Berdysch
| Berdysch | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Weapon type: | Axe |
| Designations: | Trabant ax, streliz ax, stick ax, bearded ax |
| Use: | military weapon |
| Creation time: | approx. 14th century |
| Working time: | 14.-17. Century |
| Region of origin / author: |
Russia , Russian Knjaz , Vojvoden |
| Distribution: | Russia , Europe |
| Overall length: | approx. up to 260 cm |
| Blade length: | approx. 60-75 cm |
| Blade width: | approx. 10 cm |
| Weight: | approx. 200-1300 g |
| Handle: | Wood, approx. 130-180 cm |
| Particularities: | Standard weapon of the Russian Palace Guards (Strelizen), later a second weapon of the Musketeers as a target aid |
| Lists on the subject | |
Bardiche ( russ. Бердыш, " Bardiche , Stielaxt, Bearded Ax ") is the Russian name for a long-handled ax with a large crescent-shaped ax blade , which in Scandinavia , Russia and Eastern Europe from the late Middle Ages was used.
etymology
The word Berdysch and the Engl. , French and Spanish designation bardiche are derived from the Middle Latin barducium or German barte ("[throw] ax, hatchet").
description
The Berdysch with its 60–75 cm long ax blade weighing about 3 kg on a 1.30–1.80 m high wooden shaft was intended to be a cutting and stabbing weapon on the one hand to penetrate the opponent's heavy armor with swinging blows , but could also how a lance can be used to push. There were versions with two attachments of the blade to the shaft - in the middle and at the lower end (picture) - and with only one in the middle of the back of the blade. In the late Middle Ages , the Berdysch became the preferred weapon in the palace gardens of Russian princes . During the 15th century it also spread to Sweden and was also used in the eastern areas of Poland-Lithuania . Since 1550 the Berdysch has been a distinctive feature of the Russian palace guard, the Strelizen, introduced by Ivan the Terrible . The musketeers equipped with firearms use the Berdysch as a cutting and stabbing weapon in close combat and as a storage and aiming aid for the musket . The Berdysch were used as a secondary weapon for riflemen and as a ceremonial parade weapon until the beginning of the 18th century .
For the sake of simplicity, the term “ halberd ” is often chosen as a translation for Berdysch in German, although its shape is more in line with the glaive .
gallery
Two specimens of a bardiche in the Suzdal History Museum , Russia
Book illustration of Russian Strelizos with musket, saber and Bardyschen around 1674, Alexander Wassiljewitsch Wiskowatow , 1841
Book illustration of Russian Strelizos with muskets and Bardysh around 1674, Alexander Wassiljewitsch Wiskowatow, 1899
Reenactor ( musketeer of the Swedish old blue regiment) with musket and bardiche
literature
- George Cameron Stone , Donald J. LaRocca: A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor: in All Countries and in All Times. Courier Dover Publications, 1999, ISBN 978-0-486-40726-5 .
