tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29524018.post8126007238028967868..comments2024-01-22T19:10:23.007-05:00Comments on A Commonplace Book: Archer's MaulsWill McLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14685409952186547597noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29524018.post-757580638372471312016-06-29T13:25:48.735-05:002016-06-29T13:25:48.735-05:00Are there any surviving mallets in museums? I wou...Are there any surviving mallets in museums? I would like to try to recreate one for a display. A&PTeacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17466455883992433257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29524018.post-72424310156862820392014-07-10T20:57:08.147-05:002014-07-10T20:57:08.147-05:00Swetnam may have meant shoulder, vice back. Techni...Swetnam may have meant shoulder, vice back. Technically, a shouldered weapon is over your back.Jeff Jnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29524018.post-73780982510183664952011-04-23T19:25:41.571-05:002011-04-23T19:25:41.571-05:00The weapon Barrett described stands consistent wit...The weapon Barrett described stands consistent with various sixteenth-century English military writers such as Sir John Smythe and George Silver who favored five to six foot polearms. I agree hanging it from a belt would be awkward, but again you find parallels with other English texts. Writing in the early seventeenth century, Joseph Swetnam mentioned folks who went around with a Welsh hook on their backs in additions to the sword and dagger at their sides. Apparently people somehow actually attached long weapons to their bodies.Incanurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00625802530972798791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29524018.post-72280707434248154492010-01-07T14:27:02.468-05:002010-01-07T14:27:02.468-05:00Ah - gotcha about taking translation for granted. ...Ah - gotcha about taking translation for granted. <br /><br />Likewise for some of the dimensions. Recall the citation of the 25-pound maul in Battle of the Thirty in Bellefort. Seems exagerated.<br /><br />I've swung a 16-pound hammer on a 3-foot shaft, and there's no way I'd consider employing a 25-pounder. <br /><br />Agree 5-feet is long. For a useful stake-pounder, you need something you can take a decent wind-up with, and anything over 4 feet is unwieldy. <br /><br />JeffJeff Jnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29524018.post-83758511004058346212010-01-07T12:53:27.852-05:002010-01-07T12:53:27.852-05:00Barrett's description doesn't seem to add ...Barrett's description doesn't seem to add up: A five-foot shaft is way too long to hook onto one's belt, and would be awkward for an archer to carry about. The depiction in the 1380s MS makes the shafts look to be about 3-4 feet.Retired Tourneyernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29524018.post-24582556968477262812010-01-06T20:25:17.795-05:002010-01-06T20:25:17.795-05:00Jeff J:
Don't read too much into the the Reli...Jeff J:<br /><br />Don't read too much into the the Religeux translation. The original Latin of clavam plumbeam says the weapon was a club/cudgel/staff/mace/baton that was leaden/made of lead.<br /><br />I would read that as fitting better to a lead head on a wooden shaft.Will McLeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14685409952186547597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29524018.post-37668998349264465992010-01-06T19:03:29.954-05:002010-01-06T19:03:29.954-05:00Interesting. Especially wrt the storehouses of mau...Interesting. Especially wrt the storehouses of mauls, apparently for issue to archer levies. <br /><br />Also the first confirmation I've seen of a the maul being wood and covered with lead. Makes sense, structurally, as a solid lead maul would be small for the weight, have a small face area for the weight, and not very durable. <br /><br />I wonder if the (non-wood pounding) mauls for "knightly" use might not have had the wood cores, as smaller heads have an advantage when only intended to beat armor rather for a few strokes, vice lots of stakes. Different strokes, ya know. ;)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09290176634700806115noreply@blogger.com