Weapons used by Landsknechts - Pike/Spear, Poleaxe/Warhammer, Halberd, Battlesword, Katzbalger, Gun
Vložit
- čas přidán 22. 07. 2024
- Here I show you the most common weapons used by the landsknechts in the 15th and 16th centuries. Further explanations about handling and use can be found in other videos on my channel. I would be happy if you would leave a subscription and look around there. All movement patterns are results of my research with original sources about military theorie and fight-books of the middle ages and the renaissance.
Now I wish you a lot of fun watching me sweating and hope that the artful movements inspire you to try it yourself.
0:00 Intro
0:47 Pike
2:00 Poleaxe
3:23 Halberd
4:43 Battlesword
6:20 Katzbalger
7:48 Arquebus - Sport
Never will modern man look as good nor have such fine tools as the Landsknechts.
The is the wackiest le wrong generation I have ever witnessed
@@jerryamescua "Le Wrong Generation" is a meme and Conor's joke was actually pretty hilarious. 😀It also doesn't distract at all how awesome and impressive Landknechts were, it's just a little bit of ironic humor.
@@meridiancurse oh ok, yeah that one was over my head whoops lol
I agree but my Spanish blood forces me to point out the Tercios beat them :)
Except they buy them and train with it =)
The one-handed pike flipping is very impressive!
As he said not something that the rest of the levies would ever consider doing with one, I wouldn't 🙂
@@valandil7454 Who would give a levy a pike?...most of the armies were professional in the thirty years war...
@@dimaignatiev6370 Why wouldn't you give the levies pikes? Just because the core of your force is professional doesn't mean you wouldn't want more pike formations, and it's a damn sight cheaper then giving them anything else.
I think it is so cool that guns were used along side swords for a decent amount of time.
It'd be cool to see that in movies a bit more
What I think is incredible, technically speaking, is that the use of firearms WITHOUT swords is a relatively new phenomenon. Once accurate, repeatable firearms, especially pistols like revolvers, came around the last class of men to seriously use swords (officers) traded them in for just firearms.
Fantastic! I am so impressed by the pike, what a monster!
It is! And so much fun to work with :)
didnt expect it to be so wobbly (pls no "that's what she said" jokes)
@@gundibaudbreitsamer5006 pikes were usually made of ash, he might has used a cheaper wood to represent length only
@@cesare_1302 Ash is very flexible or "wobbly" so that it doesn't immediately break on impact and can withstand repeated strikes
What strikes me is how swift and fluid his movements are with the battlesword. In most media two-handed swords are shown as anything but.
Fiction of all types(Film, books, video games) tend to depict most weapons and armor as being heavier and more cumbersome than reality.
@@snatchy9837To be fair he's an absolute mountain of a man and that is one of the smaller zweihanders. You can watch the one where he uses one more closer to his height and the windmill technique becomes impossible without hitting the ground.
Out of all swords throughout history , the battlesword / greatsword has got to be my favorite , it has a beautiful design , sublime reach and elegant yet deadly looking attacks .
I love to watch videos of medieval western weapons, and your movements and insights are very convincing.
Thx a lot :)
Infantry:
- We need to move from 4 to 5m long pike to make it effective.
Polish Winged Hussars:
- Sounds like our recent switch to 6m+ pikes will not be gladly met by the infantry!
It might be a bit of a hassle, but it would be cool to see some of that "pikeman teamwork" if its particularly interesting
The prob is...i need more pikes for that issue...i 've only two
@ Yeah, I was thinking about that issue
Fighting in SCA with the Landskneckts (never got past Recruit rank) was epic. Our weapons were wooden counterparts, but they dinged our real armor just as well as the real thing.
