![Various Indo-Persian maces](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Various_Indo-Persian_maces.jpg)
A mace is a blunt
weapon
A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...
, a type of
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 ...
or
virge
The S3 ViRGE (Video and Rendering Graphics Engine) graphics chipset was one of the first 2D/ 3D accelerators designed for the mass market.
Introduced in 1995 by then graphics powerhouse S3, Inc., the ViRGE was S3's first foray into 3D-graphics. ...
that uses a heavy head on the end of a handle to deliver powerful
strikes. A mace typically consists of a strong, heavy, wooden or metal shaft, often reinforced with metal, featuring a head made of stone, bone, copper, bronze, iron, or steel.
The head of a military mace can be shaped with flanges or knobs to allow greater penetration of plate armour. The length of maces can vary considerably. The maces of foot soldiers were usually quite short (two or three feet, or sixty to ninety centimetres). The maces of
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
men were longer and thus better suited for blows delivered from horseback. Two-handed maces could be even larger.
Maces are rarely used today for actual combat, but many government bodies (for instance, the
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England.
The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...
and the
U.S. Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...
),
universities
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
and other institutions have
ceremonial mace
A ceremonial mace is a highly ornamented staff of metal or wood, carried before a sovereign or other high officials in civic ceremonies by a mace-bearer, intended to represent the official's authority. The mace, as used today, derives from the or ...
s and continue to display them as symbols of authority. They are often paraded in academic, parliamentary or civic rituals and processions.
Etymology
The Middle English word "mace" comes from the French "masse" (short for "Masse d'armes") meaning ‘large hammer’, a hammer with a heavy mass at the end.
Development history
Prehistory
![Samotovac earthenware mace](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Samotovac_earthenware_mace.jpg)
The mace was developed during the
Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories coin ...
from the simple
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 ...
, by adding sharp spikes of
flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...
or
obsidian
Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock.
Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...
.
In Europe, an elaborately carved ceremonial flint mace head was one of the artifacts discovered in excavations of the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
mound of
Knowth
Knowth (; ga, Cnóbha) is a Neolithic passage grave and an ancient monument of the World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne located 8.4 km west of Drogheda in Ireland's valley of the River Boyne. It is the largest passage grave of the Brú ...
in Ireland, and
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
archaeology cites numerous finds of perforated mace heads.
In ancient
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, stone mace heads were first used nearly eight millennia ago. The others known were disc maces with oddly formed stones mounted perpendicularly to their handle. The
Narmer Palette
The Narmer Palette, also known as the Great Hierakonpolis Palette or the Palette of Narmer, is a significant Egyptian archeological find, dating from about the 31st century BC, belonging, at least nominally, to the category of cosmetic palettes. ...
shows a king swinging a mace. See the articles on the
Narmer Macehead
The Narmer macehead is an ancient Egyptian decorative stone mace head. It was found in the “main deposit” in the temple area of the ancient Egyptian city of Nekhen ( Hierakonpolis) by James Quibell in 1898. It is dated to the Early Dynastic ...
and the
Scorpion Macehead
The Scorpion macehead (also known as the ''Major Scorpion macehead'') is a decorated ancient Egyptian mace (bludgeon), macehead found by United Kingdom, British archeologists James E. Quibell and Frederick W. Green (Egyptologist), Frederick W. Gr ...
for examples of decorated maces inscribed with the names of kings.
![Moche stone mace-heads](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Moche_stone_mace-heads.jpg)
The problem with early maces was that their stone heads shattered easily and it was difficult to fix the head to the wooden handle reliably. The Egyptians attempted to give them a disk shape in the predynastic period (about 3850–3650 BC) in order to increase their impact and even provide some cutting capabilities, but this seems to have been a short-lived improvement.
![Mace head MET vs1985 356 24](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Mace_head_MET_vs1985_356_24.jpg)
A rounded pear form of mace head known as a "piriform" replaced the disc mace in the Naqada II period of pre-dynastic Upper Egypt (3600–3250 BC) and was used throughout the Naqada III period (3250–3100 BC). Similar mace heads were also used in Mesopotamia around 2450–1900 BC. On a Sumerian Clay tablet written by the scribe Gar.Ama, the title Lord of the Mace is listed in the year 3100 BC. The Assyrians used maces probably about nineteenth century BC and in their campaigns; the maces were usually made of stone or marble and furnished with gold or other metals, but were rarely used in battle unless fighting heavily armoured infantry.
