The poleweapon, normally a weapon for the middle- or lower classes had finally arrived and secured its place in the pantheon of knightly weapons. Within the lists the deadly poleaxes were used both to settle judicial duels and in both emprises and more friendly feats of arms. Dr. Anglo has postulated that armoured axeplay was more showy than it was dangerous (2). Whatever the justice of this claim, fighting with the poleaxe has emerged in the tournament societies as a preferred weapons form, both "in the round" and over the barriers, so a great deal of interest in this weapon has increased over the last five years.

While this kind of fighting--normally conducted a plaisance--is relatively safe in baton-based fighting systems, its use in rebated combats remains untested, owing largely to the potentially lethality of the weapons and the lack of cap a pied plate defenses for the combatants, as well as insufficient hand protection (3).

Objectives:
This course will introduce the student of Western swordsmanship to the rich body of traditions and techniques that surround one of the most interesting of the knightly weapons, the poleaxe, also known in French as the hache. Based on four main manuscript sources and tempered by experience in the field with these exceedingly pleasing weapons, the intention of this course is to acquaint the studend with the basic stances, guards, movements, cuts and counters sufficient to build a starting point for more advanced work with the weapons. This course is meant to be loosely followed over a period of two to three months, by which time the student should feel comfortable engaging in hache/hache - hache/longsword and hache/sword and shield engagements. Much must be ommitted from such a cursory study of the weapon; hopefully these components can be added at a later date.

Source Material
Taking Steve Hicks' fine analysis of axe-play, four other sources provide the basis for this course:

Jeu de la Hache: Literally "axe-play". An anonymous French manuscript of the 15th century, all prose without illustrations. It advocates guards with the "queue" and discsses many advanced maneuvers illustrated in various editions of Talhoffer. It is the richest source to date detailing hache fighitng. Dr. Sydney Anglo published a translation in Archaeologia in 1991 which appears in full on the HACA site; all English translations in this course should be credited to Dr. Anglo. For the purposes of this basic course, this is the main text, although it offers very little grappling or wrestling moves, techniques that will be covered in more detail in an advanced course.

Talhoffer's Fechtbuch (1467 edition): While the 1443 edition has interesting material, most of this course will be drawn from the more accessible 1467 edition. Talhoffer presents many pages of technique also demonstrated with the polehammer, although his combatants fight both unarmoured (blossfechten) and in full plate (harnischfechten). Some of the techniques shown in Talhoffer are also mentioned in the Jeu; for the purposes of this course Talhoffer's drawings will sometimes be used to illustrate a technique described in the Jeu.

Fiore de Liberi's Flos Duellatorum. A 15th century Italian mss. which Schola students should already be familiar with, dating from 1410. In leaves 27a - 28a a knight is shown using the polehammer (with a sharpened queue) fully armoured. Interestingly, the knight appears to be equipped with a cone-shaped grille resembling a pignose. Unfortunately, the techniques presented in the Flos deem mostly to be distinct from those shown in the two sources above. Some of Fiore's work is also on the HACA and AEMMA sites.

Olivier de la March and the chronicler of Jacques de Laihling. Some of the techniques discussed in the Jeu are also described in one of these two key 15th century texts. Oliver de la Marche detailed chivalric feats of arms from the middle to late 15th century, while Jacques de Laihling, one of hte most preux knights of his day, was very fond of the axe and the chonicles of his deeds sometimes describe his unorthodox yet effective maneuvers.

Fighting Mindset: initiative, composure, speed, strength, intelligence
There are clues sprinkled throughout the Jeu that hint at the fighting mindset, but for sake of consistency and completeness we'll refer back to de Liberi's presentation of the mental aspect of fighting as presented in his Flos Duellatorum.

