A battle axe is an axe designed specifically for combat rather than utility work. Its blade is shaped more like a cleaver than a wood splitting axe, and finished weapons ranged from about half a kilogram up to three kilograms, with lengths from thirty centimeters to well over a meter, built for one handed or two handed use. Battle axes were especially common during the Viking Age and the medieval period in Europe, and were also used across the Middle East and Asia. Compared to a modern splitting axe they were lighter, carrying a narrower slicing blade meant to cause deep wounds rather than to cleave wood. They stayed in military use until gunpowder based tactics displaced edged infantry weapons in the late sixteenth century. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Introduced When (Circa)circa 8th century AD onward as a Viking Age stock weapon (earlier use also attested in the Migration Period), phased out by the end of the 16th century 1 OriginScandinavia; a stock weapon of Viking Age foot soldiers and raiders, also common in medieval Europe, before gunpowder-based tactics displaced edged infantry weapons at the end of the 16th century. 1 Sources
1. Battle axe (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationOverview section
Scandinavian foot soldiers and maritime marauders employed them as a stock weapon during their heyday, which extended from the beginning of the 8th century to the end of the 11th century.
Post-medieval axes section
Battle axes were eventually phased out at the end of the 16th century as military tactics began to revolve increasingly around the use of gunpowder.
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