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118-623: The pike square was used to devastating effect at the Battle of Nancy against Charles the Bold of Burgundy in 1477, when the Swiss defeated a smaller but more powerful armored cavalry force. The battle is generally seen as one of the turning points that established the infantry as the primary fighting arm in European warfare from the 16th century onwards. The Burgundian compagnie d'ordonnance

236-407: A dagger or sword in order to defend themselves should the fighting degenerate into a melee . In general, however, pikemen attempted to avoid such disorganized combat, in which they were at a disadvantage. To compound their difficulties in a melee, the pikeman often did not have a shield, or had only a small shield which would be of limited use in close-quarters fighting. The pike, being unwieldy,

354-452: A 30 cm (1 ft) shaft and a larger, broader blade one foot (0.3m) long. This weapon is otherwise known as the iklwa or ixwa , after the sound that was heard as it was withdrawn from the victim's wound. The traditional spear was not abandoned, but was used to range attack enemy formations before closing in for close quarters battle with the iklwa. This tactical combination originated during Shaka's military reforms . This weapon

472-458: A change of paradigm by reintroducing the offensive element into pike warfare. A pike square generally consisted of about 100 men in a 10×10 formation. While on the move, the pike would be carried vertically. However, the troops were drilled to be able to point their pikes in any direction while stationary, with the men in the front of the formation kneeling to allow the men in the center or back to point their pikes over their heads. While stationary,

590-745: A circular schiltron on the first day of the Battle of Bannockburn . However, the rectangular schiltron was much more common and was used by King Robert the Bruce on the second day of the Battle of Bannockburn and in the Battle of Old Byland when he defeated English armies. Throwing spears became rarer as the Middle Ages drew on, but survived in the hands of specialists such as the Catalan Almogavars . They were commonly used in Ireland until

708-554: A clear difference remained between spears designed to be thrown and those designed to be used in hand-to-hand combat. By the Magdalenian period (c. 15,000–9500 BC), spear-throwers similar to the later atlatl were in use. The spear is the main weapon of the warriors of Homer 's Iliad . The use of both a single thrusting spear and two throwing spears are mentioned. It has been suggested that two styles of combat are being described; an early style, with thrusting spears, dating to

826-635: A defensive block. When men on horses tried to get by these blocks, they would often be killed by the spears that could poke through the shield walls. Spears became more common than swords and axes because of how cheap, long, and fast spears were made. Broadly speaking, spears were either designed to be used in melee, or to be thrown. Within this simple classification, there was a remarkable range of types. For example, M. J. Swanton identified thirty different spearhead categories and sub-categories in early Saxon England. Most medieval spearheads were generally leaf-shaped. Notable types of early medieval spears include

944-547: A formation could roll right over enemy infantry, but it did have weaknesses. The men were all moving forward facing in a single direction and could not turn quickly or efficiently to protect the vulnerable flanks or rear of the formation. Nor could they maintain cohesion over uneven ground, as the Scots discovered to their cost at the Battle of Flodden . The huge block of men carrying such unwieldy spears could be difficult to maneuver in any way other than straightforward movement. As

1062-546: A head made from metal. These heads may either be single-edged, double-edged or barbed. Styles vary according to function and origin. For example, a sibat designed for fishing may not be the same as those used for hunting. The spear was used as the primary weapon in expeditions and battles against neighbouring island kingdoms and it became famous during the 1521 Battle of Mactan , where the chieftain Lapu Lapu of Cebu fought against Spanish forces led by Ferdinand Magellan who

1180-400: A higher ratio of shot to pikes on the battlefield. It continued with development of the plug bayonet , followed by the socket bayonet in the 1680s and 1690s. The plug bayonet did not replace the pike as it required a soldier surrender his ability to shoot or reload to fix it, but the socket bayonet solved that issue. The bayonet added a long blade of up to 60 cm (24 in) to the end of

1298-414: A hunter to dress as a buffalo and lure one into a ravine where other hunters were hiding. Once the buffalo appeared, the other hunters would kill him with spears. A variation of this technique, called the buffalo jump , was when a runner would lead the animals towards a cliff. As the buffalo got close to the cliff, other members of the tribe would jump out from behind rocks or trees and scare the buffalo over

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1416-457: A large, hollow-made and leaf-shaped head of about 50 cm (1.6 ft) or more, which was attached to a long and slender shaft. Apart from being used by soldiers in battle, a tassel fixed to the socket of the head together with optional further embellishment made the Schefflin an appropriate main weapon for princely bodyguards and courtly officials. There seems to be a close relation between

1534-572: A larger frontage for volley fire. Thick hedges of bayonets proved to be an effective anti-cavalry solution, and improved musket firepower was now so deadly that combat was often decided by shooting alone. A common end date for the use of the pike in most infantry formations is 1700, such as the Prussian and Austrian armies. Others, including the Swedish and Russian armies, continued to use the pike as an effective weapon for several more decades, until

1652-503: A line of musketry only 10 feet deep, all of which minimized the effect of incoming fire while maximizing the outgoing fire effect." Pike (weapon) A pike is a long thrusting spear formerly used in European warfare from the Late Middle Ages and most of the early modern period , and wielded by foot soldiers deployed in pike square formation, until it was largely replaced by bayonet -equipped muskets . The pike

1770-511: A manner identical to European pikemen, despite the usual conception of his people's general disposition for individualistic dueling as their method of close combat. It is not known whether Kamehameha himself introduced this tactic or if it was taken from the use of traditional Hawaiian weapons. The pike was issued as a British Home Guard weapon in 1942 after the War Office acted on a letter from Winston Churchill saying "every man must have

1888-452: A melee weapon (including weapons such as lances and pikes ) and those designed for throwing as a ranged weapon (usually referred to as javelins ). The spear has been used throughout human history as a weapon for hunting and/or fishing and for warfare. Along with the club , knife , and axe , it is one of the earliest and most widespread tools ever developed by early humans. As a weapon, it may be wielded with either one or two hands. It

2006-475: A military weapon, the pike could be surprisingly effective in single combat and a number of 16th-century sources explain how it was to be used in a dueling situation; fencers of the time often practiced with and competed against each other with long staves in place of pikes. George Silver considered the 5.5 metres (18 ft) pike one of the more advantageous weapons for single combat in the open, giving it odds over all weapons shorter than 2.4 metres (7.9 ft) or

2124-401: A pike when it is too long to be wielded with one hand in combat. It was approximately 2 to 6 kg (4.4 to 13.2 lb) in weight, with the 16th-century military writer Sir John Smythe recommending lighter rather than heavier pikes. It had a wooden shaft with an iron or steel spearhead affixed. The shaft near the head was often reinforced with metal strips called "cheeks" or langets . When

2242-672: A pivotal role in securing a near impossible victory against a far larger and better equipped Russian army at the Battle of Racławice , which took place on 4 April 1794. Civilian pikeman played a similar role, though outnumbered and outgunned, in the 1798 rising in Ireland four years later. Here, especially in the Wexford Rebellion and in Dublin , the pike was useful mainly as a weapon by men and women fighting on foot against cavalry armed with guns. Improvised pikes, made from bayonets on poles, were used by escaped convicts during

2360-581: A primatologist and professor of anthropology at the University of Southern California , has suggested that the discovery of spear use by chimpanzees means that early humans may have used wooden spears before this. From circa 200,000 BC onwards, Middle Paleolithic humans began to make complex stone blades with flaked edges which were used as spear heads. These stone heads could be fixed to the spear shaft by gum or resin or by bindings made of animal sinew, leather strips or vegetable matter. During this period,

2478-503: A result, such mobile pike formations sought to have supporting troops protect their flanks or would maneuver to smash the enemy before they could be outflanked themselves. There was also the risk that the formation would become disordered, leading to a confused melee in which pikemen had the vulnerabilities mentioned above. According to Sir John Smythe, there were two ways for two opposing pike formations to confront one another: cautious or aggressive. The cautious approach involved fencing at

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2596-539: A revival in the 1930s. Spear hunting is still practiced in the United States. Animals taken are primarily wild boar and deer , although trophy animals as large as Cape Buffalo have been hunted with spears. Alligators are hunted in Florida with a type of harpoon . One of the gymnastic exercises performed by the ancient Greeks was the throwing of a spear, referred to as ἀκυντισμός. Like many weapons,

2714-572: A series of developments as a result. These formations had great successes on the battlefield, starting with the astonishing victories of the Swiss cantons against Charles the Bold of Burgundy in the Burgundian Wars , in which the Swiss participated in 1476 and 1477. In the Battles of Grandson , Morat , and Nancy , the Swiss not only successfully resisted the attacks of enemy knights, as

2832-503: A simple hasta and, perhaps, javelins or darts. During the 3rd century AD, although the pilum continued to be used, legionaries usually were equipped with other forms of throwing and thrusting spear, similar to auxilia of the previous century. By the 4th century, the pilum had effectively disappeared from common use. In the late period of the Roman Empire, the spear became more often used because of its anti-cavalry capacities as

2950-583: A slashing action and forced the introduction of shin guards as cavalry battles became more important. Yari were spears of varying lengths; their straight blades usually had sharpened edges or protrusions from the central blade, and were fitted to a hollowed shaft with an extremely long tang. During the later half of the 16th century in Medieval Japan , pikes used were generally 4.5 to 6.5 m (15 to 21 ft) long, but sometimes up to 10 m (33 ft) in length. By this point, pikemen were becoming

3068-573: A spear that was called an az-zaġāyah . Berbers pronounced it zaġāya , but the English term, derived from the Old French via Berber , is " assegai ". It is a polearm used for throwing or hurling, usually a light spear or javelin made of hard wood and pointed with a forged iron tip. The az-zaġāyah played an important role during the Islamic conquest as well as during later periods, well into

3186-492: A sword, it remained the main weapon of the common soldier. The Vikings , for instance, although often portrayed with an axe , sword , or lance in hand, were armed mostly with spears, as were their Anglo-Saxon , Irish , or continental contemporaries. Spears eventually evolved into lances; this is where the lance depiction comes from. With a good majority of Medieval weapons being spears they became integrated into many war tactics. Spears were very commonly used while providing

3304-456: A target's shield. Originally the principes were armed with a short spear called a hasta , but these gradually fell out of use, eventually being replaced by the gladius. The third line, the triarii , continued to use the hasta . From the late 2nd century BC, all legionaries were equipped with the pilum . The pilum continued to be the standard legionary spear until the end of the 2nd century AD. Auxilia , however, were equipped with

3422-639: A variety of materials such as the sang made completely of steel, and the ballam which had a bamboo shaft. The Arab presence in Sindh and the Mameluks of Delhi introduced the Middle Eastern javelin into India. The Rajputs wielded a type of spear for infantrymen which had a club integrated into the spearhead, and a pointed butt end. Other spears had forked blades, several spear-points, and numerous other innovations. One particular spear unique to India

3540-462: A weapon of some kind, be it only a mace or pike" . However, these hand-held weapons never left the stores after the pikes had "generated an almost universal feeling of anger and disgust from the ranks of the Home Guard, demoralised the men and led to questions being asked in both Houses of Parliament". The pikes, made from obsolete Lee–Enfield rifle bayonet blades welded to a steel tube, took

3658-409: Is believed to be the demise of cavalry when in fact it revived it. From the late 16th century and into the 17th century, smaller pike formations were used, invariably defending attached musketeers, often as a central block with two sub-units of shooters, called "sleeves of shot", on either side of the pikes. Although the cheaper and versatile infantry increasingly adopted firearms, cavalry's proportion in

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3776-500: Is longer than a Qiang , others say that the main difference is between the stiffness of the shaft, where the Qiang would be flexible and the Mao would be stiff. Scholars seem to lean toward the latter explanation more than the former. Because of the difference in the construction of the Mao and the Qiang , the usage is also different, though there is no definitive answer as to what exactly

3894-458: Is still being used by certain wandering Sufi ascetics ( Derwishes ) . In the Chinese martial arts , the Chinese spear ( Qiang 槍) is popularly known as the "king of weapons". The spear is listed in the group of the four major weapons (along with the gun ( staff ), dao (a single-edged blade similar to a sabre ), and the jian ( sword )). Spears were used first as hunting weapons amongst

4012-562: The angon , a throwing spear with a long head similar to the Roman pilum , used by the Franks and Anglo-Saxons, and the winged (or lugged) spear , which had two prominent wings at the base of the spearhead, either to prevent the spear penetrating too far into an enemy or to aid in spear fencing. Originally a Frankish weapon, the winged spear also was popular with the Vikings. It would become

4130-727: The schiltron in several battles during the Wars of Scottish Independence including the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, and the Flemings used their geldon long spear to absorb the attack of French knights at the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302, before other troops in the Flemish formation counterattacked the stalled knights with goedendags . Both battles were seen by contemporaries as stunning victories of commoners over superbly equipped, mounted, military professionals, where victory

4248-568: The Ba Shu area. In the Han dynasty the Mao and the Ji (戟 Ji can be loosely defined as a halberd) rose to prominence in the military. Interesting to note is that the amount of iron Mao-heads found exceeds the number of bronze heads. By the end of the Han dynasty ( Eastern Han ) the process of replacement of the iron Mao had been completed and the bronze Mao had been rendered completely obsolete. After

4366-403: The Battle of Sempach (1386), where the dismounted Austrian vanguard, using their lances as pikes, had some initial success against their predominantly halberd -equipped Swiss adversaries. Dismounted Italian men-at-arms also used the same method to defeat the Swiss at the Battle of Arbedo (1422). Equally, well-armored Scottish nobles (accompanied even by King James IV ) were recorded as forming

4484-526: The Battle of Stirling Bridge (1297), for example, utilized the momentum of their charge to overrun an English army while the Englishmen were crossing a narrow bridge. At the Battle of Laupen (1339), Bernese pikemen overwhelmed the infantry forces of the opposing Habsburg/Burgundian army with a massive charge before wheeling over to strike and rout the Austro-Burgundian horsemen as well. At

4602-641: The Castle Hill rebellion of 1804. As late as the Napoleonic Wars , at the beginning of the 19th century, even the Russian militia (mostly landless peasants, like the Polish partisans before them) could be found carrying shortened pikes into battle. As the 19th century progressed, the obsolete pike would still find a use in such countries as Ireland , Russia , China , and Australia , generally in

4720-571: The Helvetii as fighting in a tight, phalanx-like formation with spears jutting out over their shields. Caesar was probably describing an early form of the shieldwall so popular in later times. In the Middle Ages , the principal users of the pike were urban militia troops such as the Flemings or the peasant array of the lowland Scots . For example, the Scots used a spear formation known as

4838-625: The Italian Wars , which would become in many ways the military proving ground of the Renaissance. The so-called Schefflin was a polearm, closely related to the pike, which from the late 1400s and throughout the 16th century saw widespread use in the German-speaking world. It served as a multipurpose weapon for both infantry (in the manner of pikes) and light cavalry (in the manner of demi-lances). Characteristically, it featured

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4956-658: The Mycenaean period in which the Iliad is set, and, anachronistically, a later style, with throwing spears, from Homer's own Archaic period. In the 7th century BC, the Greeks evolved a new close-order infantry formation, the phalanx . The key to this formation was the hoplite , who was equipped with a large, circular, bronze-faced shield ( aspis ) and a 210–270 cm (7–9 ft) spear with an iron head and bronze butt-spike ( doru ). The hoplite phalanx dominated warfare among

5074-487: The Napoleonic era, the spontoon , a type of shortened pike that typically had a pair of blades or lugs mounted to the head, was retained as a symbol by some NCOs; in practice it was probably more useful for gesturing and signaling than as a weapon for combat. As late as Poland's Kościuszko Uprising in 1794, the pike reappeared as a child of necessity which became, for a short period, a surprisingly effective weapon on

5192-468: The Qiang in four categories: "一曰漆枪， 二曰木枪， 三曰白杆枪， 四曰扑头枪。” Roughly translated the four categories are: Qi (a kind of wood) Spears, Wooden Spears, Bai Gan (A kind of wood) Spears and Pu Tou Qiang. The Qiang that were produced in the Song and Ming dynasties consisted of four major parts: Spearhead, Shaft, End Spike and Tassel. The types of Qiang that exist are many. Among the types there are cavalry Qiang that were

5310-540: The Quaternary extinction event was that most of these animals were hunted to extinction by humans with spears. Even after the invention of other hunting weapons such as the bow and sling , the spear continued to be used, either as a projectile weapon or used by hand, such as in bear hunting and boar hunting . Spear hunting fell out of favor in most of Europe in the 18th century, but continued in Germany, enjoying

5428-425: The Swiss mercenaries in the later period was attributed to their extreme discipline and tactical unity due to semi-professional nature, allowing a pike block to somewhat alleviate the threat presented by flanking attacks. Perhaps copying the nearby Swiss model, the pike had a certain diffusion also in the duchy of Milan in the last two years of the 14th century. In 1391, a decree by Gian Galeazzo Visconti ordered

5546-515: The Warring States period since the 5th century BC. Infantrymen used a variety of long polearm weapons, but the most popular was the dagger-axe , pike-like long spear, and the ji . The dagger-axe and ji came in various lengths, from 2.75 to 5.5 m (9.0 to 18.0 ft); the weapon consisted of a thrusting spear with a slashing blade appended to it. Dagger-axes and ji were an extremely popular weapon in various kingdoms, especially for

5664-787: The colours of an infantry regiment and with the Company of Pikemen and Musketeers of the Honourable Artillery Company , or by some of the infantry units on duty during their rotation as guard for the President of the Italian Republic at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, Italy. Spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood , with a pointed head. The head may be simply

5782-402: The pike and shot formation was introduced at the end of the fifteenth century. The pike square dominated European battlefields and influenced the development of tactics well into the 17th and early 18th century. Even when muskets became common, their slow rate of fire meant that soldiers armed with them were vulnerable to cavalry ; to combat this, some soldiers continued to carry pikes until

5900-509: The pollaxe were adopted by knights and this practice ceased. The development of both the long, two-handed pike and gunpowder firearms in Renaissance Europe saw an ever-increasing focus on integrated infantry tactics. Those infantry not armed with these weapons carried variations on the polearm, including the halberd and the bill . At the start of the Renaissance, cavalry remained predominantly lance-armed; gendarmes with

6018-560: The razakars of Nizams of Hyderabad State as late as the second half of the 20th century. The hoko spear was used in ancient Japan sometime between the Yayoi period and the Heian period , but it became unpopular as early samurai often acted as horseback archers . Medieval Japan employed spears again for infantrymen to use, but it was not until the 11th century in that samurai began to prefer spears over bows. Several polearms were used in

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6136-570: The 1720s and 1730s (the Swedes of King Charles XII in particular using it to great effect until 1721). At the start of the Great Northern War in 1700, Russian line infantry companies had 5 NCOs, 84 musketeers, and 18 pikemen, the musketeers initially being equipped with sword-like plug bayonets; they did not fully switch to socket bayonets until 1709. A Swedish company consisted of 82 musketeers, 48 pikemen, and 16 grenadiers. The Army of

6254-626: The 20th century. A longer pole az-zaġāyah was being used as a hunting weapon from horseback. The az-zaġāyah was widely used. It existed in various forms in areas stretching from Southern Africa to the Indian subcontinent , although these places already had their own variants of the spear. This javelin was the weapon of choice during the Fulani jihad as well as during the Mahdist War in Sudan. It

6372-550: The Aztecs preferred the sword-like macuahuitl clubs for fighting, the advantage of a far-reaching thrusting weapon was recognised, and a large portion of the army would carry the tepoztopilli into battle. The tepoztopilli was a polearm, and to judge from depictions in various Aztec codices, it was roughly the height of a man, with a broad wooden head about twice the length of the users' palm or shorter, edged with razor-sharp obsidian blades which were deeply set in grooves carved into

6490-599: The Greek City States from the 7th into the 4th century BC. The 4th century saw major changes. One was the greater use of peltasts , light infantry armed with spear and javelins. The other was the development of the sarissa , a two-handed pike 550 cm (18 ft) in length, by the Macedonians under Phillip of Macedon and Alexander the Great . The pike phalanx, supported by peltasts and cavalry, became

6608-603: The Han dynasty toward the Sui and Tang dynasties the Mao used by cavalry were fitted with much longer shafts, as is mentioned above. During this era, the use of the Shuo (矟) was widespread among the footmen. The Shuo can be likened to a pike or simply a long spear. After the Tang dynasty, the popularity of the Mao declined and was replaced by the Qiang (枪). The Tang dynasty divided

6726-804: The Holy Roman Empire maintained a ratio of 2 muskets to 1 pike in the middle to late 17th century, officially abandoning the pike in 1699. The French, meanwhile, had a ratio of 3-4 muskets to 1 pike by 1689. Both sides of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in the 1640s and 1650s preferred a ratio of 2 muskets to 1 pike, but this was not always possible. During the American Revolution (1775–1783), pikes called "trench spears" made by local blacksmiths saw limited use until enough bayonets could be procured for general use by both Continental Army and attached militia units. Throughout

6844-612: The Japanese theatres; the naginata was a glaive-like weapon with a long, curved blade popularly among the samurai and the Buddhist warrior-monks , often used against cavalry; the yari was a longer polearm, with a straight-bladed spearhead, which became the weapon of choice of both the samurai and the ashigaru (footmen) during the Warring States Era ; the horseback samurai used shorter yari for his single-armed combat; on

6962-849: The Qin state and Qin dynasty , and possibly the succeeding Han dynasty, who produced 5.5 m (18 ft) halberd and pike-like weapons, as well as 6.7 m (22 ft) long pikes during the war against Xiongnu . During the continuous European development of the pike, Japan experienced a parallel evolution of pole weapons. In Classical Japan , the Japanese style of warfare was generally fast-moving and aggressive, with far shallower formations than their European equivalents. The naginata and yari were more commonly used than swords for Japanese ashigaru foot soldiers and dismounted samurai due to their greater reach. Naginata, first used around 750 AD, had curved sword-like blades on wooden shafts with often spiked metal counterweights. They were typically used with

7080-426: The Scots and the Flemish. Spears usually were used in tightly ordered formations, such as the shield wall or the schiltron . To resist cavalry, spear shafts could be planted against the ground. William Wallace drew up his schiltrons in a circle at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 to deter charging cavalry; this was a widespread tactic sometimes known as the "crown" formation. Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray used

7198-491: The Swiss routed the Burgundians , and Charles himself died in the battle. This success was repeated on various European battlefields, most remarkably in the early battles of the Italian Wars . With their famed discipline and in combination with heavy cavalry like the gendarme , the Swiss pike squares were almost invincible on the late medieval battlefield. The dominance of the pure pike formation only came to an end when

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7316-403: The ancestor of later medieval polearms, such as the partisan and spetum . The thrusting spear also has the advantage of reach, being considerably longer than other weapon types. Exact spear lengths are hard to deduce as few spear shafts survive archaeologically, but 180–240 cm (6–8 ft) would seem to have been the average length. Some nations were noted for their long spears, including

7434-697: The ancient Chinese. They became popular as infantry weapons during the Warring States and Qin era, when spearmen were used as especially highly disciplined soldiers in organized group attacks. When used in formation fighting, spearmen would line up their large rectangular or circular shields in a shieldwall manner. The Qin also employed long spears (more akin to a pike) in formations similar to Swiss pikemen in order to ward off cavalry. The Han Empire would use similar tactics as its Qin predecessors. Halberds, polearms, and dagger axes were also common weapons during this time. Spears were also common weaponry for Warring States, Qin, and Han era cavalry units. During these eras,

7552-835: The army remained high. During the English Civil War (1642–1651) the New Model Army (1646–1660) initially had two musketeers for each pikeman. Two musketeers for each pikeman was not the agreed mix used throughout Europe, and when in 1658, Oliver Cromwell , by then the Lord Protector , sent a contingent of the New Model Army to Flanders to support his French allies under the terms of their treaty of friendship (the Treaty of Paris, 1657 ) he supplied regiments with equal numbers of musketeers and pikemen. } On

7670-452: The barbarian invasions were often conducted by people with a developed culture of cavalry in warfare. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the spear and shield continued to be used by nearly all Western European cultures. Since a medieval spear required only a small amount of steel along the sharpened edges (most of the spear-tip was wrought iron), it was an economical weapon. Quick to manufacture, and needing less smithing skill than

7788-404: The battlefield, the musketeers lacked protection against enemy cavalry, and the two types of foot soldier supported each other. The post Restoration English Army used pikemen and by 1697 (the last year of the Nine Years' War ) English infantry battalions fighting in the Low Countries still had two musketeers to every pikemen and fought in the now traditional style of pikemen five ranks deep in

7906-484: The battlefield. In this case, General Thaddeus Kosciuszko , facing a shortage of firearms and bayonets to arm landless serf partisans recruited straight from the wheat fields, had their sickles and scythes heated and straightened out into something resembling crude " war scythes ". These weaponized agricultural accouterments were then used in battle as both cutting weapons, as well as makeshift pikes. The peasant "pikemen" armed with these crude instruments played

8024-410: The battlefield. Its last flowering was the half-pike or spontoon , a shortened version of the pike carried by officers of various ranks. While originally a weapon, this came to be seen more as a badge of office, or leading staff by which troops were directed. The half-pike, sometimes known as a boarding pike, was also used as a weapon on board ships until the late 19th century. Muslim warriors used

8142-414: The blade of the spearhead near the socket, these holes were presumably used to attach tassels, much like modern day wushu spears. In the early Shang , the Mao appeared to have a relatively short shaft as well as a relatively narrow shaft as opposed to Mao in the later Shang and Western Zhou period. Some Mao from this era are heavily decorated as is evidenced by a Warring States period Mao from

8260-421: The centre, with six ranks of musketeers on each side. According to John Kersey in 1706, the pike was typically 4.3 to 4.9 m (14 to 16 ft) in length. The mid-17th century to the early 18th century saw the decline of the pike in most European armies. This started with the proliferation of the flintlock musket , which gave the musketeer a faster rate of fire than he before possessed, incentivizing

8378-428: The cliff. Other hunters would be waiting at the bottom of the cliff to spear the animal to death. One of the earliest forms of killing prey for humans, hunting game with a spear and spear fishing continues to this day as both a means of catching food and as a cultural activity. Some of the most common prey for early humans were megafauna such as mammoths which were hunted with various kinds of spear. One theory for

8496-610: The contemporary German term Schefflin and the West European terms javeline (French) and javelin (English), both referring to some type of cavalry spear. Although rarely noticed, many of these weapons have survived to this day. Some pieces, of which many are said to have been used by the personal entourage of Henry VIII, are kept at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. Pikes and long halberds were in use in ancient China from

8614-491: The differences are between the Mao and the Qiang . Spears are known as Bhala in Indian languages. Spears in the Indian society were used both in missile and non-missile form, both by cavalry and foot-soldiers. Mounted spear-fighting was practiced using with a 300 cm (10 ft), ball-tipped wooden lance called a bothati , the end of which was covered in dye so that hits may be confirmed. Spears were constructed from

8732-400: The dominant mode of warfare among the Greeks from the late 4th century onward until Greek military systems were supplanted by the Roman legions. In the pre-Marian Roman armies, the first two lines of battle, the hastati and principes , often fought with a sword called a gladius and pila , heavy javelins that were specifically designed to be thrown at an enemy to pierce and foul