We'd use the battleswords/Zweihander in concentrated charges sometimes, with small groups of swordsmen just rushing thr enemy pike line and doing as much damage as possible, breaking the lines and letting our own pikes push forward and keep splitting up and thinning the enemy ranks
..Man I wanna fight again
"The primitive stone 🪨 age ancient Aztecs of Mexico, 🇲🇽 are no match for the superior late 15th century to early 16th century renaissance Spanish,🇪🇸 armored horsemen 🐴 and infantry made of Southern German, 🇩🇪 Landsknechts, Attack dogs, 🕃 🐶 Northern Italian,🇮🇹 Genoese crossbowmen, 🏹 and Irish, 🇮🇪 roman catholic 💒 fanatics, Spanish,🇪🇸 occupied Dutch,🇳🇱 pikemen and arquebusiers, Nigerian, 🇳🇬 african slaves, and their primitive stone 🪨 age native american auxiliaries, such as the Tlaxcala and the Tarascans of Mexico?" 🇲🇽
Finally, some knowledge about the aux arms.
Never knew anything about them until this vid.
I try to upload this weekend a vid about the Katzbalger...but cuttjng sucks...hopefully i can do this xD
Awesome!
The way you swung that battlesword... must have been horrific back in the day - to face someone as good.
A wonderful demonstration!
Little-known fact: the arquebus was sometimes called the "treble cannon", both because of the note it produced when fired and to differentiate it from the "bass cannon" demonstrated at 4:50 .
5:55 - 6:18 is a thing of beauty.
Bloody brilliant ….the depth of knowledge and level of weapon handling in each clip is astounding. 👹
I am planning to start a landsknecht reenactment group, this video is very helpful for my research, thanks mate!
Beautiful demonstration as always, these guys clearly played some major roles 🙂
Wow, the Halberd fighting style really feels like Guan Dao.
I wish there were a game about a traveling Landsknecht in between the wars or even during the war. Their historical would provide a really fun and reach lore.
The best game about pike and shot warfare is a turn based strategy game call pike and shot campaigns available on steam.
However, an adventure of a single dude like in kcd wouldn't work well since the whole point of this style of warfare were the formations not the easily replaceble mercs.
This is a great vid. Thanks for this historical introduction to those weapons.✌😎
Toller Überblick! Wie immer schick anzuschauen 😉
Spectacular demonstration💯👍
All of your skills were fluid and economical and interesting to watch. Loved the Katzbalger 👊💀
Adoro assistir aos vídeos desse canal. Me tornei um grande fã de armas medievais depois de jogar Dark Souls.
I think that flame berge two handed blade is my favorite. The single handed blade is a close second. Thanks again for your show!!! Love it
Thx mate
if you combine the katzbalger with a buckler...
This content is extremely useful and entertaining. And all the demonstrations are easily understandable. Also your English is very good.
Excellent video sir. Very impressed.
Great video! Especially those adidas boots xD
haha...next time with my air jordan?^^
@ try kangoo jump shoes :D
Wie üblich sehr sehenswert !! Danke dafür!
Excellent footwork
Thats one of the most awesome swords Ive ever seen.
I wonder, does this Pike have such a 'flex' because it is made for training purposes, or does a pole of that length has to behave like that. I remember the Contus of kataphraktoi and the lance of Polish Hussars, whilst being a similar length, were wrapped in leather, to provide more stiffness...
What are your insights on that matter regarding Pikes?
Great compilation.
Enerjiniz için teşekkürler,bu bilgilerin kayıp olmaması lazım.
Excellent video, as someone who primarily studies Italian sources, what manuscripts would be best translated for use for the katzbalger? I'm assuming Meyer would be applicable, but I'm curious to know what other sources could be adapted to its use?
I would also recommend Meyer as a solid source, but Andre Paurnfeindt's contemporary fight-book fits a bit better (First half of 16th cent.). But its basically the same style...
Excellent video.
Nice collection!
Bravo my friend...very graceful yet i know it hid a power so potent that i don't want to be in the receiving end
I'm always fascinated by landsknegt so I thnk u for making this video
Yeah
Thnks for telling me now I'm going to see who they are
Very impressive! Please make a video about 'Weapons used by Janissaries'
I'm curious why Dussacks, Langes messers and Grossemessers were not included? Although they were lower class weapons I know many nobles had fancy ones and would expect the Landsknecht also used them. Maybe they were just less popular or outdated? I know messers were still in use until at least the late 16th century. Seems passed that its primarily dussack-like weapons that take its place with more complex hand protection. Although, maybe these are more civilian weapons rather than war weapons? (with the exception of the Grossemesser)
also dein video war sehr informativ und du hast frei gesprochen...und...joa...
