Jue de la Hache as awhole and to attempt to recapture the flavour of this style of combat that is

presented with in the document.

Attacks are kept to a minimum, usually relying on a minor attack or a feint to

attempt to open up your opponent so you can then enter to within a distance to

push your opponent from the lists or to cause your opponent to fall.

The most favoured part of the axe to attack with, in Le Jue, is the queue, followedby the dague. The other parts of the axe are only employed when the opponent is

redirected or widespaced either through a disarm, a feint or a grapple type

movement. When such openings have been achieved then the hammer, the bec de

faucon or the demy hache is employed to achieve a finishing move.

The most important thing to notice from Le Jue de la Hache, is that there is only

one attack where the body is used directly against your opponent's body. Thismight lead one to believe that the author of Le Jue does not agree with engaging

close to the opponent. This would be a mistake, as Le Jue, quite clearly uses a far,

medium and close distance and shows the movement in and out and through thedifferent distances just as clearly.

Exercises

Technique 4, 5 and 6

Passage 4

French:"[4] Item quant on vous donra de tour de bras droittier a droittier, se vous auez la

croix au deunant vous pouez marchier auant du pie gauche en luy receuant son

coup en cueillant de la queue de la hache dune venue ferez contre bas pour la luyfaire cheoir a terre. Et de la pouez en marchant lung pie apres lautre en suyuant

luy baillier destocq de ladiete queue en coulant par la main guache au visage, ou


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la ou bon vous samblera, ou luy baillier a tour de bras sur la teste."

English Translation:

"[4] When one would give you a swinging blow, right-hander to right-hander. If

you have the croix in front, you can step forward with your left foot, receiving hisblow, picking it up with the queue of your axe and - in a single movement - bear

downward to make his axe fall to the ground. And from there, following up one

foot after the other, you can give him a jab with the said queue, running it throughthe left hand, at the face: either there or wherever seems good to you. Or swing at

his head."

Figure 25 - Plate 88 - Talhoffer 1467

"Der hat geschlagen. hier pariert der mit dem Schaft und will kampfen."

"This one strikes. - Here he has displaced that one with the shaft and means to

fight."

NotesThis starts by mentioning "swinging blow right hander to right hander". This mustbe a right-handed swing to the opponents left side. I would also assume that the

blow must be quite high.

It states that the croix is in front, so the head must be forward. Also, you must

step forward with the left foot, so I think that the right leg must be leading in the

initial part of this action. Also doing this allows the queue to be used, but only if

the axe started off on the right hand side. The axe as well should be high. Thuswhen the step forward, with the left foot, occurs you swing the axe from the right

hand side, thus satisfying "right hander to right hander", and will bring the queue

into the position to block and force the agent's axe to ground.

This seems quite strange as you feel like you are striking in opposition to yourmovement, ie stepping forward with the left foot while striking from the right

hand side.

The responses to this are either a thrust to the face or a swing. The quickest

response is a thrust, after forcing to the ground, recover the axe by slipping

through the hands, this should line you up to thrust back at the face. The swing, Ithink should be done with the axe head coming forward into the head region. The

position that you are left in gives your body a nice torque to reply with this kind

of blow.

Technique

Agent Patient Agent

Stance: Left foot forward.Axe ready to deliver a Squalembrato mandritto or

Tondo mandritto towards the head. Stance: Left foot back, right foot forward, 3/4stance, axe held in a high guard with the axe head forward, threatening a thrust

towards face of opponent.

Swing blow the blow, either squalembrato or tondo, making sure that you are

aiming at the P.A.'s head.


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Step forward with left foot and ward with shaft with an inside guard. This will

take the motion of swinging a blow in opposition to the Agent's blow.When axes make contact on the shaft, push Agent's axe to ground and step

forward with the right foot as you do so.

Recover axe and thrust with the queue at the face as you continue steppingforwards or swing the axe head at agent as a ridoppio reverso aiming at the

Agent's head.

Passage 5

French:"[5] Item se vous auez la queue deuant le pouez pareillement faire sans vousbougier."

English Translation:"[5] If you have the queue forward, you can do it the same way without moving."