An important, later development in mace heads was the use of metal for their composition. With the advent of copper mace heads, they no longer shattered and a better fit could be made to the wooden club by giving the eye of the mace head the shape of a cone and using a tapered handle.
The Shardanas or warriors from
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
who fought for
Ramses II
Ramesses II ( egy, rꜥ-ms-sw ''Rīʿa-məsī-sū'', , meaning "Ra is the one who bore him"; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is often regarded as t ...
against the Hittites were armed with maces consisting of wooden sticks with bronze heads. Many bronze statuettes of the times show Sardinian warriors carrying swords, bows and original maces.
Ancient history
Persians
The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian.
...
used a variety of maces and fielded large numbers of heavily armoured and armed cavalry (see
Cataphract
A cataphract was a form of armored heavy cavalryman that originated in Persia and was fielded in ancient warfare throughout Eurasia and Northern Africa.
The English word derives from the Greek ' (plural: '), literally meaning "armored" or ...
). For a heavily armed Persian
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
, a mace was as effective as a sword or
battle axe
A battle axe (also battle-axe, battle ax, or battle-ax) is an axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were specialized versions of utility axes. Many were suitable for use in one hand, while others were larger and were deployed two-ha ...
. In fact,
Shahnameh
The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,00 ...
has many references to heavily armoured knights facing each other using maces, axes, and swords. The enchanted talking mace
Sharur
Sharur ( ) is a city in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. It is the administrative centre of the Sharur District. The city is located 66 km northwest of Nakhchivan city, on the Sharur plain.
History
In a manuscript of the 16t ...
made its first appearance in Sumerian/Akkadian mythology during the epic of
Ninurta.
The
Indian epics
Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called ''Kavya'' (or ''Kāvya''; Sanskrit: काव्य, IAST: ''kāvyá''). The ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata'', which were originally composed in ...
''
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...
'' and ''
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...
'' describe the extensive use of the ''
gada'' in ancient
Indian warfare as gada-yuddha or 'mace combat'.
The ancient
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
did not make wide use of maces, probably because of the influence of armour, and due to the nature of the Roman infantry's fighting style which involved the ''
Pilum
The ''pilum'' (; plural ''pila'') was a javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about long overall, consisting of an iron shank about in diameter and long with a pyramidal head, attached to a wooden shaft ...
'' (spear) and the ''
Gladius
''Gladius'' () is a Latin word meaning "sword" (of any type), but in its narrow sense it refers to the sword of ancient Roman foot soldiers. Early ancient Roman swords were similar to those of the Greeks, called '' xiphe'' (plural; singular ''xi ...
'' (short sword used in a stabbing fashion), though auxiliaries from
Syria Palestina
Syria Palaestina (literally, "Palestinian Syria";Trevor Bryce, 2009, ''The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia''Roland de Vaux, 1978, ''The Early History of Israel'', Page 2: "After the revolt of Bar Cochba in 135 ...
were armed with clubs and maces at the battles of Immae and Emesa in 272 AD. They proved highly effective against the heavily armoured horsemen of Palmyra.
Post classical history
Western Europe
![Drevnosti RG v3 ill082 - Pernath and Shestopiors](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Drevnosti_RG_v3_ill082_-_Pernath_and_Shestopiors.jpg)
During 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 ...
metal armour such as
mail
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...
protected against the blows of edged weapons. Solid metal maces and
war hammer
A war hammer (French: ''martel-de-fer'', "iron hammer") is a weapon that was used by both foot soldiers and cavalry. It is a very old weapon and gave its name, owing to its constant use, to Judah Maccabee, a 2nd-century BC Jewish rebel, and to Ch ...
s proved able to inflict damage on well armoured knights, as the force of a blow from a mace is great enough to cause damage without penetrating the armour. Though iron became increasingly common, copper and bronze were also used, especially in iron-deficient areas.
One example of a mace capable of penetrating armour is the flanged mace. The
flange
A flange is a protruded ridge, lip or rim (wheel), rim, either external or internal, that serves to increase shear strength, strength (as the flange of an iron beam (structure), beam such as an I-beam or a T-beam); for easy attachment/transfer of ...
s allow it to dent or penetrate thick
armour
Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...
