<b>Hand Weapons<b>

Foot soldiers armed with hand weapons were the third principal component of medi
eval armies, along with cavalry and missile troops. Mêlée infantry fought hand t
o hand and were important both in pitched battles and during sieges. Infantry co
nsisted of peasants, common soldiers, and dismounted knights.
<i>Hand Weapons<i>
The Franks of the Dark Ages fought with a throwing axe called the francisca, fro
m which their tribe took its name. Their neighbors, the Saxons, fought with a la
rge, one-sided knife called a scramasax, from which they took their name.
With the development of the heavy cavalryman came the heavy sword, which was use
d in hand-to-hand fighting on foot as well. Variants of the sword included a two
-handed version that required a lot of space to wield. Men-at-arms employed a va
riety of weapons on foot, including axes (both one-handed and two-handed), maces
, flails, and hammers. A variant of the mace was a spiked ball fastened to a sha
ft by a chain. As armor improved to reduce the effect of sword blows, crushing a
nd puncturing weapons became more favored.
<i>Pole Arms<i>
The basic spear was a useful weapon throughout the Middle Ages because it was ch
eap to make and simple to use. Common foot soldiers and peasants could be armed
with it and pressed into battle service. In most cases such an expedient was of
little use, but with experience and some training large bodies of spearmen could
be effective.
Pole arms evolved through the medieval period and eventually reached a point whe
re formations of foot troops skilled in their use were extremely effective. Adva
nced pole arms consisted of a spear point with one or more weapon faces below th
e point. This additional weapon might be a large long blade, an axe, a billhook,
a hammer, or a spike.
Long pole arms evolved in response to the mounted knight and resulted in a reviv
al of a formation something like the ancient Greek phalanx. Horses would not cha
rge a disciplined formation of men that bristled with extended pole weapons. A d
ense formation of pole arms held high also served as some protection from arrows
.
Foot soldiers first learned to stand behind wooden stakes set in the ground to w
ard off cavalry. They then learned to deploy spears, pikes, and other pole arms
to ward off cavalry. This allowed the formation to move and take its anti-cavalr
y stakes with it, in effect. In a mêlée, the various attachments at the end of t
he pole were used to pull horsemen off their mounts, push them off, or cause wou
nds to the rider or horse. Although armored men were not helpless when prone on
the ground, as some have thought, they were at a disadvantage, at least temporar
ily, to men wearing little or no armor before they could rise.
As the towns grew in the second half of the Middle Ages, they built up their own
militias of troops for defense and for feudal military service. Pole arms were
popular weapons with the town militias because they were relatively cheap to pro
vide and effective for the cost. Town militias trained with these weapons and de
veloped useful battlefield tactics. In time, formations of pole-armed men learne
d to be aggressive, not simply defensive. Massed formations of pikeman could phy
sically attack other infantry and even cavalry. The Swiss lacked the pastureland
to support horse armies but became famous as pikemen. They often served as merc
enaries in other continental armies. The lowland cities of Flanders and the high
lands of Scotland also fielded pike units that were highly regarded.