8850-612: The end of the Hundred Years' War . In response to the Burgundian threat, the Swiss developed a tactic that could be used by mobile, lightly armored soldiers carrying only a long, steel-tipped pike for defence. However, the tactic depended on well trained and drilled troops who could move in unison while in close formation. While the use of pikes to fend off cavalry was common throughout the Middle Ages , such barricades were usually fixed in position. The Swiss pikemen were to bring

8968-438: The end of the 16th century. Spears began to lose fashion among the infantry during the 14th century, being replaced by polearms that combined the thrusting properties of the spear with the cutting properties of the axe, such as the halberd . Where spears were retained they grew in length, eventually evolving into pikes , which would be a dominant infantry weapon in the 16th and 17th centuries. Cavalry spears were originally

9086-514: The fall of the last successor of Macedon, the pike largely fell out of use for the next 1,000 or so years. The one exception to this appears to have been in Germany, where Tacitus recorded Germanic tribesmen in the 2nd century AD as using "over-long spears". He consistently refers to the spears used by the Germans as being "massive" and "very long" suggesting that he is describing in essence a pike. Julius Caesar , in his De Bello Gallico , describes

9204-540: The hands of desperate peasant rebels who did not have access to firearms. John Brown purchased a large number of pikes and brought them to his raid on Harpers Ferry . One attempt to resurrect the pike as a primary infantry weapon occurred during the American Civil War (1861–1865) when the Confederate States of America planned to recruit twenty regiments of pikemen in 1862. In April 1862 it

9322-569: The head, and cemented in place with bitumen or plant resin as an adhesive. The tepoztopilli was able both to thrust and slash effectively. Throwing spears also were used extensively in Meso-American warfare, usually with the help of an atlatl . Throwing spears were typically shorter and more stream-lined than the tepoztopilli, and some had obsidian edges for greater penetration. Typically, most spears made by Native Americans were created from materials surrounding their communities. Usually,

9440-469: The heavy knightly lance and lighter cavalry with a variety of lighter lances. By the 1540s, however, pistol-armed cavalry called reiters were beginning to make their mark. Cavalry armed with pistols and other lighter firearms, along with a sword, had virtually replaced lance armed cavalry in Western Europe by the beginning of the 17th century. Ultimately, the spear proper was rendered obsolete on

9558-728: The huge Swiss and Landsknecht columns, and their formation ultimately proved to be much more flexible on the battlefield. Mixed formations of men quickly became the norm for European infantrymen, with many, but not all, seeking to imitate the Tercio; in England, a combination of billmen , longbowmen , and men-at-arms remained the norm, though this changed when the supply of yew on the island dwindled. The percentage of men who were armed with firearms in Tercio-like formations steadily increased as firearms advanced in technology. This advance

9676-418: The improving performance of firearms and the introduction of the bayonet allowed armies to drop the use of pikes. "As Michael Roberts has demonstrated, major changes occurred between 1560 and 1660 in four areas: tactics, strategy, size of armies, and sociopolitical institutions…. At the tactical level, Maurice of Nassau's doctrinal innovations changed the traditional 50-foot-deep (15 m) pike square into

9794-751: The influx of a new population brought innovations around bronze technology. Unlike other cultures who wielded spears at this time, the Egyptians did not treat their javelins (around 1 meter to 3.3 feet long) as disposable, using them both for thrusting and throwing. As advanced metallurgy was largely unknown in pre-Columbian America outside of Western Mexico and South America , most weapons in Meso-America were made of wood or obsidian . This did not mean that they were less lethal, as obsidian may be sharpened to become many times sharper than steel. Meso-American spears varied greatly in shape and size. While

9912-589: The leading ranks of Scottish pike blocks at the Battle of Flodden (1513), incidentally rendering the whole formation resistant to English archery. The Swiss solved the pike's earlier problems and brought a renaissance to pike warfare in the 15th century, establishing strong training regimens to ensure they were masters of handling the Spiess (the German term for "skewer") on maneuvers and in combat; they also introduced marching to drums for this purpose. This meant that

10030-399: The length of one zhang (approximately 320 cm or 10 ft), Litte-Flower Spears (Xiao Hua Qiang 小花枪) that are the length of one person and their arm extended above his head, double hooked spears, single hooked spears, ringed spears and many more. There is some confusion as to how to distinguish the Qiang from the Mao , as they are obviously very similar. Some people say that a Mao

10148-409: The length of the pike, while the aggressive approach involved quickly closing distance, with each of the first five ranks giving a single powerful thrust. In the aggressive approach, the first rank would then immediately resort to swords and daggers if the thrusts from the first five ranks failed to break the opposing pike formation. Smythe considered the cautious approach laughable. Although primarily

10266-522: The main forces in armies. They formed lines, combined with arquebusiers and spearmen . Formations were generally only two or three rows deep. In the aftermath of the Italian Wars, from the late 15th century to the late 16th century, most European armies adopted the use of the pike, often in conjunction with primitive firearms such as the arquebus and caliver , to form large pike and shot formations. The quintessential example of this development

10384-531: The momentum of the horse and knight to be focused on the weapon's tip, whilst still retaining accuracy and control. This use of the spear spurred the development of the lance as a distinct weapon that was perfected in the medieval sport of jousting . In the 14th century, tactical developments meant that knights and men-at-arms often fought on foot. This led to the practice of shortening the lance to about 150 cm (5 ft) to make it more manageable. As dismounting became commonplace, specialist polearms such as

10502-529: The more difficult German thrust ( German : deutscher Stoß : holding a pike that had its weight in the lower 1/3 at the end with two hands), which was utilized in a more flexible attacking column. The high military reputation of the Swiss and the Landsknechts again led to the employment of mercenary units across Europe in order to train other armies in their tactics. These two, and others who had adopted their tactics, faced off in several wars, leading to

