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/* Using a spear two-handed with a slung shield */
|Archaeology
|Discussion =
Using a spear in combat two-handed and with a slung shield evolved in the 1980’s as a way of winning re-enctment enactment battles [SIDDORN 2005]. Using a spear in this fashion has one huge obvious disadvantage, you cannot defend your head with your shield! Having said this I do beleave believe that some of the large headed winged spears could have possibly been used two-handed as both hunting spears and combat spears. <br>
To the best of my knowledge we have no written sources that describe this form of warfare. This is not surprising, however, as most of the writings that we have are either short, factual chronicles or allegorical poems. From archaeology we have hundreds of large spearheads. On the whole these still have thin sockets, usually less than 25mm (1”) in diameter, and so would be unsuitable for the stout spear shafts that you would expect to see associated with a two-handed weapon. Another argument against their use in this manner are the manuscript images clearly showing these large spear heads being used single-handed, such as the Codex Aureus Epternacensis illustrated in AD c.1040.<Br>
We do however have numerous images of warriors using spears two-handed. Just not in association with a shield. This is what you’d expect as anyone armed with just a spear would automatically use it with both hands.<br>
This leaves us with the 4 images shown here. The earliest is from a Pictish picture stone depicting a battle and dating to somewhere between AD 700 to 850. The second is from a European manuscript made in Switzerland dating to AD 1125-1150AD1150. The third is from a stained glass window in Canterbury Cathedral and dating to 1190ADAD 1190.
All of these images depict warriors fighting against non-infantry. <br>
Byzantine and Carolingian armies were known to use two-handed spears, or pikes, for use against mounted warriors. But for England we have scarce evidence for the use of mounted warriors prior to the Norman Conquest. If two-handed spears were in common use in 1066AD AD 1066 we would expect to see them depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry and being used against the Norman cavalry. Instead we see Dane-axe wielding warriors fulfilling this role. It appears that England and Scandinavia chose a different way to deal with cavalry than adopting the two-handed spear.<br>
It seems then that the main use for stout two-handed spears in England was probably for use in hunting, the pursuit of the rich. This is not to say that they could not have been used on the battlefield as they would have made very effective weapons.<br>
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