Fun aside, very nice video! I would like to see some action of you in a pikeformation.
Just imagine the bloody horrors of a medieval battle with these weapons…
Excellent!
Subscribed ✊🏾
Dude . . My arms get sore swinging my lightsaber around ! I can only imagine how you feel after a few hours of swinging those heavy weapons
Oh these weren't too heavy, halberds were usually 5-9 pounds, greatswords shown in this vid were also 5-9 pounds, etc.
Pikes however could get quite heavy, ranging from 5.5lbs to even 13lbs! It doesn't sound much, however the leverage of the metal spearhead all the way at the end would make it quite unweidly!
@@backtonovember5306 however, one could say that even though they were heavy a pikeman didn't fight for that long. The formation had hunderds of men so the first rows would get swapped out periodically just not as rapidly as the musketmen did.
very cool.
I read the title as “weapons used by a landscaper” not my proudest moment.
xD
Its always kind of surreal to see the zweihander in motion.
I still would choose a halberd over most any other weapon, it appears to be the most effective on a battlefield since you can keep your enemy at distance.
very nice video. your skills with those weapons are astounding =D i never thought about the pollaxe being a weapon of the landsknecht and was unable to find depictions of it in the hands of those mercenaries =/ do you know where i can find some?
The Mordaxes or Poleaxes are descriped in contemporary books about military theorie like Kirchhoff 1608...unfortunanetly i have no pic atm for you.
Спасибо, очень интересно.
Danke Schone, FechtMeister!
Awesome video! Where can I get some pants like that?
Excellent video! May I ask though, where did you get your pike
Cool incredible.
Hey sorry for my bad english you are good Performer with the medivale weapons very nice too see you with the weapons i have only one correction to you the battelsword call Flamberger it is a sword who was First build in Germany and was taken by Swiss Gard from the medivale to now who save the poet
Will we get some test shots with the Arquebus? I know the Cap and Ball channel has shot them - would love to see a collaboration 👍🏻👍🏻
Cheers!
Could u please do a video of the gallowglass sparth Axe
Notice the complimentary battle boots made famous by legendary Landsknecht Adolf Ad 'idas.
I doubt the Landsknecht did so much dancing around. Not until we have a time machine will we know for sure.
Your videos are always awesome, thanks a ton for posting them. Out of curiosity: what sources did you use for the battlesword segment?
Good question, hard to answer...i wrote an article about these topic! You can download my thoughts about it in english or german here: ddhf.de/forschung-und-wissen/die-verwendung-des-deutschen-schlachtschwertes-des-spaeten-16-und-fruehen-17-jahrhunderts/
@ Thank you very much!
Greatsword, two-handed sword, battlesword. No matter what it's called, it's still big
Excellent. Thank you. (And great accuracy with that pike. Those things are a beast. Most people don't realize the training and finesse the Germans and Swiss had with that simple weapon which allowed them to stomp across the renaissance battlefields against all comers.)
Side question: what are your shoes?
I find badminton shoes (I also play badminton) make great HEMA indoor shoes.
But I have yet to find suitable all-around shoes that I can wear to outside and endure the (sometimes) hard terrain and flooring.
May i ask where you got your katzbalger from?
where do you get your weapons and trainers???
Björn ich frage mich gerade sehr stark wie du diese Pike in den Stadtpark bekommen hast :p Sehr gutes Material! Grüße von einem ex-Hammaborger aus HL!
Absolute chad with the landsknechts pants and adidas shoes
5:53 That's why the grass in the back is well cut 🤯
I really wanna know where you got your arquebus.
Would the Goedendag use similar techniques to the Poleaxe?
I, Brittas boyfriend, am one of the ,armchair experts'. But in apple harvesting on traditional german , Streuobstwiesen'/ fruit meadows (?), i have some expierience in using pikelength applehooks. Usually you catch the branch of an appletree and shake it, so that the apples fall down. But some apples don' t want to fall down, so you have to stab them down like using a Billiard queue. Not easy ! The shaft bends, it is difficult to aim and , no matter how long the shaft is, it is allways to short, so holdiing it at the end, and working so, makes you tired.
