There are many different weapons and armor that Newman talks
about in her writing. Each with its own
purpose and tactics. Among these, one of
the most popular was the mace. The mace
is a weapon that is easy for anyone to learn and an extremely effective killing
tool. “The Medieval mace was a close
combat weapon that was classed as being a clubbing and bruising type of weapon,
it was not designed to cut skin and draw blood, this meant that the medieval
mace could be used by churchmen or clerics who were not allowed to draw blood
in combat in medieval times” (Roberts 2014).
Along with this the mace was also a great way to deal with armored enemies. The mace was used, in medieval times, to bust
through chain mail and body armor of enemy knights ("History of the
Mace" 2019).
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| The Ceremonial Mace of the House of Parliament |
In modern times the mace is still used in a variety of
ways. We still see it being used by police
during riots in the form of a billy club.
But it has also taken a ceremonial position as well. We see maces being used to show political
power and knowledge instead of a weapon of war.
Several examples of this are the
above mace that is used in the House of Parliament and the Congressional Mace
to the left. In both of these examples
the mace is carried into the chamber by the Serjeants-at-Arms.
According to the Parliaments website the Serjeants-at-Arms was a king’s
bodyguard who commonly carried a mace as their weapon.
“History of the Mace.” History of the Mace | Parliament Of Singapore, 4 Apr. 2019 https://www.parliament.gov.sg/history/history-of-the-mace.
Roberts, Mike. “Mace Weapon.” Mace Weapon, 2014, https://www.medievalchronicles.com/medieval-weapons/mace-weapons/.
Very interesting how churchmen would make the mace their weapon of choice, considering they aren't allowed to draw blood. I figured maces were always sharp objects designed to rip apart flesh, but instead they were used for blunt force. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteMaces are considered blunt weapons meant for bashing and smashing. However there are some that would have spikes or even blades to do more damage. The mace took the idea of a wooden club and advanced it to deal with new and better forms of armor.
DeleteMaces were a very valuable tool for dealing with armor. Chain-mail could stop sword slashes and plate armor would defect the blows from the common spear, but against the sheer force of the mace it could concuss or break bones
DeleteI love how you used this post to tie medieval weaponry into modern times with the evolution of the mace. Medieval weaponry is so interesting because of the variety of weapons and different uses for each, such as the mace's ability to break bones and crush armor. I find it funny that churchmen and clerics justified the use of these in battle through the fact that they did not draw blood, because the mace must have been just as deadly as a sword.
ReplyDelete