Ave!

Flanged Mace Head, Battle-broken, ca. mid to late 13th Century

Iron; 5 inches (13CM) / One pound 5oz. (0.6KG) Length with handle; 25 inches (64CM)

Con/ Missing two of eight flanges, otherwise, about As Fabricated; professionally conserved to prevent further decomposition. See the final photo for the "as arrived" condition. While the wooden handle and studs are modern, the finial and washer rings are ancient.

Seller's Note/ Back in the 13th Century, when major battles were still fought in shield walls, knights and men-at-arms all wore armor and helmets. Swords, no matter the size, were ineffective when reaching across the shield walls. Instead, heavy axes and maces were the weapon of choice to simply batter and crush their opponents. As to who was the warrior that used this mace in battle, and who he was fighting against, we can only conjecture. Mongols, perhaps? The two missing flanges did not just rust away; they were broken in battle. Did he survive to fight another day? All we do know is that the mace was abandoned for one reason or another, lost and forgotten until now.

Such eight- flanged mace heads with diamond profiles began circa 1200 AD with the Kievan Rus but quickly spread across Europe. One of the most famous examples can be found in the City of London Museum (inventory A1778) which is widely illustrated and helped spawn the classic mace design in Dungeons & Dragons. It, and similar maces in England and Germany, are dated to the mid to late 13th century. Maces with six flanges appear more common in England versus those with eight flanges (like this one) which were more common in central Europe. Flanged maces later became very popular among the Hungarians, Poles and Ottoman Turks. However, these later (15th-17th century) mace heads were bigger and had thinner flanges than the true medieval ones like ours.