Very nice video, very fluid and controllled. Do i spot the doppel Rundstreich from the Rapier section in the Katzbalger part? Feel like meyers rapier is way too underappreciated.
About Battlesword wouldnt slaugthersword or slath sword be the better term/translation? Since weapons like the poleaxe were named murderaxe etc as well. Also remember one french officer and some english sources calling them slath/slayther/slaugther swords.
I also find the half swording interesting. Because i tried it myself with two different models and it worked but it feels awkward and often not very safe to use. And many Schlachtschwerter have the parrying hooks very close the ricasso sometimes even in combination with finger rings and yet were used in battle. Another point i heard was that if it gets too packed one simply would drop the weapon and draw his sidesword. I know marozzo and palladini use a technique which is similar but is also used for the rapier which doesnt have the hooks. Though its just my observations always open for counter points and discourse.
The word "Schlacht" stands for "Battle" in German terminology. I think the slaughter of animals or in this case soldiers is not meant. Nevertheless, there are of course parallels to the slaughter in a battle and the word relationship is certainly existent. But if we consider the meaning and what a German feels with this word, battle is more appropriate.
@ Oh im german too just writing in english so that everyone could join the discussion if wanted.
Battle sword also makes a lot of sense especially since its mostly used for war and because of the size, although we do have civilian usage as well.
My argument would be that we have lots of german weapons that have quite martialistic names as well such as Mordaxt, pohrschwert, kurze Hauer or Strikes such as Mordhau.
Also found some sources that use schlachten for skirmishing which would make sense plus contemporary foreign sources sometimes calling them slaugther swords too. However it would be interesting to see if some translated it as battle sword.
I could also imagine that both was simply true. It wouldnt be the first time were people out of covenience kept it simple.
Was just curious what yours and other peoples thoughts on this are.
@@superrobotmonkeyhyperteamf3194 Thats the reason that we normally should stick on the original term and should'nt translate it for sake :)
Impressive weapons and skills! Did every landsknecht trained with all of these arms or it was a personal choice?
You trained for what weapon your job required.
I love the demonstration, but I must know what are those shoes called? I need some for my training
Addidas Boxershoes
@ Thank you:)
I'd have thought the longsword would have been included, at least as a sidearm like the katzbalger. I've seen illustrations of Landsknechts (or at least well-dressed early 16th-century soldiers) with longswords at their hips. Surprised as well to see poleaxes, since I figured halberds and greatswords would have fulfilled much the same role, along with longswords which could have been carried as a backup.
Well there is also the messer wich very much had the same function and is missing too.
You are however right, in many places in the HRE swords were only allowed to be carried by nobility and most of the landsknechts were common people.
They did hover get a pass on the fashion laws wich is why they had those flashy coulorful Outfits, wich is pretty cool :)
@@tatumergo3931 the laws actually reached their hight around that time because the amount of wealthy common ppl increased drastically making it more inportant then ever before to draw lines between the nobility and the rich bankers and merchants, and those had more reason to do the same between them and the lower classes.
So yes they dressed as they needed, but only inside these laws and colour was most regulated part of the outfit.
We do the same with luxus goods today, few of them are priced that high because they need to be, they are high to keep them exclusive to the wealthy and give a clear easy to spot distinction and it works, nothing screams more i am wealthy as owning a porsche or lamborghini.... or a couple of them if you are super rich.
Its a very interesting topic we dont think about that often in our lives and a great topic for a discussion :)
@@tatumergo3931 i case of the hanseatic league we know that they followed those laws but made use of every loophole they could find.
The league was already seen with suspicion by the nobility and the only reason they didnt break it up was because it made them even richer then the merchants themselfs.
And yes we might be able to rent those things to play pretend, but a truly wealthy person is able to own that porsche and pay for the costs that come with it without having it impact his life in any way.
America is a country of flashy lights and marble facades mounted on a rotten plywood wall, a big chunk of the population has amounted massive credit card debt because they live a lifestyle they cant support another chunk works itself to death in 2 or more jobs to sustain the lifestyle they are no linger able to pay for with 1 job.
The infrastructure of the country in many places has reached 3rd world conditions and is falling apart more year by year.
