Standard measurements: Inches, feet, yard, meter, centimeter, kilometer, mile Lindybeige's measurements: *jumps* about this high

*"Close formation!"* Ah crap, I'm behind that guy who always swings his halberd again

Lindybeige: -Needs to demonstrate height of a weapon. -Is currently holding a long stick. -Decides to use his hand and jump. Never change.

Shoutout to the actual lizard on the corner of the wall lmao

Halberds suck, no pommel to end him rightly

I admire how he does his videos in one go and doesn't have a single cut

"Do you know how to use that?" "The pointy end goes into the other man."

I'm imagining Lloyd defending himself with that giant pencil of his. By far the most dangerous and versatile weapon in his home.

“I’m off that guy’s Christmas list straight away.”

Watch now "The Mundane Etruscans", from the same producers of "Vikings: Just A Regular Folk Actually" and the critically aclaimed "There's Nothing Really Special About the Katana". And how can I get my hands on that "sword against fish" manual? I need it for reasons.

Halberd = an axey spear

Sword against fish is my preferred choice for armed combat. I'll take the sword, that fish doesnt stand a chance. Especially if I'm on land.

The kids at your school fought multi-person battles in formation? This explains so much.

You have missed the most important part of Medieval battles, go for the legs! The reverse cut is effective at hamstringing the man in front of you. The skeletons at Visby show this technique was used by professional soldiers against poorly trained militia. Many of the skeletons have visible damage to the legs. Greaves were shin armour. the back of he leg was not protected well.

"Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab... He's very likely to be killed." we need a Lindy out-of-context reel

"HEY! IT'S CHRISTMAS!" Stabs fallen opponent... Remind me not to drink with Mr Beige come yuletide...

"If I decide to swing my halberd about in big, sweeping movements..." *Chivalry vanguard PTSD intensifies*

actually, the axe bit of haleberds were used in camp, to cut up the onions. The long shaft helped with the stinging eyes and crying - especially if the did it outside when it was blowing a fair bit.

Rewatching this again, 6 years later. Being "off that guy's christmas list" is something I've been saying for years after watching this video. It just sort of got stuck in my mind after hearing you say it. Cheers, Lloyd. You rock :)

I think your theory that halberds is spot on. Historically, the primary weapon is a spear like object in most scenarios, and makes sense for a halberd to actually be less axe and more spear. So if someone figured they needed to optimize the point bit of a spear to poke at armor, making it more nail like than blade like with extra mass behind it, it makes sense said someone could go "hold on, I can make the extra mass into a blade hook shape so it can still cut just in case, much more uself than a simple ball". It is basically the unholy love child of a bill, an axe and a spear all in one. It is not worth the extra effort and weight if you're not fighting too heavily armored people fighting in perhaps less professional manner, simple spear more than good enough, but when you add professional formations, cavalry and better gear, it makes it worth the changes. I think the angle of the halberd axe head is part for what you say, and also just a natural improvement on regular axe heads. It is just a better angle for fighting really. Goes better around a shield or other obstacles, hooks better, and if my toilet sitting thinking is right it is also more forgiving with the lever mechanics of an axe.

"And perhaps fall forwards onto his face, then loads of you could thrust at him from all sides" That's where I couldn't take all the thrusting anymore and finally burst into laughter. Relief, what a powerful emotion.

Ah the classic lindybeige "I've digressed slightly " just past the halfway mark ...you sir are an exquisitely entertaining madman

Other channels like Skall don't really talk about battlefield scenarios that much. Imagining actually being one of the soldiers in these scenarios sounds absolutely terrifying.

Once saw some pontifical swiss guard men near the entrance of the teutonic cemetery in the vatican and holy shit their halberds are indeed huge

Stick the pointy end into the other guy.

Last christmas my uncle yelled "It's christmas" and stabbed me with his fork. I still have mark on my arm.

19:00 Halberds (Hellebarden) also are very useful for tearing down the enemy shield, or even ripping it out of his hand!

Couple of things..... With a halberd you don't need much of swing to generate an incredible amount of force. 45 degrees is excessive. 25 degrees is excessive. Putting your body into a move your can get incredible power from 5 degrees of motion or even less. More than enough to knock someone out of formation. The angle of the blade also maximises the force especially when swung in small arcs. I believe that halberds were used in combination with pikes. And against pikes. A blow coming down but slightly angled to the left of right with a slight twist as the bit of the axe contacts the shaft of a pike can take it off in one blow. I should do a video on that...... From my experence in recreating battles the guys in the front row tend to not be attacking but mostly defending. Its the ones in the second and third row that do the killing of the guys in the opposing front row. Much easier to snipe with a pointy halberd or pike from the safety of the second or third row.

It's *this* long. They're *that* long. The shaft was *this* tall... Accuracy be damned, what history needs is enthusiasm!

I don't know why I love these videos but I've been here for 4 hours having never been interested in this type of stuff before 3 pm today.

Here's my uneducated gut impression: Imagine having to design a polearm specifically to defeat full plate armor. Wouldn't you end up with something substantially similar to a halberd? You've got a main spike which, everything else aside, makes it useful as a spear. But that, by itself, can only do so much against armor because you have to aim your thrusts precisely against moving targets. So you also want tools that work toward immobilizing the enemy. The backward angled blade is good for trying to hamstring the enemy on the back step after a thrust, one of the few vulnerable areas of full plate. Might still trip him even if you don't sever a tendon. The fluke on the other side being good for delivering a sharp concussion through armor. Might cause a shallow flesh wound, but most halberd flukes don't look long enough to pierce very deep. You might use this to stun the enemy if he's grounded but still mobile. Then, there's a sort of fork that seems to exist between the top of the blade and the spike, which might be useful for helping to pin a grounded opponent. Drive the spike into the ground, hooking the blade over an arm or leg, and your fellows can finish him.

Brilliant insight about the use of halberd. I would add something even i'm not sure about this : there's numerous examples in Renaissance of something called "half armour" that may have been used by professional foot soldiers, and that protect mainly the front body and not so much the rear. Because it's cheaper than full plate armour, and its quite relevant when you fight in tight formations where the enemy isn't supposed to attack from behind. In this case the "pulling strike" you describe after a missed thrust would have been especially effective, and make me think that halberds may have been developed at first as a mean of striking a foe from behind when you're standing in front of him.

Its a poke-in-the-eye-from-2-meters-away device

Just one remark: most of the halberds and polearms had "quadratic" shafts, not rounded ones. That was to keep the cutting edge at the right angle, because rounded one might easier move in your hand to the sides while in combat. It was also useful when having a helmet, when your visibility is limited, and you can also check if your halberd is at the right angle just at looking your hand and seeing if you are holding the shaft in a right way. About great courses plus: I wanted to register, but my card wasn't accepted, so I sent them an email, and they said that currently international payments outside of the USA are not accepted and that they will fix it in the near future. Too bad because that portal seems very interesting and they offer such an interesting courses!

I remember an excellent discussion while watching Lord of the Rings where we decided that halberds are spears but sexy.

My father now nearly 100 is Swiss and rode horses and he explained the shape as it was told to him by his father. The classic halberd has three distinct parts (point, hook, axe) each for a different purpose and used together by a team of foot soldiers against cavalry. While pikeman keep cavalry at bay. One or more soldiers uses the hook part to hook into the armor plate or chainmail of a mounted knight, then another uses the point/spear end to jab the horse typically in the flank so that it rears or bolts and in so doing the knight who is held by the guys who hooked him, is pulled from his horse. Once on the ground the axe portion on that 6+ foot shaft is swung down in a high arc down on the prone knight with enough resulting force due to the length to cleave through the knights armor usually at the head to kill him. The three parts are on each halberd so the soldiers can work in teams with a common weapon so any of them can do any of the three functions.

22 minutes of lloyd? YES PLEASE

xD lmfao "A man falls face first onto the ground in front of you - the guys to either side of you "Heyyy its Christmas" have a stab"

22:05 - the bladed part of the halberd is for the short draw. The weight and leverage supply all the force necessary along the blade and the draw supplies the cut (as opposed to a much less effective chop). In the situation shown, all the halberd wielder has to do, to position the edge of the blade against your neck, is to twist the halberd. Padded or quilted armour will stop a chopping action but not a cutting action or draw - which would be done on contact. The position does open you up to attack from one of the men to the side while limiting your mobility and "pinning" your sword in a sustained block. What people forget about bladed weapons is how much more dangerous they are when drawn. One does not chop pieces off a roast when carving. One, instead, draws the blade to make the cleanest, most efficient cut. When swinging a bladed weapon, the secret to a deep cut is in the drawing of the blade or the speed at which one pulls the pommel back to oneself as the blade's momentum is absorbed by the target. One really nasty thing about halberds and poleaxes is the hooked blade design - equally good for taking a knight off his horse or severing the spinal chord between the neck and the skull if an opponent is foolish enough to step inside the blade prematurely and either must backpedal when faced by a spike from the rank behind you or gets it in the back of the neck if your unit suddenly decides to fall back at just that moment. Of course, all that plate is about stopping bladed weapons but is vulnerable, via the chinks to a long thin spike. Quilted armour is good so stop a chop and, to some degree, a spike, but is vulnerable to a drawn cutting action, particularly from a properly stropped blade. In this context, the Halberd seems to be designed to exploit the weaknesses of both armour types.

