Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 3).djvu/152

 the nature of the glaive, instead of one adapted for stabbing and thrusting as it is now understood to be from the ''Exercitiorum atque Artis Militaris Collectanea'' by P. Montis (Milan, 1509). None of the hafted weapons was more graceful in its outline and few had finer workmanship put into their manufacture than the partizan. The central blade was as a rule long and swordlike, tapering from the haft socket to the point, and often provided with the central ridge as seen in fine XVth century sword blades of Italian origin. The lateral projections were short and in the finer weapons (Fig. 905) seem to have balanced satisfactorily the main blade. The example referred to is in the Musée d'Artillerie of Paris (K 394) and appears a good illustration of this form of blade; but it is, however, a partizan of XVIth century date. Our second picture (Fig. 906) also represents a form of partizan, though of late XVth century date; in outline it closely resembles the hafted weapon we have styled the spetum. This partizan (?) is in the National Bavarian Museum, Munich. As early as the third quarter of the XVth century these blades formed a favourite field for etching and gilding, resembling in this respect the beautiful blades fitted to the cinquedea dagger-swords (see ante, pp. 67, et seqq.). In collections formed in the first half of the XIXth century cinquedea daggers with hilts of questionable age, but with fine and apparently genuine blades, are frequently met with; but these on careful scrutiny will be seen to be partizan blades cut down and adapted to a cinquedea hilt of more or less doubtful authenticity. As the XVIth century advanced partizans undoubtedly became the merest weapons of parade, as the reader will note if he glances at the splendidly decorated specimen illustrated in a later volume of this work under the heading of enriched hafted weapons of the XVIth and XVIIth centuries. Even in England to-day they are in use, being carried on all occasions of ceremony by the King's bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard.

The military fork, the scythe, the corseque (we understand it as a form of spetum), the fauchard, the spear, and javelin may all be included among those numerous and heterogeneous pole-arm weapons which, though continuously in use from mediaeval times down almost to the XVIIth century, are very difficult to classify with any right degree of discrimination. Examples of nearly every type exist in our national armoury at the Tower of London—indeed, that collection is especially rich in exhibits of the lesser known forms of hafted weapons; while some of the collections abroad are bewildering in the diversity of forms displayed.

Like the war-hammer, the bill was originally an agricultural implement.