Testing poleaxes vs. armor

Today we take a look at how late medieval poleaxes actually interact with armor. Drawing on period manuscripts and a couple of our highly accurate reproductions we examine how these weapons were used, how they were designed to exploit aspects of medieval armor design, and what damage they commonly did to that armor. We also discuss what kinds of poleax use might cause damage to your weapon that would have to be repaired after battle -- a very common scenario. In this video I use our Knightly Poleaxe, a replica of a piece in the Wallace Collection that we were actually able to take a mold of back in the day, so it is a highly accurate reproduction, as well as our Bec de Corbyn, circa 1560.