The Rise of the Pikeman in Europe

Get Surfshark VPN at and enter promo code SANDRHOMAN for 83% off and 3 extra months for free! Pole weapons have been in use ever since men waged war. Most famously by the Spanish Tercios, the Swiss pikemen and the Landsknechts. But already the ancient Macedonian Phalanges were armed with a long pike, the Sarissa, and while the Romans preferred their javelins, pole weapons were on the rise again in the Middle Ages. A wide variety of such weapons was in use, but the pike quickly emerged as one of the most important infantry weapons. By the 16th century, central weapons in hand-to-hand combat such as swords, maces, and axes were largely replaced by pikes and similar but shorter weapons like the halberd. This is how modern historiography explains the rise of the pikeman: Patreon: