Identify this polearm? With inscription!

[CSinTX]

Originally Posted by BUCC_Guy

I acquired this some years ago from Fagan Arms, so, needless to say, I overpaid.

Fagan Arms does not supply prior paperwork or details, but I think it’s a safe assumption they acquired it with some sort of knowledge it was Italian, whether by the prior owner or if they got it from Italy directly.

One thing we do know is that faganarms tends to only sell good items. They may be the only seller out there that Ive never seen an obviously bad item or bad description from. I suppose that goes along with their prices.

Concerning the Higgins armory and many others like it, most tend to have some later items mixed in. The "Bavarian Sabre Halberd" seen in your Higgins photo. They are known to be later fantasy produced items that did not exist as a weapon. The point is, just because it is found in a museum does not mean it is a good example.

The fact that your blade is thin goes a long ways in confirming it a wepaon rather than farm tool for chopping brush or wood.

I do wonder if the top spike might have been a later addition as a means to mount it to the current haft? With an item of that age, it could have been added at any point over the centuries. Has anyone else ever seen a similar spike?

[Victrix]

It looks like a rather efficient polearm. A volgue is basically a meat cleaver on a pole. I think the hinge contraption aids the cut by sliding the edge slightly. Then like the multi-purpose Swiss army knives, you can turn the polearm around to deal with plate armour by using the thick spike (similar to the early halberds shown by Fernando above) instead.

These kind of ”peasant arms” tend to have fairly basic decorations at best. They were intended to be cheap and functional. The inscriptions (if that’s what they are) don’t look like Gothic letters to me although I can’t decipher them. It could well be very faded letters in a Romance (evolved from Vulgar Latin) language like medieval Italian?