Wars were commonplace in medieval times. The thirst for power and wealth excited the warlords to engage in battles, where many kinds of lethal weapons were used. One of the weapons used during Middle Ages was flail. This medieval flail weapon has an iron head attached to a steel chain for extra strength. When fully stretched, this flail reaches 30 inches and can penetrate even the best armor.
The flail was not just a European weapon. In Southeast Asia, lighter flail weapons such as the nunchaku or sansetsukon were more common. In Korea, flail plays a dual role. When used as an agricultural tool, the flail is called “dorikke”, but when used as a weapon, it is called “pyeongon”.
The Two-Handed Flail
During the Middle Ages, peasant armies were seen to have carried two-handed agricultural flails. It required some effort and specialty to turn the agricultural flail into a military weapon. In India, these tools were used as symbols rather than weapons. In the later middle-ages, two-handed fails were employed by the Germans and Central European as an agricultural tool.
The one handed flail
A one-handed flail is a short wooden handle attached to one or many metal heads by means of a chain. Four of these types of examples are evident. One of these is called “morning star mace”. The second is from 16th-century German. The third one is 15th Century French, having an unusually short handle. And the last one is also the 15th Century, but German.
Flail Types
Morning star, mace and nanchaku are the most popular variations of flail. Nanchakus were mostly seen in the Bruce Lee movies. It comprised of two sticks connected with a rope in one end. Experts believe that nanchaku were originated in the Southeast Asia. People of Southeast Asia used nanchaku to thresh rice and soybeans.
Medieval Weapons - Facts and Information
Flail is one of the type of weapons that was used by feudal armies during the Middle Ages. All men in The Middle Ages were expected to know how to fight. They were expected to be readily available when called to fight for the king. Their lives were organized and structured to have military training incorporated in their daily lives.
Expertise in the use of medieval weapon such as Flail and understanding the strategy of Middle Age warfare was crucial and played an important part in Medieval Life. Flail training include practicing new moves, accuracy, defending, and managing battles including close contact fights using Flail .