The Five MOST DANGEROUS Weapons of the Middle Ages

In a recent Rolling Stone article, the following guns were named the most dangerous in America (based on how often they were used in a crime):

1. Pistols
2. Revolvers
3. Rifles
4. Shotguns
5. Derringers

Not to be outdone by the journalistic standards of Rolling Stone (and because you know I like medieval stuff), I have compiled a list of…

 1. Swords

Swords are most commonly a double-edged weapon (although you may see single-sided, “saber” style blades in the middle east during this period). They differ from daggers (a type of knife) only by their length. There is no consensus as to where a long knife ends and a short sword begins, but swords are generally characterized by their usefulness in maiming and killing people, whereas knives tend to have less violent uses (such as cutting up meat). Swords were also worn as by the wealthy as a status symbol and a visible threat that kept 99% of the population repressed.

 2. Arrows

Arrows could be used for hunting (which most medieval people did for sport rather than food acquisition), but they were most often used to deadly effect during wars. Crossbows (which shoot “bolts”) were so deadly that one medieval pope banned their use against “good Christians” (in typical medieval Christian supremacism, though, pagans, Jews, and Muslims were not protected by this ban). Possibly to get around this ban, the English invented a “long bow” which was like a regular bow, only longer. It proved to be even deadlier than the crossbow, thanks to its long range. Tens of thousands of French freedom fighters died in a hail of arrows from the English invaders during the “Hundred Years War.”

3. Poll weapons (including, pikes, halberds, poll axes, glaves, etc.)

Poll (or “pole”) weapons come in a variety of lethal configurations, but most of them consist of at least one bladed edge affixed to a long pole (although many also contain one or more spikes as well). Whereas swords were worn even during peacetime, and arrows were used for hunting, poll weapons were used solely on the battlefield and had no other purpose except to maim and kill—which they did horrifyingly well. Many of the gruesome injuries that are seen in medieval skulls come from these powerful weapons. In fact, the term “poll weapon” comes not from the pole that it was attached to, but from the fact that you were supposed to use it to strike your opponent on the head, or “poll.”

 4. Knives and daggers

These came in two forms: a single-edge knife and the double-edge dagger. Knives were typically used for practical purposes, such as eating meals, but daggers were commonly used as weapons. Both types were common among peasant criminals who were not allowed, by law, to own a sword–although the nobility also carried knives and daggers into battle where they might use them as a measure of last resort if they found themselves otherwise unarmed. After battles were over, however, these implements were frequently used to loot the corpses of the slain, cutting off armor, purses, and anything else of value.

5. Axes (short-handled)

Battle-axes were popular in the early middle ages when primitive steel swords were too expensive even for many in the noble classes. Viking “berserkers” had a spine-tingling reputation for using axes to hack everyone—soldiers and innocent civilians alike—into bloody giblets. But even in the high middle ages, we see them used on battlefields as a back-up weapon for the nobility, or as a primary weapon for the conscripted peasant soldiers. Robert the Bruce famously struck Henry de Bohun at the Battle of Bannockburn with an ax—driving the blade through two iron helmets and the skull, before lodging it into the brain.

And rounding out the top ten:

6. Flails, ax handles, and other blunt objects
7. Pitchforks
8. Torches, Greek Fire, and other portable incendiary devices
9. Spears (this would have ranked #6, expect I had to factor in the Peasant’s Rebellion)
10. The Inquisition

Honorable Mention: War Horses. Heavy horse were often used to mow down opponents and break up enemy formations. However, while some people were undoubtedly killed by trampling, horses, by and large, only caused injuries, not direct death.