Celeratus (cheetah?): The combatant must act with speed, striking as quickly as an unseen arrow.
Prudentia (panther?): The combatant must measure his actions, acting with wisdom rather than rashness
Audatia (lion): The combatant must act with courage and with great heart

In the words of the Jeu author (who also comments with respect to certain techniques--see "Assumptions" below):

[3] "On leaving your pavilion, you must be well armed and furnished with your axe and other relevant weapons. Recommending yourself to God, you must make the sign of the cross and march upright, with a good and valorous countenance, gazing at the other end of the field to seek out your adversary. And gazing upon him you must take in a measured manner a proud courage in yourself to fight valiantly as is becoming. And you have in remembrance the principle points contained in the chapters which herafter follow."

1. The whole hache, from the tip of the dague to the but of the queue (sharpened or not), is a weapon, not just the "head."
2. The hache is a wonderful lever that can be used to topple, disarm, and to lead the opponent around, especially when the 'croix' is hooked.
3. As a lever, if your opponent's weapon is between your hands you have freedom to attack with either the queue or the head, whichever is convenient.
4. If your opponent is bound or pressed, so are you, so act quickly.
5. As with De Liberi and the students of Liechtenauer, the author of the Jeu counsels movement and sees danger in becoming static: "[25]...And you must deliver these jabs frequently, sometimes at the foot and sometimes at the hand or face; so that he does not find your axe at all still, and you can, wholly at your own initiative, make any opening." and further [73] "You must attack him with jabs at the face and feet to make him lose composure."
6. The whole body, from the top of the head to the toes, are targets; the hands and feet are especially vulnerable and are considered valid for disabling. Keep Francis I's complaint (below) in mind.
7.  Grappling is allowed, as is grabbing the opponent's weapon, (if it can be done within the parameters of safety with respect to the combat system employed).

Balance
The body should always be in balance. Many of the techniques presented in all three references attempt to unbalance the opponent, either by striking with surprise or by using the hache as a lever. Harkening back to the lessons of Liberi, recall the elephant who carries a tower on his back. He is sure-footed, almost always in balance; if he tilts his body too much then the tower will fall. In fighting with the Hache, which features a great deal of close-work and leverage, this is particularly important.

<include picture of Liberi's elephant here>

Stance
The Jeu says nothing about stance, but the illustrations in Liberi and Talhoffer do suggest certain precepts.

The figures in Fiore de Liberi--all in armour--are the very picture of balance, their upright forms supported by a neat triangle created by their legs, which are rarely much more than shoulder width apart. Talhoffer's 1467 often have wider stances, though these are unarmoured and thus have a lower center of gravity, while the armoured figures in his 1443 manuscript are far more similar to those in Liberi.

<include a composite picture from Liberi, Talhoffer 1443, and 1467 for comparison>

Flex the knees, weight to the inside of the foot
Studying the knees of the combatants in both Liberi and Talhoffer, it seems that the conventional wisdom with respect to maintaining some flexibility (don't lock the knees) and keeping the weight towards the inside of the foot are consistent.

Which foot foward?
With respect to the opponent, either the right or the left foot may be forward. In Le Jeu, the author seems to indicate in at least two places that the standard guard has the right foot forward (this is also my personal preference, though in all likelihood the best course is to be able to fight either way):

[4] "When one would give you a swinging blow [ie tour de bras], right-hander to right-hander. If you have the croix in front, you can step forward with your left foot, receiving his blow..."

[62] "If he does the same to you. You have only to take a step with your left foot which is behind, and advance it before the other, in order to push with your knee against the middle of his axe in order to free yourself."

As a contrast, Liberi seems to always illustrate the left foot forward. This may have something to do with his belief that the combatant should always move forward, gathering the force inherent in the same-side step to enhance the blow. This idea seems to resonate with the German master Johannes Lichtenaeur, who is the first recorded Meistro to have taught such a technique. It would also go far to reveal why grappling and wrestling techniques are so important in Liberi and Talhoffer, while they scarcely appear in the Jeu. Indeed, the anonymous author of the Jeu even counsels stepping backward on occasion, something that might have seemed to the German school as an unacceptable yielding of the initiative.

