A guisarme (sometimes gisarme, giserne or bisarme) is a

pole weapon A polearm or pole weapon is a close combat weapon in which the main fighting part of the weapon is fitted to the end of a long shaft, typically of wood, thereby extending the user's effective range and striking power. Polearms are predominantl ...

used in

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 ...

primarily between 1000 and 1400. Its origin is likely Germanic, from the Old High German , literally "weeding iron". Like many medieval polearms, the exact early form of the weapon is hard to define from literary references, and the identification of surviving weapons can be speculative.

Possible interpretations of form

Two main modern schools of thought exist: # Like most polearms the guisarme was developed by peasants by combining hand tools with long poles: in this case by putting a pruning hook onto a

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastene ...

shaft. According to Sir Guy Francis Laking, among the polearms, the guisarme was second only to the spear in importance for the medieval soldier class. In fact, it was so effective by the 13th century there was active support for its banishment from the battlefield. While early designs were simply a hook on the end of a long pole, later designs implemented a small reverse spike on the back of the blade. Eventually weapon makers incorporated the usefulness of the hook in a variety of different polearms, and ''guisarme'' became a catch-all for any weapon that included a hook on the blade. This is exemplified by the terms bill-guisarmes, voulge-guisarmes, and glaive-guisarmes. # An alternative definition is given by

Ewart Oakeshott Ronald Ewart Oakeshott (25 May 1916 – 30 September 2002) was a British illustrator, collector, and amateur historian who wrote prodigiously on medieval arms and armour. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a Founder Member of the ...

in his book ''European Weapons and Armour''. He sees the guisarme as a "crescent shaped double socketed axe" on a long shaft. His primary reason is the use of the term "giserne" and axe interchangeably for the same weapon in the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. This interpretation is also favoured by John Waldmann.

Illustrations and textual evidence

Supporting the second interpretation are the illustrations in the original manuscript of the Gawain poem which clearly show Sir Gawain with a long crescent shaped axe (see right). However, other texts from the same period draw a distinction from the axe and guisarme (Such as in

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

's '' Romaunt of the Rose'': "With swerd, or sparth (axe) or gysarme" and '' Mandeville's Travels'': "with swerds drawen and gysarmez and axes") and the use in the epic poem ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' may have been poetic license.

Olivier de la Marche Olivier de la Marche (1425–1502) was a courtier, soldier, chronicler and poet in the last decades of the independent Duchy of Burgundy. He was close to Charles the Bold, and after his death held the important position of maître d'hotel to his ...

, writing in the 15th century, describes the guisarme as "hafted combination of a dagger and a battle axe" and describes the weapon being of "great antiquity". In his novel ''Knight in Anarchy'',

George Shipway George Shipway (25 May 1908–1982) was a British author best known for his historical novels, but he also tried his hand at political satire in his book ''The Chilian Club''. Military career George Frederick Morgan Shipway was born on 25 May 1 ...

describes the process of training for a judicial duel using the guisarme, where he favours the double-socketed axe interpretation of the weapon.''Knight in Anarchy'' (1969), in the time of Stephen & Matilda. ; American title ''The Knight''

References

Polearms Medieval polearms Blade weapons {{Germany-hist-stub