Voulge
A voulge (also spelled vouge[1]) is a type of polearm which originated in medieval France.[2] The weapon the term refers to is fraught with uncertainty as sources are unclear on the construction of this polearm. Therefore the weapon can only be known vaguely and must be guessed to with the circumstantial evidence at hand.
A look at the surviving depictions alongside the surviving extant pieces (of which Waldman lists a few) the polearm type which is most common in French and Flemish lands are Bills and Glaives. Examples of these depictions are the 1470s editions of Froissarts Chronicles (BNF Français 2643 - 2646), Le Voyage de Gênes, Regnault de Montauban etc. While a comprehensive study which can be linked to on depictions of French polearms does not exist at this date, the trend is clear to see, and it is the commonly accepted usage of the term as per Waldman.
There is a big discrepancy regarding the modern and historical uses of the word voulge. This discrepancy exists due to several works which refer to swiss and german weapons as 'voulges'. This does not have a basis in period sources, and there are no citations for associating a French term with a weapon which is germanic in design. The weapon in question is in german sources referred to as a Halberd[3]. Furthermore, this design of halberd is virtually unseen in French and Burgundian sources.
That being said, there's often overlap in weapons design between regions. The Cod. 2617 in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek depicts a very halberd-like weapon in Folio 19r, alongside the more typical Burgundian glaives. It may be the case that voulge was a term which was applied to a wide variety of polearms used in France and Burgundy, rather than a specific construction. This idea is further reinforced by the existence of the voulgiers, which are according to the written sources entire units armed with voulges. As art does not show complete uniformity in polearm usage, the conclusion can be drawn that voulge can refer to a variety of weapons types seen in those areas, of which the glaive is the most common in the late middle ages.
As stated earlier, studies on the etymology on this word and french polearms in general are not easily accessible and this article may be expanded if any such studies surface. The book by Waldman, done in 2005, is to date the most comprehensive study which is easily available and is what this article is basing the information on. The previous iteration of this article used outdated sources written in the 1800s or 1900s, which have since shown to be incorrect.
References
- ^ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vouge
- ^ Waldman, John (2005). HAFTED WEAPONS IN MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE EUROPE. Leiden, Boston: Brill. pp. 183–185. ISBN 90 04 14409 9.
- ^ Waldman, John (2005). Hafted Weapons in Medieval and Renaissance Europe. Leiden, Boston: Brill. pp. 17–78. ISBN 90 04 14409 9.
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