page_title: Flail (weapon)
hierarchical_section_title: Flail (weapon)
caption_attribution_description: Mair, Paul Hector: De arte athletica I - BSB Cod.icon. 393(1 Augsburg Mitte 16. Jh.
context_page_description: A flail is a weapon consisting of a striking head attached to a handle by a flexible rope, strap, or chain. The chief tactical virtue of the flail was its capacity to strike around a defender's shield or parry. Its chief liability was a lack of precision and the difficulty of using it in close combat, or closely ranked formations.
  There are two broad types of flail: a long, two-handed infantry weapon with a cylindrical head, and a shorter weapon with a round metal striking head. The longer cylindrical-headed flail is a hand weapon derived from the agricultural tool of the same name, commonly used in threshing. It was primarily considered a peasant's weapon, and while not common, they were deployed in Germany and Central Europe in the later Late Middle Ages. The smaller, more spherical-headed flail appears to be even less common; it appears occasionally in artwork from the 15th century onward, but many historians have expressed doubts that it ever saw use as an actual military weapon.
context_section_description: A flail  is a weapon consisting of a striking head attached to a handle by a flexible rope, strap, or chain.  The chief tactical virtue of the flail was its capacity to strike around a defender's shield or parry.  Its chief liability was a lack of precision and the difficulty of using it in close combat, or closely ranked formations.
  There are two broad types of flail: a long, two-handed infantry weapon with a cylindrical head, and a shorter weapon with a round metal striking head. The longer cylindrical-headed flail is a hand weapon derived from the agricultural tool of the same name, commonly used in threshing. It was primarily considered a peasant's weapon, and while not common, they were deployed in Germany and Central Europe in the later Late Middle Ages.  The smaller, more spherical-headed flail appears to be even less common; it appears occasionally in artwork from the 15th century onward, but many historians have expressed doubts that it ever saw use as an actual military weapon.
caption: Spiked versions of long-handled peasant flails.  From Paulus Hector Mair's combat manual Arte De Athletica
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