<illustrate Liberi's Posta Breva>

The Hands
In general the hands should have a firm, but not overfirm, grip on the weapon. Sometimes the haft is slid between one of the two hands, in the manner of a pool-queue. Balanced against this, many of the techniques in the Jeu are aimed at using surprise or leverage to disarm the opponent, so the combatant must be wary without being overly tense.

Neither Talhoffer nor Liberi illustrate any techniques except for those leading with the 'offside' hand. With this grip, with the left foot forward, the left hand is generally forward, near the head, while the right hand remains near the tail, or queue. Liberi has the "offside" hand always being near the croix. For the Jeu also this seems to have been a conventional approach, though it is not called out per se.

<illustrate offside grip from Talhoffer and Liberi>

Within the Jeu, however, techniques [52-73], or nearly 1/3 of the work, are dedicated to the "left-hander". With respect to the use of the hache or longsword, however, being naturally left-handed may have nothing at all to do with fighting that way--it is an easy matter to simply mirror one of the conventional stances and you're immediately fighting "left-handed", with a whole new set of lines to work in. Switching hands in the course of a fight, if done at the appropriate time (and preferably with some deception) can deliver the initiative quickly as the opponent struggles to discover why the lines of the fight have changed.

Movement
Remember Liberi's elephant as you move; do not let the tower fall, be relaxed and yet solidly planted, move gracefully but with deliberate intention. Being St. George's dragon, claw the ground and use your tail to maintain balance.

In moving it is important to step naturally, without bobing, tilting, or shuffling. Move with a purpose, boldly, like the elephant or dragon. Use care not to cross the feet, and with every step be prepared either to receive or to throw a blow. Remember that in the middle of any step your movement might be interrupted, so make your steps such that if forced to abort the movement, your foot lands in a position from which you can fight well. If you find yourself out of position, which frequently occurs event to experienced combatants, recover quickly and move to the nearest balanced position before your opponent can take advantage of your misstep.

Movement drills
1. Advance and Retreat (hold distance)
2. Advance and Advance (close distance)
3. Advance and sidestep-destra
4. Advance and sidestep-sinestra

Maintain balance and a good fighting platform at all times.

5. Doublestep and Retreat (hold distance)
6. Doublestep and Advance (close distance)
7. Advance and doublestep--destra
8. Advance and doublestep--sinestra
9. Doublestep and sidestep--destra
10. Doublestep and sidestep--sinestra

Guards
It is problematic to discuss "guards," since the author of Le Jeu, in accord with the more well known German Meistros of the 15th century, counsel  constant movement. This generally precludes the "posing" guards that attempt to lure the opponent into a false sense of initiative. Do not think of a guard as a place to stop and wait your opponent's attack. Rather, look at a guard as a place from which to start a series of movements, a position that seems to offer more potential with respect to your opponent's position. You might well have decided to wait for his attack in order to exploit some flaw in his movement or delivery, but you must not in this case become defensive, or your will likely cede the initiative and lose the fight.

I have divided the guards into "primary" and "secondary" guards, according to how frequently they are encountered. Remember that each guard has advantages and weaknesses with respect to every other guard, and by practicing each one against the others you will gain an appreciation for them all.

Primary Guards (after Hicks)

Guard de la Croix (Hicks/Jeu)
I'm having trouble with this guard; from the text it is not apparent to me what this might be unless it is the "high" guard commonly used with the head up and the tail down--the "croix" would then be facing the opponent, since the croix is closest to the opponent at this point.

This is an offensive guard, one with a great deal of potential energy that challenges the opponent to step forward and receive the full force of the hache as it descends; a daunting prospect. I say that it is "offensive" because the potential energy stored in the hache's head can very quickly be turned into potential energy, and the guard flaunts this fact in an effort to intimidate the opponent. Additionally, it offers a wide possibily of strikes, mostly to the right side, and enables the combatant to thrust effectively as well, moving quickly to the guard de la dague.

