Bardiche Bardiche A bardiche , berdiche, bardische, bardeche,("long pollaxe") or berdish is a type of axe/pole weapon known in the 14th through 17th centuries in Europe. Ultimately a descendant of the medieval sparth (Danish axe), the bardiche proper appears around 1400, but there are numerous medieval manuscripts that depict very similar weapons beginning . The bardiche differs from the halberd in having neither a hook at the back nor a spear point at the top. Use of bardiches started in early 14th century Austria and in Scandinavia in the late 15th century. In the 16th century the bardiche became a weapon
Altarpiece of the Halberd to the Papal States. The resistance had been brutally suppressed, many of the rebels having been beheaded by order of the papal legate. The upside-down halberd has been thus interpreted as a symbol of peace. The monumental composition is taken directly from the tradition of Holy Conversations in the Venetian School, inaugurated by Antonello da Messina's San Cassiano Altarpiece. It shows the Madonna and Child on a high throne, with two angels holding the crown (a 15th-century Flemish painting element also in use in Italy). In the lower part are four saints: Stephen, John the Evangelist, Simon the Zealot and