NotesThis is obviously the same technique as that described in [4], though the queue is

now forward and there is no movement required. This means that the stance is the

same, with the right leg forward, while the left leg is back. The poll axe however

is now held in a medium guard on the left-hand side.

The reply is more suited to the thrust with the queue rather than a swing, though

obviously a swing is still easily achievable.

Technique

Agent Patient AgentStance: Left foot forward, Axe ready to deliver a Squalembrato mandritto or

Tondo mandritto towards the head. Stance: Left foot back, right foot forward, 3/4

stance, axe held in medium guard with the queue forward, threatening thrusttowards face of opponent.

Deliver blow at Patient Agent's head.

Ward with shaft along the inside line, there will be no swing this time.

When axes make contact on the shaft, push Agent's axe to ground.Recover axe and thrust with the queue at the face and start stepping forwards to

lend the thrust strength or swing the axe head at agent as a ridoppio reverso

aiming at the Agent's head.

Passage 6

French:

"[6] Item encore se vous auez la croix deunant comme dessus pouez receuoirledict coup de la queue de la vostre en desmarchant en arriere. de toutes les trois

couvertes pouez donner lesdicts coups de tours de bras et de lestocq de la queue."


"[6] Again, if you have the croix in front, as above. You can receive the said blowwith your queue by stepping backward. From all three couvertes, you can give the

said swinging blows and the jab with the queue."

Notes

This is obviously the same technique as that described in [4] and [5], the croix is

now forward and a step backward is required. This means that the stance is the


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same, with the right leg forward, while the left leg is back. The poll axe however

is now in a hanging guard on the right hand side.

The step backwards is obviously designed to give the Patient Agent distance, so

maybe the Agent is coming in on this attack.

The right foot is the foot that steps backwards, and as you do so you make theward.

I personally feel that this is the weakest of this set of counters, and feel that if youstep backwards then maybe it would be better to void the swing entirely and

thrust back as it passes. However, this is not the technique that is described here

and so should be ignored on those terms.

Technique

Agent Patient Agent

Stance: Left foot forward, Axe ready to deliver a Squalembrato mandritto or

Tondo mandritto towards the head. Stance: Left foot back, right foot forward, 3/4stance, axe held in hanging guard with the axe head forward, threatening thrust

towards face of opponent.Deliver blow at Patient Agent's head.

Step back with the right foot and ward with shaft along the inside.Push Agent's axe to ground.

Recover axe and thrust with the queue at the face, stepping forward with the right

foot, or swing the axe riddopio reverso aiming at the Agent's head.

Technique 17

French:

"[17] Item plus se il vient a vous la dague de sa hache deuant pour vous baillier delestocq et que vous ayes vostre hache pareillement auec la sienne, quant le verrez

venir a vous pouez marchier sur son darriere le plus que pourres affin quil ne

treuue rien deuant luy. en faisant ceste desmarche deuez boutter du plat de la

queue de vostre hache sur son col pour le faire tresbuchier en auant. Et se failliestournez prestement sur la garde de vostre hache."


"[17] Moreover, if he comes at you with the dague of his axe forward to give you

a thrust; and you have your axe in the same manner as his. When you see himcome at you, you can step behind him as far as you can, so that he finds nothingin front of him. As you take this step back, you must press hard with the flat of

your queue onto his neck to make him trip forward. And if you fail, return

immediately on guard."

Notes

This technique is simply beautiful because of its simplicity. This move couldeasily apply to all pole arms, though not necessarily to staff.

This is a full voiding action it is therefore important to pass behind the Agent.


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Technique

Agent Patient Agent

3/4 with right leg forward. Axe in medium guard, with the head forward. Mirroragent's stance.

Thrust with the dague on a gather step.

Move to behind the Agent, making a large step.Slip the axe as you swing at his shoulders with the queue.

As the Queue makes contact push hard on to the hache to force the Agent toground.

Ideally the step that the Patient Agent makes should bring you level with the

Agent as he steps in. The Patient Agent should be facing his back at this point,from there it is easy to push the Agent.

Technique 12 and 16

Passage 12French:

"[12] Item aultre couverte de tours de bras, vous estant sur la garde de la queue

sans vous bougier pouez receouir demy hache tant que vos bras se pouvrontestendre en hault. Et incontinent le coup receu pouez de la queue de la vostre

cueillier la sienne, ainsi quil la vouldra leuer. et tout dune venue la ruer en auant.