Guard de la Dague (Hicks/Jeu)   Posta Breve (Liberi) (left foot forward)
Guard de la Queue (Jeu)
Boar's Tooth (Paraphrased Liberi)

Secondary Guards
Guard de la Demi-Hache (Jeu)
Posta di Donna (Liberi 27a, lower left)
Porta Forte (Liberi 27a, upper right)
 

Jeu de la Hache mentions three "couverts" or "guards,"

Guard de la Croix (Hicks) Steve Hicks has this guard done with the right foot leading, though Fiore de Liberi in Flos Deulletorum seems to favor the left. I personally tend to fight it with the right foot forward, though this could be a consquence of using the hache where no grappling is allowed. Given that both Liberi and Liectenhaeur say to always step when striking, the fighting form they recommend would seem to be at odds with the "stand back and slash or thrust" method more commonly employed.
      Guard de la Croix places the right hand closest to the croix, the hache itself usually "leading" and thus the point (or dague) sticks straight up into the air.

Primary Strikes

Goal: To get the student to the point where they are able to conduct basic and appropriate movements, are familiar with the major guards and three main methods of attack, the weapons and the names, the terminology in German and Italian for guards and attacks, basic counters for each strike, and sufficient confidence to free spar and start to innovate within the framework.
 
 

Notes
1 Dr. Syndey Anglo's translation of Jeu de la Hache, Archaeologia Volume CIX, 1991.
2 Anglo, Sydney (1991: 115) "Though visually impressive, poleaxes do not feel especially effective in the hand; and it is difficult to resist the impression that they were designed principally for showy fighitng within the lists; a view borne out by accounts of fifteenth-century combats where knights battered each other unmercifully, denting, puncturing and knocking bits of each other's armour, and yet eventually emerged unscathed..."
3 This is not a new problem. Steve Hicks presents a quotation regarding Henry VIII and the Field of the Cloth of Gold, where, "Francois I rejected Henry VIIIs proposal to fight at greatsword at the Field of the Cloth of Gold"as there is no gauntlet made sufficient to protect the hands." The author futher proposes that the polehammer now resident in the Royal Armouries (RA BrayBrook Axe) could have been made specifically for this event, as it dates from the right period and incorporates elements of both Kingdom's devices (the English Lion and the French fleur-de-lis).

Original Language pieces
Jeu de la Hache (1): "Considerant et voyant par experience que naturelment tous corps humains nobles et non nobles fuyent la mort et desirent viure longuement en ce mortel monde. Et apres au Royalme de paradis viure pardurablement. Pour paruenir et obteir les desirs naturelez dessusdicts il me sample que toute creature humaine et raisonnable se deuroit tenir en bon estat et soy armer premierement de bonnes armures spirituelles cest assauoir de belles vertus pour soy deffendre et resister contre touc vices et temptations dyaboliques. en preseruant et gardant lame de mourir de mort eternelle. Et cela estra fait on dois armer le corps de bonnes armures corporelles et materielles et soy pouruoir de glaiues conuenables. comme la hache, la demy lance, la dague, la grande espee et la petit pour soy deffendre et resister contre ses ennemis corporelz et mortelz. Et pource que tout homme noble de corps et de courage naturelment desire dexcetciter et habilliter sa personne en occuppacion vertueuse et honnourable. Et principalment ou noble fait darmes cest assavoir au Jeu de la hache dont prcedent et despendent plusieurs glaiues dessus nommez. Daultre part ledict Jeu est honnourable et proffitable pour la preseruation du corps humain noble et non noble. Pour les raisons dessusdictes jay employe mon petit entendement a mettre par escript aucunes doctrines et enseignemens touchant ledict Jeu de la hache en la maniere que sensuit." (Anglo, 121).
 
 

Hicks, Steve. Altantian University Class Notes, unpublished, 1992. A very useful analysis featuring keen observation, research and practical components differentiating the axeplay presented in the manuals with that practiced within the SCA.