Bardiche heavy weapon with which he clave the head of an ox. It was this primitive halberd which the Swiss mountaineers used in their early struggle with Austria, and at Sempach and Mortgarten it destroyed much splendid armor. But in battle it was found useful not only for chopping but for thrusting, hence the narrowing of the front end of its plate."The blade varied greatly in shape, but was most often a long, cleaver type blade. The distinction was in how the blade was attached to the pole. The bardiche blade was attached to the pole either via two sockets (one
Pole weapon blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. It always has a hook or thorn on the back side of the axe blade for grappling mounted combatants. Early forms are very similar in many ways to certain forms of voulge, while 16th century and later forms are similar to the pollaxe. The Swiss were famous users of the halberd in the medieval and renaissance eras, with various cantons evolving regional variations of the basic form. In the 14th century, the basic long axe gained an armour piercing spike on the back and another on the end of the