![With sticks and stones and a new all-purpose weapon, the Habsburgs suffered a mauling at Morgarten.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/titel-halbarte-300x225.jpg)
The rise of an all-purpose weapon
In the Middle Ages, forces were distributed unevenly. On one side, the armour-clad knight; on the other, the simple peasant farmer. But with the invention of the halberd, the tables were turned…
![Warrior with a halberd, drawn by Ludwig Georg Vogel, 19th century.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/angreifer-264x300.jpg)
![A page from Johannes von Winterthur’s Chronicle.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/chronik-johannes-209x300.jpg)
Characteristics and use of a halberd
![Halberd from the period 1540 to 1586.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/halbarte-300x86.jpg)
The possible origins of the halberd
![Konrad von Würzburg.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/minnesanger-214x300.jpg)
![Halberd blade manufactured between 1200 and 1300.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/vorlaufer-300x139.jpg)
![A 14th-century ‘baselard’.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/baselard-3-300x62.jpg)
![A halberd blade found in the Greifensee.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/greifensee-171x300.jpg)
Further development
![Image from the Bern Chronicle by Benedikt Tschachtlan.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/berner-chronik-e1641231850722-214x300.jpg)
![The evolution of the halberd can also be seen in Schilling’s Chronicle.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/diebold-205x300.jpg)
![Halberd from the house of Ringier…](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/riniger-halbarte-300x85.jpg)
A halberd renaissance
![In the Battle of Villmergen it was halberds versus firearms. The result was clear: 1 – nil to the good old thrust, chop, slash!](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/schlacht-bei-villmergen-300x121.jpg)