10620-599: The musket, allowing the musket to act as a spear-like weapon when held out with both hands. Although they did not have the full reach of pikes, bayonets were effective against cavalry charges, which used to be the main weakness of musketeer formations, and allowed armies to massively expand their potential firepower by giving every infantryman a firearm; pikemen were no longer needed to protect musketeers from cavalry. Furthermore, improvements in artillery caused most European armies to abandon large formations in favor of multiple staggered lines, both to minimize casualties and to present

10738-498: The name of "Croft's Pikes" after Henry Page Croft , the Under-Secretary of State for War who attempted to defend the fiasco by stating that they were a "silent and effective weapon". In Spain, beginning in 1715 and ending in 1977, there were night patrol guards in cities called serenos who carried a short pike of 1.5 m (4.9 ft) called chuzo . Pikes live on today only in ceremonial roles, being used to carry

10856-530: The other hand, ashigaru infantries used long yari (similar with European pike ) for their massed combat formation. Filipino spears ( sibat ) were used as both a weapon and a tool throughout the Philippines . It is also called a bangkaw (after the Bankaw Revolt .), sumbling or palupad in the islands of Visayas and Mindanao . Sibat are typically made from rattan, either with a sharpened tip or

10974-407: The pike blocks could rise to the attack, making them less passive and more aggressive formations, but sufficiently well trained that they could go on the defensive when attacked by cavalry. German soldiers known as Landsknechts later adopted Swiss methods of pike handling. The Scots predominantly used shorter spears in their schiltron formation; their attempt to adopt the longer Continental pike

11092-414: The pike square impossible to penetrate on horseback and dangerous to approach on foot. When threatened, the square could point all of the pikes at the enemy forces and merely move inexorably toward its target. All these considerations aside, the primary strength of the Swiss pike formation lay in its famous charge , a headlong rush against the enemy with leveled pikes and a coordinated battle cry . At Nancy,

11210-422: The pikemen did not have adequate armor. Many defeats, such as at Roosebeke and Halidon Hill , were suffered by the militia pike armies when faced by cunning foes who employed their archers and crossbowmen to thin the ranks of the pike blocks before charging in with their (often dismounted) men-at-arms. Medieval pike formations tended to have better success when they operated in an aggressive fashion. The Scots at

11328-456: The pikes to be at least 10 feet long in Milan, equivalent to 4.35 m (14.3 ft) and their tips to be reinforced with iron strips to prevent enemies, given their length, from cutting or breaking them. A second decree of 1397 provided that half the infantry of the duchy were armed with pikes. It was not uncommon for aggressive pike formations to be composed of dismounted men-at-arms , as at

11446-695: The relatively passive Scottish and Flemish infantry squares had done in the earlier Middle Ages, but also marched to the attack with great speed and in good formation, their attack columns steamrolling the Burgundian forces, sometimes with great massacre. The deep pike attack column remained the primary form of effective infantry combat for the next forty years, and the Swabian War saw the first conflict in which both sides had large formations of well-trained pikemen. After that war, its combatants—the Swiss (thereafter generally serving as mercenaries ) and their Landsknecht imitators—would often face each other again in

11564-414: The same as infantry spears and were often used with two hands or held with one hand overhead. In the 12th century, after the adoption of stirrups and a high-cantled saddle, the spear became a decidedly more powerful weapon. A mounted knight would secure the lance by holding it with one hand and tucking it under the armpit (the couched lance technique) In combination with a lance rest , this allowed all

11682-431: The same time however such aggressive action required considerable tactical cohesiveness or suitable terrain to protect the vulnerable flanks of the pike formations especially from the attack of mounted man-at-arms . When these features were not available, militia often suffered costly failures, such as at the battles of Mons-en-Pevele (1304), Cassel (1328), Roosebeke (1382) and Othee (1408). The constant success of

11800-425: The shaft of the spear was made with a wooden stick while the head of the spear was fashioned from arrowheads, pieces of metal such as copper, or a bone that had been sharpened. Spears were a preferred weapon by many since it was inexpensive to create, could more easily be taught to others, and could be made quickly and in large quantities. Native Americans used the buffalo pound method to kill buffalo, which required

11918-491: The shaft was always a problem in pike handling. It is a common mistake to refer to a bladed polearm as a pike; such weapons are more generally known as halberds , glaives , ranseurs , bills , or voulges . The great length of the pikes allowed a great concentration of spearheads to be presented to the enemy, with their wielders at a greater distance, but also made pikes unwieldy in close combat. This meant that pikemen had to be equipped with an additional, shorter weapon such as

12036-556: The sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as bone , flint , obsidian , copper , bronze , iron , or steel . The most common design for hunting and/or warfare, since ancient times has incorporated a metal spearhead shaped like a triangle , diamond , or leaf . The heads of fishing spears usually feature multiple sharp points , with or without barbs. Spears can be divided into two broad categories: those designed for thrusting as

12154-523: The spear would develop into a longer lance-like weapon used for cavalry charges. There are many words in Chinese that would be classified as a spear in English. The Mao is the predecessor of the Qiang . The first bronze Mao appeared in the Shang dynasty . This weapon was less prominent on the battlefield than the ge ( dagger-axe ). In some archaeological examples two tiny holes or ears can be found in

12272-480: The staff of each pike could be butted against the ground, giving it resistance against attack. Squares could be joined together to form a battle line. If surrounded, pikes could still be pointed in all directions. A well drilled square could change direction very quickly, making it difficult to outmaneuver on horseback. Charles did not believe that a force even twice his size on foot without archers could possibly pose him any threat. However, Charles and his forces found