17:20 I keep imagining a bunch of chavs going "U wot m8?! Wot! Wot! Wot!"

came for the halberd, stayed for the beige tie

You make that weapon sound so dangerous. I thought that the weapons of the common footmen were desinged to be ineffective so that sword-wielding heros could shine on the battle field and lay many enemies.

-"Stop swinging your halberd please, you're getting in our way" -"haha axehead goes swing swing"

I have wondered if Halberds were principally use against horses, not their riders. If the blade or spike were used on the horses un-armoured belly or inside of legs is could unseat the rider. Not nice, but war is war.

I actually loled at that 'i'm right off his christmas list' remark. Earned my sub right there.

Maybe the axe part is to hook and pull people down? It is nice to get knights of their high horses...

Lindybeige's jump: measurable? In inches probably not, in awesomeness? Also, probably not

Halberds were very high like this "AAAAARGH" okay totally clear now

Where can I read about sword vs fish duels?

This isnt what dark souls taught me

Watched this years ago, and so far, I never heard anybody else talking about that particular property of halberds. I really like you reasoning about this like you do, and I really like the idea you came up with. Makes a lot of sense to me. Yet I hope that I will find anybody giving actual evidence that your idea is correct. Kinda frustrating that we can't verify it (or dismiss it).

"If I go 'aha!' Then... I'm off that guy's Christmas list straight away." 3rd time watching this particular video. Refreshing knowledge while getting the occasional unforced laugh is just what makes LindyBeige utterly superb.

Someone buy this guy a halberd!

Almost all swiss art of the period shows halberd cutting done in an overhead fashion, no need to bring it back further than vertical.

Impressive you can record this long a video without apparent use of a script.

The way Lindy narrates history makes me want to watch the next video and the next regardless of whether I'm interested in the topic or not. Beautiful job my dear sir! 👏👏👏👏

Halberd's my anti-zombie weapon of choice. Yes. I have a folding model in the trunk of my car.

Meanwhile in Dark Souls, people are spinning with halberds.

“Sword against fish” - classic Lindybeige. 😊

This guy's great, and another example of what a real KZfaq channel should be about: fun, informative and genuinely engaging. Cheers mate 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I would watch an entire series of Lindy narrating over other documentaries and getting wayyy off topic occasionally, as he is one to do.

You know what? I don't think Lindybeige uses a script for any of his videos. If so, his knowledge of these topics is impressively comprehensive

I'm already impressed by how you're talking about a single topic 22 minutes straight without much repetition or script, then you hit the sponsor section at the exact middle of that. Damn.

KZfaq works in mysterious ways. I keep getting recommended your videos from 4-5-6 years ago and I like it.

You must really be looking forward to christmas.

maybe a point for a next video: why werent shields used anymore in the late medieval period?

I wish lindybeige was my uncle finally all the family meetings would be interesting.

I found your channel a few days ago and I am really enjoying it. Especially the on location bits, though the weapon laden living quarters videos do have their own charm.

Halberds: Basically a more-advanced spear.

Do all Englishmen say ah ha when sword fighting? (like in Monty python and the Holy Grail)

"I've got a theory, and I'm going to explain" is a strong contender for channel catchphrase.

Hi mate! I just love your delivery ! extremely watchable chap! Cheers and thank you for your work! All the best!

"I'm off that guys christmas list" I don't know why I found that so hilarious. I've never heard that before.

I imagine the halberd to be derived from the billhook, if you look at collections of polearms there is a bit of a progression from one to the other.

I think your an excellent instructor not boring at all.All your videos are well thought out and it shows.

During my time travels, I was told that the halberd was mostly used against cavalry. Also, with the point being quite long and usually flattened, you can imagine this like a sword, the point is best used with the blade vertical. If a horse runs in to an angled horizontal blade, it would probably shatter the blade. So keeping it vertically is important. The axe blade part is nothing but a counterweight that helps keeping the blade oriented vertical. If not by gravity then by helping the wearer see the orientation.