Et se elle ne vole hors de sa main au mains vous lesbranleuez tellement que aurez

temps pour donner coup ou estocq."

English Translation:"[12] Another couverte for swinging blows when you are on guard with the

queue. Without moving, you can take it on your demy hache as high as your arms

can be extended. And the moment the blow has been received, you can pick up

his queue with yours in such a way that he would wish to raise it. And all in onemovement push it suddenly forward. And if it does not fly out of his hand, at least

you make him stagger so much that you will have time to give him a blow or

thrust."

Notes

This is the last counter for the swinging blows.

The guard is that of the queue. I would assume from this that we are in some sort

of medium guard.

The important part of this technique is too meet this with the arms extended as

much as possible.

Technique

Agent Patient Agent

Stance: Axe ready to deliver a blow Squalembratto mandritto or Tondo mandritto.


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Stance: Left foot back, right foot forward, 3/4 stance, axe held in medium guard

with the queue forward, threatening a thrust towards the Agent's face.Swing blow.

Block the strike -demi hache - your arms MUST be FULLY extended for this

move. As you block move the left foot forward.Agent will need to pull the axe back in order to free it so as to strike again.

As the Agent pulls back his axe the queue will be momentarily exposed for you to

enable you to catch the Agent's queue with your queue.

Traverse Right, by slightly moving the right foot to the right as you catch the

Agent's queue.As you wrench Agent's queue to Patient Agent's left compase the left foot out of

the way so that it is behind the right foot in a three quarter stance.

Passage 16French:

"[16] Item se vos haches sont iointes lune croix contre lautre et que il vous boutte

pour vous reculler pouez desmarchier seullement du pie deuant a demy pout

retirer vostre entre son becq de faulcon et sa main le plus pres de la croix quepourrez du coste deuers son bras droit en luy bouttant sa hache daultre coste ensuyuant pouez marchier du pie gauche vers son darriere en le bouttant de demy

hach contre ses espaulles et le ruer par terre."


"[16] If your axes are joined one croix against the other, and he pushes you to

make you recoil. You can merely take half a pace back with your front foot, todraw your axe back to you. And immediately place the dague of your axe

between his bec de faucon and his hand, as close as you can to the croix from the

side toward his right arm, forcing his axe from the other side while following up;you can advance your left foot toward his back, pushing with your demy hache

against his shoulders, and knock him to the ground."

NotesThe axes are bound as if both agent's have thrust at the same time and have

caught each other up.

It is important to fall back a half pace so as to give yourself room to bring the

dague into play.

As you start pushing the axe then you must step at the same time so as to bring

the demy hach across the Agent's shoulders.

The stance for the Patient Agent and the Agent is 3/4 with the right leg forward

and the left leg backwards.

It is also interesting to note that this is almost a full voiding action, the Patient

Agent's axe is really only there to ensure that the Agent's axe travels far enough ina certain direction.

Technique

Agent Patient Agent

3/4 stance with the right leg forward and the axe already against the Patient

Agent's axe. Pushing at each other with the axe's in a straight line. 3/4 stance with


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the right leg forward and the axe already against the Agent's axe. Pushing at each

other with the axe's in a straight line.Give sharp push against the P.A.'s axe.

As you feel the sharp push, rock with it and slip the right foot, so that it's new

position is abouit halfway between the old position and the rear foot.Use the same push to disengage your axe and shorten it slightly so that it comes

nearer to you.

Push the axe out and catch the Agent's axe with your dague on the left side of the

agents axe, as you look at it, as close to the croix as possible.

Force the axe to continue in the same direction and at the same time step forwardwith the left leg so you are positioned behind the Agent.

Bring Demi-Hache across the Agent's shoulders and force to the ground.

Techniques 9, 10 and 11

Passage 9

French:

"[9] Item se de rechief venoit a vous de tour de bras et que ayes la queue deuantdeuez marchier a lencontre du coup le coste droit de vostre homme et de la

receuoir de demye hache son coup. et tout d'une venue le plus pres que pourrez

deuez marchier de lautre pie gauche et lassoir darrier son tallon bien ferme en luysourdant sa hache qui est dessus la vostre. et mettre la queue de la vostre soubz

son menton et de la donner une secousse en darriere pour le ruer par terre."