The absolut worst part about thit is that rather then fixing it many people adopted a false sense of pride fueled by misguided patriotism that leads them to become outright hostile as soon you even mention the bad shape their country is in.
I really hope that the hard time we are heading in will work as a wake up call and bring change for the sake of the future.
The lockdown and the change in the perception of the celebrities showed us that change is possible.
Well that got dark, i hope that doesnt sound too harsh but some things have to be said and nothing good comes from ignoring problems, thats how you end like the french kingdom, and nobody wants to end like the french kingom.
Something that just came to mind talking is that the time frame the landsknechts are located are actually also the times theses laws started to fade away and by the time the french revolution came around and started the decline of the power of the nobility in continental europe they were already mostly gone. So giving them and others exceptions might have helped a lot to corode the societal norms, wich is an intersting thoughti think :)
I'd be curious to know; of all the weapons shown in this video, which one would you say is the most tiring to "go through the motions" with as you did in this vid?
My bet is pike or halbard
@@KaptajnKaffe I have no personal experience, but I always imagine pikes are particularly tiring
@@tommeakin1732 yea, the tip is not heavy but it is a huge thick stick your are holding in wierd angles and twirling around.
Is there a source on the Katzbalger or do you just adopt Dussack stuff for it?
Yes i adopt...cause there is no explicit source about the Katzbalger
Is the poleaxe really a battlefield weapon? I always thought of it as a dueling weapon (for 1v1 fights)
It's not a duelling weapon, though it was typically reserved for knights, men at arms, or groups like the Landsknecht who had extra permissions due to military service.
You'll see it a lot more in duelling because of the status and function of the weapon: they were specifically anti-armour kings (meaning if you weren't killing knights and armoured men, you had no business owning one), and they were built accordingly.
Halberds and spears had nothing on the durability of a pollaxe which could withstand blocks and parries in repeated engagements, while also having the mass and the hammer to deliver crushing blows where cutting or puncturing simply wasn't viable. The durability, extra complexity of construction compared to a halberd, and the status of knight-killer or armour penetrator meant that it was not purely weapon reserved for the elite, but also not free to be picked up by commoners.
It would be funny if you used like an M16 for a part of the gun section
What about the psychological violence of those trousers?
Came for the snarky comment, stayed for the pole-axe kata 🙂
If a man with a Halterbrad sinks that hook in you he has a fulcrum with which to use the point to open you up. It looks to me like it's over as soon as he sets the hook.
Fräge: Stangenwaffenlänge wurde doch in der zeit als "Stange" angegeben, also viertel, halbe, ganze. Welche der Stangenwaffen entspricht jetzt welcher länge?
Die Terminologie Halb, Viertel usw sagt über die länge erstmal wenig aus. Im Prinzip gibt es 2 Typen Stange für den Kampf - Kurze und Lange. Die kurzen Stangen wurden im Mitteleuropäischen bereich oft Halbe Stange genannt bzgl. Ihrer verkürzten länge zur vollen länge einens Spießes. Diese waren zumeißt etwas höher als Körperhöhe. In England wurde die kurze Stangen "Quarterstaff", also Viertel-Stange genannt. Allerdings nicht aufgrund einer auf eine länge bezogenes Viertel, sondern wegen Ihres Herstellungsprozesses (Quarter Sawing). Volle Längen wurden dann Spieß oder Pike genannt und waren zwischen 3,5 bis zu 7 Meter lang... Kurzum: Es gibt mannshohe Stangen und die Überlangen Dinger :)
@ Ah Ok das hat alle Verwirrungen beseitigt
I would strognly disagree with statement about black powder firearms.
They actually completely took the battlefield of late 19th century, after invention and mass production of percussion caps.
Previouse models of flint or wheel locks, along with other muzzleloaders, simply were disabled in damp or rain, or reloading time was an invitation for melee fighters.
They were very destructive, and very effective, in the right conditions, and it's important to mention that Renaissance muzzle loaders wheid around 15 to 20 kilograms along, without ammunition and gunpowder packings.
Addition of some melee weapon alongside of such firearm would be a nightmare to carry, or even wielding it competently.
After invention of percussion caps, especially minnie ball, and further development of firearms, reloading time improoved significantly, while firearms construction advanced to almost complete reliability in every condition.
