Flail (weapon) - The Two-handed Flail

The Two-handed Flail

Throughout the Middle-Ages, two-handed agricultural flails were sometimes employed as an improvised weapon by peasant armies conscripted into military service or engaged in popular uprisings.

For example, in the 1420-1497 period, the Hussites fielded large numbers of peasant foot soldiers armed with flails.

However, these weapons often featured anti-personnel studs or spikes embedded in the striking end, so they were not always simple agricultural tools snatched up in a hurry by rural insurrectionists: turning these implements into weapons required some effort and skill. The modified flail was also used in the German Peasants' War in the early 16th century.

At a later date, the long-handled flail is found in use in India, possibly more as a symbol of status than a weapon. An example held in the Pitt Rivers Museum has a wooden ball-shaped head studded with iron spikes. Another in the Royal Armouries collection has two spiked iron balls attached by separate chains.

The chief tactical virtue of the two-handed flail was its capacity to defeat a defender's shield or avoid it entirely. Its chief liability was a lack of precision and the difficulty of using it in close combat, or closely ranked formations.