. Flange maces did not become popular until after knobbed maces. Although there are some references to flanged maces (''bardoukion'') as early as the Byzantine Empire c. 900 it is commonly accepted that the flanged mace did not become popular in Europe until the 12th century, when it was concurrently developed in Russia and Mid-west Asia.
Maces, being simple to make, cheap, and straightforward in application, were quite common weapons.
It is popularly believed that maces were employed by the clergy in warfare to avoid shedding blood (''sine effusione sanguinis''). The evidence for this is sparse and appears to derive almost entirely from the depiction of Bishop
Odo of Bayeux
Odo of Bayeux (died 1097), Earl of Kent and Bishop of Bayeux, was the maternal half-brother of William the Conqueror, and was, for a time, second in power after the King of England.
Early life
Odo was the son of William the Conqueror's mother ...
wielding a club-like mace at the
Battle of Hastings
The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William the Conqueror, William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godw ...
in the
Bayeux Tapestry, the idea being that he did so to avoid either shedding blood or bearing the arms of war.
In the 1893 work ''Arms and Armour in Antiquity and the Middle Ages'', Paul Lacombe and Charles Boutell state that the mace was chiefly used for blows struck upon the head of an enemy.
Eastern Europe
![MWP Buzdygan Radziwillow](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/MWP_Buzdygan_Radziwillow.JPG)
Maces were very common in eastern Europe, especially medieval
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
,
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, and
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. Eastern European maces often had pear shaped heads. These maces were also used by the Moldavian ruler
Stephen the Great in some of his wars (see
Bulawa
The bulava or buława ( Polish spelling: ''buława''; Ukrainian spelling: ''булава'' 'bula'va'' is a ceremonial mace or baton or sceptre.
Poland, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Historically the ''buława'' ...
).
The mace is also the favourite weapon of
Prince Marko
Marko Mrnjavčević ( sr-cyr, Марко Мрњавчевић, ; – 17 May 1395) was the ''de jure'' Serbian king from 1371 to 1395, while he was the ''de facto'' ruler of territory in western Macedonia centered on the town of Prilep. He ...
, a hero in
South Slavic epic poetry.
The
pernach was a type of flanged mace developed since the 12th century in the region of
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
, and later widely used throughout the whole of
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. The name comes from the Slavic word ''pero'' (''перо'') meaning
feather
Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and a premier ...
, reflecting the form of pernach that resembled a fletched
arrow
An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
. Pernachs were the first form of the flanged mace to enjoy a wide usage. It was well suited to penetrate plate armour and
chain mail
Chain mail (properly called mail or maille but usually called chain mail or chainmail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common military use between the 3rd century BC and ...
. In the later times it was often used as a symbol of power by the military leaders in
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
.
Pre-Columbian America
The cultures of pre-Columbian America used clubs and maces extensively. The warriors of the
Moche state and the
Inca Empire
The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...
used maces with bone, stone or copper heads and wooden shafts.
Asia
Maces in Asia were most often steel clubs with a spherical head. In Persia, the "Gorz" (spherical-head mace) served as a primary combat arm across many eras, most often being used by heavy infantry or Cataphracts. In India a form of these clubs was used by wrestlers to exercise the arms and shoulders. They have been known as
gada since ancient times.
During the Mughal era, the flanged mace of Persia was introduced to South Asia. The term ''shishpar'' is a Persian phrase which literally translates to "six-wings", to refer to the (often) six flanges on the mace. The shishpar mace was introduced by the
Delhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526). and continued to be utilized until the 18th century.
File:Indian shishpar (flanged mace).jpg, Indian shishpar (flanged mace), all steel construction, with eight knife edged, hinged flanges, 18th-19th century, 26 inches long.
File:Indian shishpar (flanged mace) 3.jpg, Indian shishpar (flanged mace), steel with solid shaft and eight flanged head, 24in.
File:Indian tabar-shishpar 4.jpg, Indian (Deccan) tabar-shishpar, an extremely rare combination tabar axe and shishpar eight flanged mace, steel with hollow shaft, 21.75 in. 17th to 18th century.
Modern history
Trench raiding club
Trench raiding clubs were homemade melee weapons used by both the Allies and the Central Powers during World War I. Clubs were used during nighttime trench raiding expeditions as a quiet and effective way of killing or wounding enemy soldiers. ...
s used during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
were modern variations on the medieval mace. They were homemade
mêlée weapons used by both the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
and the
Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
.
