Cleveland Museum of Art

Corsèque

Date

c. 1520

Medium

steel; round wood haft; tassel

Culture

Italy, Venice

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The corsèque is a pole arm with a symmetrical three-pronged head consisting of a central double-edged blade and two sharp, upturned wings. The side blades served several functions: as guard to protect the soldier's hand when a thrust was delivered with the central blade; as a hook for unseating a mounted opponent; and to trip the opponent's horse. The corsèque was used mostly in Italy and France from the 1400s to the early 1600s. The version here is sometimes called a chauve-souris after the French word for "bat," since the side blades are thought to resemble a bat's wings. The corsèque is said to have originated in Corsica, from where it takes its name.

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