Pole weapons and Mortuary Swords in the Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle. The center weapon is NOT a "Bill," but another variant of Halberd. On the left, for comparison, is a Halberd, and on the right a Scottish Lochaber axe.

The Bill was a polearm mainly used by the English. The Bill's effiency as a close combat weapon meant it was commonly used by 15th and 16th century English infantrymen. Descended from agricultural billhooks and the pollaxe, the bill was a chopping blade with several spiking projections mounted on a staff of six or seven feet. The blade almost universally had one pronounced spike straight off the top like a spear head, in addition to a hook mounted on the 'reverse' side of the blade. George Silver, a great supporter of the bill, recommended that the overall length should be from the ground to as high as the user can reach with his hand, with the distance between the wielder's hands when the weapon is held added to that length, making it 9 feet long or so. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (691x922, 155 KB) Summary Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (691x922, 155 KB) Summary Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... A mortuary sword is a kind of backsword which was used after 1625 by the dragoons during the English civil wars. ... Swiss halberds from 16th century Different sorts of halberds and halberd-like pole weapons in Switzerland This article is about the weapon. ... A Lochaber Axe at two different distances. ... A pole weapon or polearm is a close combat weapon with the main fighting part of the weapon placed on the end of a long shaft, typically of wood. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq... A fine example of a billhook. ... The pollaxe is a type of European polearm which was very popular for foot combat during medieval times. ... George Silver was a gentleman of England during the late 16th and early 17th centuries, who is known for his writings on fencing. ...

It is similar in size, function and appearance to the halberd. Other terms for the bill include English Bill, bill hook or bill-guisarme Swiss halberds from 16th century Different sorts of halberds and halberd-like pole weapons in Switzerland This article is about the weapon. ... A guisarme (sometimes gisarme or bisarme) is a now antiquated pole weapon used in Europe primarily between 1000-1400. ...

One advantage that it had over other polearms was that while it had the stopping power of a spear and the power of an axe, it also had the addition of a pronounced hook. If the sheer power of a swing did not fell the horse or its rider, the bills hooks were excellent at finding a chink in the plate armour of cavalrymen at the time, dragging the unlucky horseman off his mount to be finished off with either a sword or the bill itself. These characteristics also made it effective against heavily armoured infantry, dragging them into the melee or exploiting the weak points in their armour.

During the 16th Century when most European states were adopting the pike and arquebus, the English preferred to stick with the tried and tested combination of bill and English longbow that had been so successful during the Hundred Years' War, the Wars of the Roses and in constant conflicts with the Scots. Even in the Elizabethan period bills were still common with levies sent to fight the Scots. (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... A modern recreation of a company of pikemen. ... Japanese arquebus of the Edo era (teppo) The Arquebus (sometimes spelled harquebus or hackbut) was a primitive firearm used in the 15th to 17th centuries. ... The English longbow, also called the Welsh longbow, was a powerful type of medieval longbow (a tall bow for archery) about 2. ... Combatants England Burgundy Brittany Portugal Navarre Flanders Hainault Aquitaine Luxembourg France Castile Scotland Genoa Majorca Bohemia Aragon The Hundred Years War was a conflict between England and France, lasting 116 years from 1337 to 1453. ... Lancaster York For other uses see Wars of the Roses (disambiguation) The Wars of the Roses (1455 – 1485) were collectively an intermittent civil war fought over the throne of England between adherents of the House of Lancaster and the House of York. ... This article is about the Scottish as an ethnic group. ...

External link

• Billhook - 1500-1550AD