Halberd steadily decreased. The halberd all but disappeared as a rank-and-file weapon in these formations by the middle of the sixteenth century, though Hakluyt's 'Voyages' relate the death of a halberdier named Zachary Saxy (probably a German) in fighting on the coast of Ecuador during Cavendish's circumnavigation in 1587. The halberd has been used as a court bodyguard weapon for centuries, and is still the ceremonial weapon of the Swiss Guard in the Vatican and the "Alabarderos" (Halberdiers) Company of the Spanish Royal Guard. The halberd was one of the polearms sometimes carried by lower-ranking officers in European infantry units in
Voulge meant for hacking, while that of the glaive was narrow and meant more for cutting. A voulge thus looks something like a squashed bardiche, or just a meat cleaver attached to a long pole. In early designs it consisted solely of a cutting edge, but in time voulges often had a 'pointed-top' blade for stabbing. Hooks were also incorporated onto the back of the blade, in which case they are referred to as "voulge-guisarmes". The voulge was commonly used by the French. The Hundred Years War provided many opportunities to prove its utility. It is commonly believed that this was