Clubs
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 ...
were used during night time
trench raiding
Trench raiding was a feature of trench warfare which developed during World War I. It was the practice of making small scale night-time surprise attacks on enemy positions.
Overview
Typically, raids were carried out by small teams of men who ...
expeditions as a quiet and effective way of killing or wounding enemy soldiers.
Makeshift maces were also found in the possession of some
football hooligans
Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting, constitutes violence and other destructive behaviours perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism normally involves ...
in the 1980s.
In
2020 China–India skirmishes personnel of
People's Liberation Army Ground Force
The People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF; ) is the land-based service branch of the People's Liberation Army and the largest and oldest branch of the entire Chinese armed forces. The PLAGF can trace its lineage from 1927 as the Chine ...
were seen using makeshift maces (batons wrapped in barbed wire and clubs embedded with nails).
Ceremonial use
Maces have had a role in ceremonial practices over time, including some still in use today.
Parliamentary maces
![RoyalSocMace20040420](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/RoyalSocMace20040420.jpg)
The
ceremonial mace
A ceremonial mace is a highly ornamented staff of metal or wood, carried before a sovereign or other high officials in civic ceremonies by a mace-bearer, intended to represent the official's authority. The mace, as used today, derives from the or ...
is a short, richly ornamented staff often made of silver, the upper part of which is furnished with a knob or other head-piece and decorated with a coat of arms. The ceremonial mace was commonly borne before eminent
ecclesiastical corporations,
magistrates
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
, and academic bodies as a mark and symbol of jurisdiction.
Ceremonial mace
A ceremonial mace is a highly ornamented staff of metal or wood, carried before a sovereign or other high officials in civic ceremonies by a mace-bearer, intended to represent the official's authority. The mace, as used today, derives from the or ...
s are important in many
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
s following the
Westminster system. They are carried in by the
sergeant-at-arms or some other mace-bearers and displayed on the clerks' table while parliament is in session to show that a parliament is fully constituted. They are removed when the session ends. The mace is also removed from the table when a new
speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
is being elected to show that parliament is not ready to conduct business.
Ecclesiastical maces
Maces may also be carried before clergy members in church processions, although in the case of the Roman Catholic pope and cardinals, they have largely been replaced with
processional crosses
A processional cross is a crucifix or cross which is carried in Christian processions. Such crosses have a long history: the Gregorian mission of Saint Augustine of Canterbury to England carried one before them "like a standard", according to ...
.
Parade maces
![Buława Rydza-Śmigłego](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Bu%C5%82awa_Rydza-%C5%9Amig%C5%82ego.JPG)
Maces are also used as a parade item, rather than a tool of war, notably in military bands. Specific movements of the mace from the
drum major will signal specific orders to the band they lead. The mace can signal anything from a step-off to a halt, from the commencement of playing to the cut off.
University maces
![Ustmuseummemmorabilia13](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Ustmuseummemmorabilia13.JPG)
University maces are employed in a manner similar to Parliamentary maces. They symbolize the authority and independence of a chartered university and the authority vested in the
provost. They are typically carried in at the beginning of a convocation ceremony and are often less than half a meter high.
Heraldic use
Like many weapons from feudal times, maces have been used in heraldic blazons as either a
charge
Charge or charged may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* '' Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary
Music
* ''Charge'' (David Ford album)
* ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album)
* ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...
on a shield or other item, or as external ornamentation.
Thus, in France:
* the city of
Cognac
Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime.
Cog ...
(in the
Charente
Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; oc, Charanta ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, an ...
département): ''Argent on a horse sable harnessed or a man proper vested azure with a cloak gules holding a mace, on a chief France modern''
* the city of
Colmar
Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is ...
(in
Haut-Rhin
Haut-Rhin (, ; Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; german: Oberelsass, ) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine. Its name means ''Upper Rhine''. Haut-Rhin is the ...
): ''per pale gules and vert a mace per bend sinister or.'' Three maces, probably a canting device (''Kolben'' means mace in German, cfr. ''Columbaria'' the Latin name of the city) appear on a 1214 seal. The arms in a 15th-century stained-glass window show the mace per bend on argent.
