View source for Bec de corbin

{{short description|Medieval pole weapon}}
[[File:Coa Illustration Elements Arms Bec De Corbin.svg|thumb|160px|Illustration of a bec de corbin]]
A '''bec de corbin''' ({{langx|fr|Bec de corbeau|label=Modern French}}, {{IPA|fr|bɛk də kɔʁ.bo|}}) is a type of [[polearm]] and [[war hammer]] that was popular in late [[Middle Ages|medieval Europe]]. The name is [[Old French]] for "raven's beak".<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/mcarh_1220-5222_2020_num_16_1_2137|title=Middle Byzantine period weapons from the collections of the National Museum of Romanian History in Bucharest (also) used in Byzantium|first1=Martin|last1=Husár|first2=Silviu|last2=Oţa|journal= Materiale şi cercetări arheologice|year=2020|volume=16 |pages=229–243 |doi=10.3406/mcarh.2020.2137 }}</ref><ref name=castelnaud>{{cite web|url=https://castelnaud.com/the-museum/?lang=en|title=The medieval warfare museum|website=Château de Castelnaud|access-date=1 February 2024}}</ref> Similar to the [[Lucerne hammer]], it consists of a modified hammer's head and spike mounted atop a long pole. Unlike the Lucerne hammer, the ''bec de corbin'' was used primarily with the "beak" or fluke to attack instead of the hammer head.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} The hammer face balancing the beak was often blunt instead of the multi-pronged Lucerne, and the beak tended to be stouter; better designed for tearing into [[plate armor]], [[chain mail|mail]], or [[gambeson]]. Nonetheless, some becs-de-corbin also had a multi-pronged hammer.<ref name=castelnaud/> The spike mounted on the top of the head was also not nearly as long and thin as on the Lucerne. ''Bec de corbin'' is sometimes used as a general term to describe several types of war hammer, such as [[War hammer#Maul|mauls]] and [[horseman's pick|horseman's picks]]. A similar name, '''bec de faucon''' (meaning "falcon's beak"), refers to a related weapon called a [[poleaxe]] or, more specifically, to the hook on its reverse side.

== References ==

{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|bec de corbin|crowbill}}

*[http://www.myarmoury.com/feature_spot_poleaxe.html Spotlight: The Medieval Poleaxe], by Alexi Goranov

{{Pole weapons}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bec De Corbin}}
[[Category:Medieval polearms]]

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