A very original look has entered the history of edged weapons - this is an ordinary household scythe, in a special way planted on a pole and turned, thus, into a tool of death. Its very specificity suggests that it was used mainly by peasants during the bloody rebellions, which so often violated the course of a peaceful, but by no means easy village life.
Peasant Spit, Weapons
For the first time to use this agricultural tool for military purposes began in the XIV century. Usually, peasants, for one reason or another decided to forcefully change their current way of life or forced to repulse the attack of enemies, redid their braids. By changing the angle of attachment of their cutting parts to the shaft or simply by strengthening them on a common axis with them, they achieved an effect in which a completely harmless scythe became a deadly weapon yesterday.
Edged weapons, created in this way, had a number of advantages. It was universal, maneuverable, effective, but most importantly - cheap and affordable. Sometimes, instead of the usual scythe blade, a sharpened shredded knife or a specially forged double-edged and slightly bent blade was fastened to the shaft.
Weapons of Swiss and Czech peasants
For the first time, the use of this type of weapon is mentioned in connection with the battles waged by peasants of a number of Swiss cantons, reflecting the attacks of the Austrian knights that took place in the XIV century and then repeatedly resumed over three centuries.
When at the beginning of the 15th century a religious war broke out on the territory of the Czech Republic, started by the reformers led by Jan Hus (the Hussites), the main contingent of troops consisted of peasants who were holding the same braids in their hands - weapons in every household.
The period of peasant wars
A century later, the entire central part of Europe was covered by bloodshed, which broke out for a number of economic and religious reasons and was called the Great Peasant War. And again, the scythe (weapon) often decided the outcome of the battles, since the armies of the warring parties were mainly staffed by peasants who could not afford to have more expensive types of weapons.
Most battle braids exhibited today in various museums around the world date back to the 16th century, but there are later specimens. One of them is a scythe (weapon), which once belonged to the Prussian militia and, according to the stamp on it, issued in 1813. She can be seen in the Dresden State Museum.
The end of the Middle Ages
In the era of the late Middle Ages, that is, the historical period that was discussed above, weapons in the form of a scythe were also widespread , which was its more advanced version - glaive, or glevia. It was intended mainly for close combat and was a one and a half meter shaft with a flat, sharply sharpened tip mounted on it, about 60 cm long and 7-10 cm wide.
To protect the shaft from damage, it was covered with rivets or even wrapped with steel tape. The blade, sharpened, as a rule, only on one side, was equipped with a steel spike extending at an angle to the side. With its help, it was possible to reflect the blows delivered from above, as well as to respond to them yourself, punching the enemy’s armor with this striking edge. In addition, it was very convenient for them to pull the rider off the horse and inflict a mortal blow on the ground.
Thus, glaive, which allowed to apply both chopping and piercing blows in battle, was a formidable weapon. It was widespread throughout Europe, but was especially popular in France and Italy, where it was an indispensable attribute of the guard of honor of all the highest state officials. There, over time, it was transformed into a special kind of halberd, called guizarma. It, as a rule, was equipped with two tips - straight and curved - and allowed the soldier to deliver stabbing blows and pull the enemy off the horse.
Scythe in the arsenal of Zaporozhye Cossacks
It is also interesting to note that the battle scythe is a weapon, the honor of the invention of which is disputed by many peoples. For example, a number of researchers believe that for the first time she appeared in the arsenal of Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, most of whom were former peasants. It is difficult to say how justified this statement is, but it is indisputable that during the Ukrainian national liberation war of the XVII-XVIII centuries this weapon was one of the main ones.
The scythe of death played a decisive role in the Battle of Berestetskaya that took place in 1651 between the army of the Polish king Jan Casimir and the Cossacks of the hetman Bogdan Khmelnitsky. Reminiscences of the gentry remained, telling that it was with the help of battle braids that the Cossacks were able to carry out defense and subsequent counterattacks unusually effectively.
Recently, a large number of exhibits related to the role of this type of weapon in the battles for the independence of Ukraine appeared in the funds of the Zaporizhzhya Museum of History. They make up a full-blown and complete collection, displaying different periods of production and improvement of battle braids by gunsmiths of this region.
The use of braids in Russia
In Russia, the history of this type of weapon is primarily associated with uprisings led by Stepan Razin, and then Emelyan Pugachev. The peasant and Cossack masses in both cases went into battle, armed with items borrowed from their own economy — axes, pitchforks and scythes, remade and become formidable weapons in their hands.
And of course, one cannot but mention the battle braids in the hands of the legendary partisans of the Patriotic War of 1812, whose steel was well remembered by the soldiers of the Napoleonic army, who ingloriously left the borders of Russia. In the Moscow Museum, dedicated to the history of those heroic events, one can see several of their true samples.
Polish cosigners
However, almost the most widespread scythe (weapon) received in Poland. This was especially vividly demonstrated during the Polish rebellion caused by the second division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which occurred in 1794. Then the Polish, Byelorussian and Lithuanian peasants who fought against the regular units of the Russian army formed numerous detachments, at the disposal of which there were only battle scythes and their kind of edged weapons, which consisted of knives mounted on a shaft and all kinds of handicraft-made blades. The fighters of such detachments received the name cosigners (from the words "scythe", "mow", etc.).
According to historians, the cosigners played a decisive role in the battle of Raclawice in 1794, where the rebels of Tadeusz Kosciuszko clashed with the government forces. Their units, united in the so-called Krakow militia, repelled the enemy’s attacks, lined up in three rows, and armed with battle braids, chopped and pricked as if they had sabers and spears in their hands, and not agricultural tools altered as necessary.
In the first row there were warriors armed with firearms, and in the second and third - braids. When the arrows fired a salvo, they immediately retreated behind the back of the cosiners, who covered them, while they reloaded their weapons, which at that time required a certain amount of time.
A similar picture was repeated during the Polish uprising of 1830, when many of the regular infantry battalions were armed with braids. According to the participants in those events, the enemy infantrymen, even with a bayonet fastened to their guns, could not withstand hand-to-hand combat, delivering their long and heavy scythe with chopping and stabbing strikes.
Japanese modification of a battle scythe
As a special kind of historians, the battle Japanese braid is also known. This weapon is slightly different from the one that was discussed above. Also, being a modification of an agricultural tool, it nevertheless underwent quite significant changes. First of all, even with a cursory acquaintance, a shortened shaft is striking, to which a blade is attached almost at right angles. This type of weapon is often called a sickle.
Despite the fact that such a design reduces the angular velocity of the weapon upon impact and thereby reduces its striking ability, it provides the fighter with greater maneuverability and makes it extremely dangerous in close combat. In some cases, a kettlebell was attached to a pole on a long chain, unscrewing which, it was possible to inflict a strong smashing blow to the enemy.
Fighting braid - belonging to the strong and courageous
The pictures of weapons (braids and their modifications) presented in the article make it possible to present the whole variety of species that the gunsmiths of different times and countries created, taking as a basis an ordinary agricultural tool. The closest relatives of the scythe were not only the guards, which were described above, but also siege knives, and mowers - fighting forks.
The use of this type of weapon in battle did not require any special training - the technique of mastering it was quite simple. It was necessary to have only endurance, physical strength and, of course, a fair amount of courage, which is necessary for a soldier no matter what weapon in his hands.