"[9] If again he comes at you with a swing, and you have the queue forward. You

must move to receive the blow to the right side of your opponent, and from there

receive his blow demy hache. And at the same time, as close as you can, you must

advance your left foot and place it behind his heel really firmly, as you raise hisaxe which is above yours. And place your queue under his chin, and thus give

him a jolt backwards to knock him to the ground."

NotesYou must have the queue forward for this technique. Also you must move to the

right side of your opponent to receive the blow.

The strange part of this technique is once you have moved to the right of your

opponent, you must put your left foot behind the left foot of the Agent. This

leaves you in almost a vaulting position. In experimenting with this technique I

found that I preferred putting the right foot behind the Agent's left foot. However,it can be done as stated in the text and with this perserverance I eventually

managed to practise with someone who is the same height as me. I found then

that if you follow the technique as stated your left knee will knock youropponent's left knee and this starts him falling even before you apply pressure

from the queue and he will find it that much harder to resist. The important thing

to remember is that as soon as you have the forward momentum to keep it going,so you must step with your right as soon as you have thrown your opponent.

Technique


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Agent Patient Agent

Stance: Axe ready to deliver a blow squalembratto mandritto or Tondo mandritto.Stance: Left foot back, right foot forward, 3/4 stance, axe held in medium guard

with the queue forward, threatening a thrust towards the Agent's face.

Step in and swing blow at Patient Agent's head.Gather diagonally forward towards your left.

Stop the blow using the demy hache.

Step with the left foot so that it is behind the left heel of the Agent. You should

find your left knee starting to nudge the Agent's knee and twist the feet at thesame time so that you are not compromising your balance.

As you do so lift his axe upwards on your axe.

Move queue under Agent's chin and push, as soon as you feel the Agent start to

fall backwards then you must bring your right foot forward so that you arestanding in a more comfortable position.

Passage 10French:"[10] Item se vous faillies vous deuez retourner sur vostre garde, et cela se doit

faire presentement."


[10] If you fail. You must return on guard. And this should be down quickly.

Notes

This is the advice given if the technique of verse [9] fails. This is important asyou are now very close to your opponent and unless you maintain the control of

the situation at this range then things can become very uncontrollable and be

easily turned against you.

To do this I would advise immediately slipping backwards and going into either areverse guard.

Passage 11

French:"[11] Item sil vous faisoit ceste entree dessusdicte. vous deuez mettre

presentement la dague de vostre hache soubz son esselle pour lesloignier de vous

ou repasser la croisee de vostredicte hache par soubz son bras pour le pousser de

dessoubz leselle de la demy hache en le suyuant pour le mettre hors de la lisse. oudonner bonne secousse de la force de vos bras seullement pour sentir se le

pourrez getter par terre."


"[11] If he were to use this above-said opening on you. You must quickly place

the dague of your axe under his armpit to push him away from you; or pass thecross-bar of your axe under his arm to push him under the armpit with the demy

hache, following it up to thrust him out of the lists. Or give him a hard blow with

all your strength, simply to see whether you can hurl him on the ground."

Notes

This is the counter to technique [9].

This move can be quite painful if you resist. It is also wise not only to push


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backwards but to give a little lift as well, just to put more pressure on to the

armpit and shoulder region.

It should also be noted that the lists are mention by name here. The advice is to

push the Patient Agent out of the lists. I would assume that the hard blow wouldbe more suited for the battlefield. I feel that the push could be easily countered by

using the off hand to pull your self free, though I must admit that this was the last

thing on mind when this was done to me.

You are the Agent for this technique.

Technique

Agent Patient Agent

Stance: Axe ready to deliver a blow squalembrato mandritto or tondo mandritto

towards the head. Stance: Left foot back, right foot forward, 3/4 stance, axe heldin medium guard with the queue forward, threatening a thrust towards the Agent's

face.

Step in and swing blow at Patient Agent's head.

Gat

le jue de la hache (french poleaxe)

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