I really find hard to believe they swinged blades that way: what about the comrades behind the wielders? Chopped to pieces?
You can boil your movements down as you want. In the dense crowd you just strike from above. But Battlesword are also defending cannons, officers and flags... Its also a crowd control weapon :)
I wonder have you shot the arquebus?
Another day, yes...see my in my shorts :)
Nice pants bro
1:29 what a strange technique...
Hello from Greece i have to say about videos who said with a sword easy to break wall of pikes as we saw pikemen had sword and this old rifle point is not so easy to break the pikemen
Can you explain to me why the Katzbalger didnt have a pointy tip? It feels kinda weird to me that they actively took away this additional way of attacking with it.
From what I understand: it's short so that it can be drawn and used one handed in tight formations, possibly allowing a pikeman to retain his pike in the offhand, while slashing with his right hand. Either due to that fact, or for another reason, they wanted as much viable cutting edge as possible, and tapering the blade to a point reduced the amount of ideal cutting surface. If that makes sense
Sabbing wasn't ideal for some reason, or it was just better at cutting without a point and that trumped having a point to the blade
@@Captain_Insano_nomercy Good point! (hehe pun intended) I also thought about the possibility that a pointy edgy is just too unsafe?
I mean most Landsknechts probably werent that well trained in close quarter combat since their training was more focused on teamwork and msot got recruited from poor folk and in a hurry. So its important you dont hurt your friends while swinging and thrashing around with a blade. So they maybe cut off the tip to reduce risk of stabbing their friends?
OR A pointy scabbard was uncomfortable for the people standing close to you? like you form a tight formation and the tip of your scabbard pokes the man diagonally behind you into his ribs wich wouldnt be so uncomfortable if it was rounded off?
OR they removed the tip so their blades wont penetrate too far into their target, wich always involves the risk of getting the blade stuck? I dont know how a round topped blade performs in that regard, but hey maybe?
OR its really just a fashion trend they blindly followed and didnt bother to change since it wasnt a primary weapon anyways?
@Philtopy honestly, your last answer might just be true, or it could be cheaper. It's impossible to know 100% why they looked that way, sometimes the answer is dumb
@@Philtopy Some have points and some are rounded, it's not that different from earlier swords from the migration era and viking age, they have pretty rounded and wide tips, it maximises cutting performance even further out. I think some longswords are like this as well (?), some messers and there are plenty of swords from other cultures that have no stabbing tip or a very rounded or wide tip as they are mostly for cutting.
And you can still thrust with those that have a bit of a point, and even those that are a rounded would destroy someones face if a thrust landed as it's still sharp.
I've heard a story (don't know many details unfortunately) of some 15th century unit that knew it's history and decided to copy the old Roman military. If everyone's in these big pike squares why not just charge them with sword n' board and some heavy armor? Tactically, it worked just as well as it did for the Romans. But strategically, the unit was way too expensive, and fatigued far too quickly. In a world where battles consisted of _many_ more soldiers on average a few elite "shock troops" like that simply couldn't have a great enough effect.
I dont know why, but i can only imagine you making lightsaber soundeffects with your mouth the intire time
who knows... xD
They where badass as it gets. I wonder why we not see movies abouth them (Alatriste was closer to them)
@@tatumergo3931 Thank you for all your information ..i will ckeck it out recomended videos. Thank you again!
@@tatumergo3931 Thank you!
@@tatumergo3931 “Unless the costume bring in some more dramatic effect the producer will do away with as much as possible” I agree although people who make big budget movies seem to mostly be concerned with doing away with as much historical accuracy as possible random stuff that shouldn’t be there seems to be added in great quantities whenever possible.
I also think that other historical settings or rather their modern very much not historical interpretations are just more reliable for making money in the current market like Vikings for example.
I'm not sure I can be convinced making a pike shaft flexible is a good idea.
Nice! One thing I'd add is the pike as an anti cavalry weapon, its sheer length making it impractical for horsemen to get close enough to use sword or lance.
In that time cavalry often used pistols on horse to avoid the pikes.
6:21 it seems old roman Gladio
👍
*Muss ein, ja muss ein Landsknecht! Haaa-ahh-aaaben!*