Stangenwaffe, Stichwaffe, Kuse

Pole weapons, like this runca, came to prominent use from the fourteenth to the sexteenth century. It is a mixed form of cut and thrust weapon to stop the opponent by the sharp metal point, to drag a horseman off his mount by the short hook as well as to cut by the axe blade. The term »halberd« goes back to the components of the weapon: A battleaxe (Middle High German Barda) was fixed to a pole (Holm). The glaive consists of a long single-edged aquiline knifelike blade on the end of a pole. Its shape was more suitable for the cut than for the thrust. The glaive was mainly used in the fifteenth and sexteenth centuries.During the reign of Emperor Maximilian I was a transition from medieval cavallery to more useful and efficient infantery with a large number of food soldiers (mercentaries). This transition has also an impact on soldiers equipment and war tactic as well and changed the medieval and well-known face of chivalry.