Finally I can comment on the video & halberd fighting with a little practical experience as I am currently studying and practicing Joachim Meyer's 1570/60 treatises. Btw: Halberd rocks!! :-) He bases the use of the halberd ("Hellepart") on his recommended style of the quarterstaff ("Halbe Stangen") which here is used mainly for thrusting (& beforehand knocking the opponent's weapon out of center). The spike is used for "fierce" :-) thrusting moves towards the face and other unarmoured parts. Hook and blade of the halberd are used for hooking (uh?!) and slashing limbs and neck/face (in the latter case the spike will probably hit your foes ear - you can still withdraw and stab his face though) The upper joint between spike and blade is used to catch and guide the opponent's point out of its path. The hook in particular is used for nasty hacking/piercing blows from an upper guard, the blade then follows from the resulting lower guard. Group fights/halberd and later pike formation fighting would naturally result in what you described in this video. Stabbing, pushing/drawing the oncoming halberds out of line(/the wielders hands), hooking and drawing the opponent towards your line, so he could be stabbed by your neighbours (oh hey, it's Christmas!) And please do not forget the use of halberds against cavalry attacks! Meyer and others do not describe such things as wearing the wooden shaft with the blade. From my point of view, you clearly would not care about the strength of your foes weapon but concentrate on not getting stabbed in your face/stab him faster ;-)

I kept waiting for the verb "rake" in regard to the use of the angled/concave axe heads on halberds. Had this been my video, I would have said "raked" all the time. Contextually.

This was truly fascinating, and I had wondered similar points too! Thank you for sharing your insights! And the xmas list comment cracked me up! :) Addendum: and the guide to fighting with fish concept.

Love hearing about groups of tightly packed guys thrusting and having a go at each others' weapons.

Watching Lloyd talk about pointy things for 22 minutes? Sign me up!

Why are you "chopping" in such an odd way? While pretending you're in a line, lift it straight up and then chop, don't bring it down flat behind you. Sure a 180 degree swing can provide more grunt, but that in no way means a 90 degree swing won't provide any power. Then you could go crazy and try for a 120 degree swing, or 110, or 125, or 105, etc. But chopping with the ax does not require a full 180 degree swing every single time.

Amazing video! I’m considering getting the great courses plus after hearing about the massive amounts of content!

The shape of the chopping part also helps keep calvary from running all the way down the spear, a kind of stopper to help hold the line

There is a belief by some historians that the axe was mostly used for hooking shields to clear the way for other soldiers and possibly to unhorse opposing cavalry. Much like you I believe the Halberd was primarily a spear or pike that had additional utility that a trained unit could utilize well.

Wait, there is a treatise on how to fight with a sword against someone wielding a fish? Is it at least a swordfish?

My father has purchased at least a dozen Great Course videos. While I haven't watched them all, or even most of them, those that I have seen are very well produced and informative.

have not done great courses/// but your histy vids draw me back again all the time

My favorite melee weapon, thank you for making this. Halberds and pikes are totally underappreciated in modern times as the amazing weapons they were, all you see are swords, axes, bows, and maybe a simple spear if you're watching something depicting the bronze age.

Lindy Beige has clearly never played as Guan Yu.

@ Lindybeige , I believe the striking is done from top to down, not back to front. This means, there would be no hitting someone behind. The length of the pole acts like leverage, increasing the force of the axehead even if only half way swung. So I believe they'd hold the halberd only in the straight upward position, if my words are enough to picture that.

Very informative video. I always used to think that's the point of having and Axe head and a Hook on a spear like weapon which is used primarily for stabbing. But as you explained that their shape was a assymetric concave hook like used for Draw-cuts and hooking the enemy, now it totally makes sense.

I think it's hilarious that everything about Lindybeige is very traditional and medieval yet the wall art behind him is blatantly modern in style. It almost seems like it's there on purpose for the sake of irony/contrast.

A 22 minute video about Halberds? Are you trying to seduce me? It's working.

I hadn't considered the chopping back thing. But it makes a lot of sense. It also explains some of features on some halberds I've seen.

Hello Lindybeige, I just found your channel and I must say thank you for making great content.

Gotta check out that sword versus fish manual he spoke of.

Hi Lloyd, Thank you for your recommendation for the great courses plus. I signed up a month ago and have watched about a dozen courses, often having it on in the background. Great fun. Then today there were a few issues with my account and the lovely people at TGC+ got back to me with: "Thank you for contacting The Great Courses Plus! Currently we are unable to process transactions with billing addresses outside of North America. We are working on resolving this and should be able accept international transactions during the first few months of 2017 Your Great Courses Plus Customer Care Team.''. The bit I find funny is that I live on the coast by Newcastle, and given that you've mentioned local landmarks (the Baltic, Beamish etc...) I take it you live here too. So the service you're sponsoring isn't actually available outside of North America... or even where you live. Funny old world innit.

Lindybeige you look like Graham Chapman from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Brilliant.

Great observations, in particular the back step dragging/catching motion in formation fighting, the effectiveness of that isn't hard to imagine. The concave styles would also somewhat prevent over penetration by catching at head of the axe point. You can really see why they were so effective, providing the protection against cavalry that a spear provides, while being tailored to counter other spearman units also. Interesting stuff.