A hurlbat (or whirlbat, whorlbat) is a weapon of unclear original definition. Older reference works refer to it largely as a type of club, either held in the hand or thrown. Modern usage appears to refer to a type of throwing-axe.

Historical references

* "Hurlebat", "Hurlebatte" and "Hurlebadde" are documented as a

by-name An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

in English

patent roll The patent rolls (Latin: ''Rotuli litterarum patentium'') are a series of administrative records compiled in the English, British and United Kingdom Chancery, running from 1201 to the present day. Description The patent rolls comprise a register ...

s as early as 1305, and are attested namely in

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Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

and

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(i.e. the historical Essex and eastern

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

) at least until the early

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Middle English Dictionary 022
hurle-bat(te
. Retrieved 2022-09-01. * About 1440-1450, the ''hurlebatte'' was mentioned in ''Jacob's Well: An English Treatise on the Cleansing of Man's Conscience'', in the context of leisurely

swordsmanship Swordsmanship or sword fighting refers to the skills and techniques used in combat and training with any type of sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to a ...

: '' eying at þe two hande swerd, at swerd & bokelere, & at two pyked staf, at þe hurlebatte ..'' * The 1538 ''Dictionary of syr

Thomas Elyot Sir Thomas Elyot (c. 149626 March 1546) was an English diplomat and scholar. He is best known as one of the first proponents of the use of the English language for literary purposes. Early life Thomas was the child of Sir Richard Elyot's firs ...

knyght'' uses "hurlebatte" to translate a Latin word, and describes a throwing/retrieving action: ''Adides, short battes of a cubyte longe and an halfe, hauynge pikes of yron in theym, and were tyed to a lyne, that whanne they were throwen, he that did cast thẽ, mought plucke them agayn vnto him, hurlebattes.'' "Adides" is a misreading or printing error of ''aclides'' (see

aklys The aklys (Latin aclys, Greek agkulis) was a Roman javelin measuring approximately 2 m (79 in, 6.6 ft) in length, thrown with the aid of a leather strap or amentum, similar to a Swiss arrow. Every soldier was issued at least two. The term also a ...

). * Thomas Blount's 1707 English dictionary ''Glossographia Anglicana Nova'' defined "whorlbat" as ''a kind of Gauntlet with Straps and leaden Plummets, uſed by the ancient Heroes in their ſolemn Games and Exerciſes.'' (i.e. a

cestus Cestus ( grc, Kεστός), in a general sense meant, for ancient Greeks and Romans, any band or tie. However, it was more frequently used to refer to: * The Girdle of Aphrodite The magical Girdle of Aphrodite or Venus (Greek: ἱμάς, '' ...

) * An 1837 edition of the Samuel Johnson dictionary simply defined "hurlbat" (or "whirlbat") as "a weapon", * The 1854 edition of John Craig's dictionary defined "hurlbat"/"whirlbat" as "an old kind of weapon". * The 1856 German-English dictionary of

Johann Gottfried Flügel Johann Gottfried Flügel (22 November 1788 – 24 June 1855) was a German lexicographer. Biography He was born at Barby, near Magdeburg. He started his career as a merchant's clerk. In 1810, he emigrated to the United States, where he engaged in b ...

defined "whirlbat" (or "hurlibat") as a

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

that is swung, such as a mace. * In 1881,

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

s derived from the by-name of 500 years ago were uncommon, and attested mainly throughout

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to the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

("Hurlbutt"), in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

("Hurlbert", "Hurlburt" and "Hurlbut"),

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

("Hurlbatt") and

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("Harlbut"). Except for Surrey, whose version is closest to the Medieval original, these regions are to the north of the name's distribution in the 14th-century. * The 1911 ''

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia ''The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia'' is one of the largest encyclopedic dictionaries of the English language. In its day it was compared favorably with the ''Oxford English Dictionary,'' and frequently consulted for more factual informati ...

'' notes it to be ''a kind of club or cudgel, so called because whirled around the head. It does not appear that such a weapon was thrown.'' Thus, in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, the term referred to an

-type spiked club attached to a string, used for throwing and perhaps as target in swordsmanship training. After 1700, however, this meaning became quickly obscure, and eventually the "hurlbat" was imagined as a bludgeoning weapon that was swung, not thrown.

References

Clubs (weapon) Blade weapons Throwing axes {{mil-hist-stub