Lucerne hammer

File:De Alte Armatur und Ringkunst Talhofer 279.jpg Alte Armatur und Ringkunst (Bavaria, 1459)]]

During the 14th century, Swiss infantry favoured the pollaxe or {{lang|de|fussstreithammer}}, a polearm with a short spike and a three- or four-pronged hammer face. Toward the 1470s, smiths in central Switzerland lengthened the rear beak and split the hammer into four parallel prongs, creating the form now called the Lucerne hammer.{{cite book |last=Waldman |first=John |title=Hafted Weapons in Medieval and Renaissance Europe: The Evolution of European Staff Weapons Between 1200 and 1650 |publisher=Brill |year=2005 |isbn=9789004144095 |series=History of Warfare |pages=161–164}} It is consequently considered a later development of the bec de corbin by some scholars,{{cite journal |last=Nudel |first=Sa'ar |year=2002 |title=The War Hammer |journal=Arms & Armour Quarterly}} though its classification and typology are the focus of debate.

Contemporary records simply call the weapon {{lang|de|die Hamer}} or {{lang|de|mordaxt}} in German, and {{lang|fr|la hache}} in French inventories; Lucerne hammer is a modern label that distinguished the four-pronged Swiss pattern from earlier pollaxes,{{cite journal |last=Le Coultre |first=Anne-Caroline |year=2017 |title=The typological debates around Le Jeu de la Hache (BnF MS Français 1996) and their stakes for HEMA practice |journal=Acta Periodica Duellatorum |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=96–100 |doi=10.1515/apd-2017-0010 |eissn=2813-5970|doi-access=free }} having been coined by 19th-century arms collector J. Meyer-Bielmann in 1869.{{Cite web |date=30 September 2021 |title=Lucerne Hammer: Swiss, 1st third of the 17th century. |url=https://www.kollerauktionen.ch/fr/-1198_498285.html |access-date=22 June 2025 |website=Koller Auktionen |language=en,fr}} Although now often classed as a type of pollaxe,{{Cite journal |last=Van Dijk |first=Casper J. |date=2 January 2020 |title=A New Halberd Typology (1500-1800): Based on the Collection of the National Military Museum, The Netherlands |journal=Arms & Armour |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=1–26 |doi=10.1080/17416124.2020.1728905 |issn=1741-6124 |via=Taylor & Francis Online|doi-access=free }} the Lucerne hammer lacks a bladed edge and in place of the curved beak. It is mechanically akin to the earlier Italian martello d'arme (war hammer) and to the German {{lang|de|fussstreithammer}}, combining blunt and percussive elements.

==Construction==

Much like the bec de corbin, examples are about {{convert|1.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} long overall. The steel head is fastened by two or four langets and side-lugs and made up of:

• Hammer face consisting of four spikes set in line with the shaft; early heads are massive for crushing plate armour, later 16th-century heads are lighter with longer, sharper prongs to improve penetration.{{cite magazine |last=Guttman |first=Jon |date=2012 |title=Billhook |magazine=Military History |publisher=Weider History Group |page=21 |volume=29 |issue=4 |issn=0889-7328}}
• Rear beak of a stout, slightly down-curved form, capable of piercing mail and plate.{{cite web |date=2002 |title=Polearms of Medieval Europe |url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/polearm/ |access-date=22 June 2025 |website=Warfare History Network}}
• Dague, or top spike, that was lengthened across the 16th century until on parade pieces it rivals a pike head, mirroring trends in the halberd.{{cite book |last=Waldman |first=John |title=Hafted Weapons in Medieval and Renaissance Europe: The Evolution of European Staff Weapons Between 1200 and 1650 |publisher=Brill |year=2005 |isbn=9789004144095 |series=History of Warfare |pages=163–164}}

Several armouries stamped an "L" or a cantonal coat of arms on the domed collar beneath the hammer. Nidwalden and Bern kept sizeable stocks, but surviving numbers are small compared to Swiss halberds.

The weapon was wielded two-handed. Manuals such as Le Jeu de la Hache ({{circa|1400}}) and Hans Talhoffer's Fechtbuch (1467) treat the long-shafted hammer and pollaxe as premier knightly arms for foot combat, emphasising:

• Thrusts with the top spike against gaps in plate armour.
• Hooking with the rear beak to drag mounted men from the saddle.
• Blunt trauma with the hammer to buckle plates or break mail.{{cite journal |last=Anglo |first=Sydney |author-link=Sydney Anglo |year=1991 |title=Le Jeu de la Hache |journal=Archaeologia |volume=109}}

Swiss civic guards continued to carry Lucerne hammers on watch, at executions, and in escort duty into the 17th century, long after the weapon had left the battlefield.{{cite book |last=Waldman |first=John |title=Hafted Weapons in Medieval and Renaissance Europe: The Evolution of European Staff Weapons Between 1200 and 1650 |publisher=Brill |year=2005 |isbn=9789004144095 |series=History of Warfare |page=163}}

Within the Historical European Martial Arts community, the Lucerne hammer is treated as the armoured-combat pollaxe taught in Le Jeu de la Hache: practitioners drill thrusts with the long spike, percussive strikes with the four-pronged head and hooking pulls with the rear beak. Because of the weapon’s mass and injury risk, most schools confine work to technical sequences in full armour; free sparring is rare. Training relies on specialised simulators: rubber-headed polehammers predominate for safety, while wooden or blunted-steel versions are chosen when authentic weight and balance are required. The pollaxe set is now a standard element of advanced HEMA curricula and features regularly at European and North American events.

Depictions of the Lucerne hammer (usually under the in-game name polehammer) feature in a number of medieval combat video games. The weapon was added in the December 2013 content update for Chivalry: Medieval Warfare,{{Cite web |last=Cook |first=Dave |date=1 February 2013 |title=Chivalry: Medieval Warfare gets massive content update, details here |url=https://www.vg247.com/chivalry-medieval-warfare-gets-massive-content-update-details-here |access-date=22 June 2025 |website=VG247 |language=en}} and was reintroduced in its 2021 sequel Chivalry 2.{{Cite web |last=Colucci |first=Mike |date=2021-07-05 |title=Chivalry 2 class guide: Overview, subclasses, and best weapons for every class |url=https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/chivalry-2-class-guide-subclasses-best-weapons-class/ |access-date=2025-06-22 |website=Digital Trends |language=en-us}} Other games that include the weapon are Kingdom Come: Deliverance (2018),{{Cite web |last=Harrison |first=Mark |date=15 January 2025 |title=Kingdom Come Deliverance: 10 Best Polearms and Spears, Ranked |url=https://gamerant.com/kingdom-come-deliverance-best-polearms-spears-ranked/ |access-date=22 June 2025 |website=Game Rant |language=en}} and Mordhau (2019).{{Cite web |last=Grantham |first=Joe |date=12 July 2023 |title=Best Mordhau Builds To Try Out |url=https://gamerant.com/mordhau-best-builds/ |access-date=22 June 2025 |website=Game Rant |language=en}}

• Swiss arms and armour

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{{Pole weapons}}

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Category:European weapons

Category:Medieval polearms

Category:Medieval weapons

Category:Military history of Switzerland