Halberds to Pikes - When?

[LouieN]

When, and why, did the Pike really replace the Halberd as the "go too" infantry weapon in the 15th Century European warfare.

just wondering

[AdamPHayes]

After the Battle of Arbedo in 1422 the Swiss changed from predominantly halberd armed to mainly pike armed infantry.

[bigredbat]

The Swiss needed the pike to be able to repel knights. At first, the pike formed the outside ranks of the keil. Overtime the proportion of halberdiers decreased, but they were still useful for guarding the colours, as the halberd was handier in a confined space.

[Charlie_]

Sometime in the second half of the 15th century?

The French experimented with hiring Swiss pikemen and training their own pike-armed infantry in the 1477-1482 period under Louis XI. The native pike infantry project was abandoned on his death, though by the end of the century and into the 16th century there were indeed pike-armed French infantry, though they still relied on the Swiss.

The takeaway from this is that the French were realising the effectiveness of mass pikes in the 1470s and 80s.

[Emir of Askaristan]

Swiss first in the second half of the 1400's against the burgundians then the landsknechts arrive in the 1480's. By the early 1500's most armies have pike contingents in steadily growing proportions made up of homegrown or mercenary elements. Then things seem to settle down into essentially pike and shot by lthe middle of the 1500's.

There were plenty of wars and plenty of money to spend on instructors and Renaissance ideas of warfare spread quickly through alliances, written material and the experiences of soldiers of fortune returned home from foreign lands.

The long pike kept mounted men at bay who til then had been the traditional decisive arm of battle. They were cheap, and required little specialist equipment to make, unlike gunpowder, but to be effective they required training. When used offensively they could bowl over the enemy, unless as equally determined or behind bad ground or defences. Shot had yet to become accurate or fast firing enough to win battles on its own and was vulnerable to cavalry. To win you generally needed the right mix of all three, plus some artillery and to know how and when to use them.

Just finished reading Steven Turnbulls Art of Renaissance Warfare. A good read and overview of your after one.

[LouieN]

Thank you for the replies.  I will look into that book.

The take away seems pikes just better than halberd against calvary. 

[jon_1066]

Was there some strange cyclical tactical round about going on?

As the 100 years war progressed archers would shoot your horse out from under you so men-at-arms started dismounting to fight until you get to the Wars of the Roses period when most men at arms are dismounted and infantry are wielding pole arms in order to do any damage to these guys. 

Is it then the introduction and spread of gunpowder weapons that leads to armour being reduced (due to the vast cost of it for little benefit).  However these selfsame gunpowder weapons are slow firing so can't keep cavalry at bay so that sees a resurgence.  At the same time the pike then returns (a big pointy stick is one of the earliest infantry weapons after all) to keep those horsemen at bay and the two handed pole arms are no longer required to chop through massed ranks of enemy men-at-arms because they are no longer being fielded in large numbers?

[Wiegraf]

I think it became the go to weapon in the 16th century, not the 15th. From my understanding the Swiss still used loads of Halberds and other 15th century weaponry regularly even after 1420-1430. They weren't all pikemen, nor was the pike the "Go to weapon" with most medieval armies. The Swiss still also employed plenty of other weapons including the Halberd as well. The Swiss just got really good and brutal with pikes before any others and used them to great efficiency against armies that weren't using them, similar to how the Macedonians were in Persia in the time of Alexander. as Macedon displayed - if you're on the right ground and terrain and have drilled well, really long spear walls with multiple spears jabbing at enemies that don't have weapons as long as yours is very efficient for rolling up the fronts and pushing enemies back. And that became the sort of go to famous weapon for the Swiss first.

I believe Halberds start going out of style more so at the end of the 15th century when Charles the Bold, who equipped a very professional army with state of the art gear and siege equipment, suffered so many defeats against the Swiss. Then in the 16th century when many more Landsknecht pop up pikes start to really get going all over. Halberds and great swords were also normally still seen in Pike blocks by the Swiss and Landsknecht because when they started doing Pike on Pike fights, the shorter arms up close like swords , halberds and the greatswords became very useful if you were able to get past the pikes and into the faces of the enemies. Allegedly they'd use these shorter arms to cut down enemy pike shafts as well and then use them to deliver killing blows when they got up closer.

It seems by the time you get to the 30 years war in the 17th century most soldiers have dropped halberds save a few officers carrying them to signify rank. By then you'd have more guns showing up and the pike would be a good detriment to cavalry so you can stave them off from attacking musketeers.

Otherwise, I would say most armies for the majority of the 15th century still seemed to use Halberds and other types of weapons, and its really when the Landsknechts and Swiss are fighting each other and in the Italian wars in the early 16th century where you start to see more and more reliance on the pike.