* the duke of
Retz
Retz is a town with a population of 4,168 in the Hollabrunn District in Lower Austria, Austria.
Geography
Retz is located in the north western Weinviertel in Lower Austria. The municipality's area covers 45,01 km². 11.83 percent of this ...
(a
pairie
The Peerage of France (french: Pairie de France) was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 in the Middle Ages.
The prestigious title and position of Peer of France (french: Pair de France, links=no) was ...
created in 1581 for Albert de Gondy) had ''Or two maces or clubs per saltire sable, bound gules''
* the
Garde des sceaux
The title keeper of the seals or equivalent is used in several contexts, denoting the person entitled to keep and authorize use of the great seal of a given country. The title may or may not be linked to a particular cabinet or ministerial offic ...
('keeper of the seals', still the formal title of the French Republic's Minister of Justice) places behind the shield, two silver and gilded maces in saltire, and the achievement is surmounted by a mortier (magistrate's hat)
See also
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Barsom
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Bulawa
The bulava or buława ( Polish spelling: ''buława''; Ukrainian spelling: ''булава'' 'bula'va'' is a ceremonial mace or baton or sceptre.
Poland, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Historically the ''buława'' ...
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Ceremonial maces in the British Isles
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Gada (weapon)
The gada (Sanskrit: गदा ''gadā'', Kannada: ''ಗದೆ'', Telugu: ''గద'', Tamil: ''கதை'', Malay: ''gedak'', Old Tagalog: ''batuta'') is a mallet or blunt mace from the Indian subcontinent. Made either of wood or metal, it consis ...
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Flail (weapon)
A flail is a weapon consisting of a striking head attached to a handle by a flexible rope, strap, or chain. The chief tactical virtue of the flail was its capacity to strike around a defender's shield or parry. Its chief liability was a lack o ...
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Kanabō
The (literally "metal stick" or "metal club") is a spiked or studded two-handed war club used in feudal Japan by samurai. Other related weapons of this type are the ''nyoibo'', ''konsaibo'', , and ''ararebo''.Mol, Serge (2003). ''Classical we ...
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Horseman's pick
The horseman's pick was a weapon of Middle Eastern origin used by cavalry during the Middle Ages in Europe and the Middle East. This was a type of war hammer that had a very long spike on the reverse of the hammer head. Usually, this spike was sl ...
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Mace of the United States House of Representatives
The Mace of the United States House of Representatives, also called the Mace of the Republic, is a ceremonial mace and one of the oldest symbols of the United States government. It symbolizes the governmental authority of the United States, and ...
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Morning star (weapon)
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Shillelagh (club)
A shillelagh ( ; ga, sail éille or , "thonged willow") is a wooden walking stick and club or cudgel, typically made from a stout knotty blackthorn stick with a large knob at the top. It is associated with Ireland and Irish folklore.
Other ...
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War hammer
A war hammer (French: ''martel-de-fer'', "iron hammer") is a weapon that was used by both foot soldiers and cavalry. It is a very old weapon and gave its name, owing to its constant use, to Judah Maccabee, a 2nd-century BC Jewish rebel, and to Ch ...
Notes
References
* ''Dictionary of Medieval Knighthood and Chivalry'' by Bradford Broughton (NY,
Greenwood Press
Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG), also known as ABC-Clio/Greenwood (stylized ABC-CLIO/Greenwood), is an educational and academic publisher (middle school through university level) which is today part of ABC-Clio. Established in 1967 as Gr ...
, 1986, )
* ''Hafted Weapons in Medieval and Renaissance Europe: The Evolution of European Staff Weapons Between 1200 and 1650'' by John Waldman (
Brill
Brill may refer to:
Places
* Brielle (sometimes "Den Briel"), a town in the western Netherlands
* Brill, Buckinghamshire, a village in England
* Brill, Cornwall, a small village to the west of Constantine, Cornwall, UK
* Brill, Wisconsin, an un ...
, 2005, )
* ''Medieval Military Technology'' by
Kelly DeVries
Kelly Robert DeVries (born December 23, 1956) is an American historian specializing in the warfare of the Middle Ages. He is often featured as an expert commentator on television documentaries. He is professor of history at Loyola University Mary ...
(Broadview Press, 1998, 0-921149-74-3)
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mace (Club)
Clubs (weapon)