12390-556: The sword and dagger/shield combination. Although very long spears had been used since the dawn of organized warfare (notably illustrated in art showing Sumerian and Minoan warriors and hunters), the earliest recorded use of a pike-like weapon in the tactical method described above involved the Macedonian sarissa, used by the troops of Alexander the Great 's father, Philip II of Macedon , and successive dynasties, which dominated warfare for several centuries in many countries. After

12508-406: The troops of opposing armies both carried the pike, it often grew in a sort of arms race , getting longer in both shaft and head length to give one side's pikemen an edge in combat. The extreme length of such weapons required a strong wood such as well-seasoned ash for the pole, which was tapered towards the point to prevent the pike from sagging on the ends, although drooping or slight flection of

12626-689: The weapons to hunt galagos sleeping in hollows. The Clacton Spear found in England and the Schöningen spears found in present-day Germany document that wooden spears have been used for hunting since at least 400,000 years ago. A 2012 study from the site of Kathu Pan in South Africa suggests that hominids, possibly Homo heidelbergensis , may have developed the technology of hafted stone-tipped spears in Africa about 500,000 years ago. Wood does not preserve well, however, and Craig Stanford,

12744-454: Was a formidable combined arms force relying on close cooperation between heavily armored knights , dismounted men-at-arms , a variety of ranged troops including archers and crossbowmen , and an early form of field artillery . It was one of the most feared and most effective ground forces in 15th-century Europe, fresh from its victory over the French in the dynastic conflicts that followed

12862-525: Was authorised that every Confederate infantry regiment would include two companies of pikemen, a plan supported by Robert E. Lee . Many pikes were produced but were never used in battle and the plan to include pikemen in the army was abandoned. Shorter versions of pikes called boarding pikes were also used on warships—typically to repel boarding parties, up to the late 19th century. The great Hawaiian warrior king Kamehameha I had an elite force of men armed with very long spears who seem to have fought in

12980-478: Was dropped for general use after its ineffective use led to humiliating defeat at the Battle of Flodden . Such Swiss and Landsknecht phalanxes also contained men armed with two-handed swords, or Zweihänder , and halberdiers for close combat against both infantry and attacking cavalry. The Swiss were confronted with the German Landsknecht who used similar tactics as the Swiss, but more pikes in

13098-498: Was owed to the use of the pike and the brave resistance of the commoners who wielded them. These formations were essentially immune to the attacks of mounted men-at-arms as long as the knights obligingly threw themselves on the spear wall and the foot soldiers remained steady under the morale challenge of facing a cavalry charge, but the closely packed nature of pike formations rendered them vulnerable to enemy archers and crossbowmen who could shoot them down with impunity, especially when

13216-401: Was particularly well known as the primary weapon of Spanish tercios , Swiss mercenary , German Landsknecht units and French sans-culottes . A similar weapon, the sarissa , had been used in antiquity by Alexander the Great 's Macedonian phalanx infantry. The pike was a long weapon, varying considerably in size, from 3 to 7 m (9.8 to 23.0 ft) long. Generally, a spear becomes

13334-472: Was subsequently killed. The various types of the assegai (a light spear or javelin made of wood and pointed with iron or fire-hardened tip) were used throughout Africa and it was the most common weapon used before the introduction of firearms . The Zulu , Xhosa and other Nguni tribes of South Africa were renowned for their use of the assegai. Shaka of the Zulu invented a shorter stabbing spear with

13452-527: Was the vita or corded lance. Used by the Maratha Army , it had a rope connecting the spear with the user's wrist, allowing the weapon to be thrown and pulled back. The Vel is a type of spear or lance, originated in Southern India , primarily used by Tamils . Sikh Nihangs sometimes carry a spear even today. Spears were used in conflicts and training by armed paramilitary units such as

13570-607: Was the Spanish tercio , which consisted of a large square of pikemen with small, mobile squadrons of arquebusiers moving along its perimeter, as well as traditional men-at-arms. These three elements formed a mutually supportive combination of tactical roles: the arquebusiers harried the enemy line, the pikemen protected the arquebusiers from enemy cavalry charges, and the men-at-arms, typically armed with swords and javelins , fought off enemy pikemen when two opposing squares made contact. The Tercio deployed smaller numbers of pikemen than

13688-409: Was typically used in a deliberate, defensive manner, often alongside other missile and melee weapons. However, better-trained troops were capable of using the pike in an aggressive attack with each rank of pikemen being trained to hold their pikes so that they presented enemy infantry with four or five layers of spearheads bristling from the front of the formation. As long as it kept good order, such

13806-520: Was typically used with one hand while the off hand held a cowhide shield for protection. Similar to most armies of their period, Ancient Egyptian forces were centered around the use of the spear. In battle, spearmen would be armed with a bronze -tipped spear (dja) and shield (ikem), which were used in elaborate formations much like Greek and Roman forces. Before the Hyksos invasion into Egypt, wooden spears were used, which were prone to splinter, but

13924-761: Was used in virtually every conflict up until the modern era , where even to this day, it lives on in the form of a bayonet fixed onto the muzzle of a long gun . The word spear comes from the Old English spere , from the Proto-Germanic speri , from a Proto-Indo-European root *sper- "spear, pole". Spear manufacture and use is not confined to humans. It is also practiced by the western chimpanzee . Chimpanzees near Kédougou , Senegal have been observed to create spears by breaking straight limbs off trees, stripping them of their bark and side branches, and sharpening one end with their teeth. They then used

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