obuch
Illustration — The head of an obuch (with a rolled up beak) The obuch, obuszek or obuszysko is a type of melee weapon, very similar to a horseman's pick (nadziak) but differing from it with a curved beak opposite the hammer. In Poland, it was customary to distinguish this type of weapon by the type of tip: if it has a sharp, perpendicular beak, it is a horseman's pick; if the beak is curled downward, it is an obuch; if it has an axe head, it is a pl. Most often there was a hammer on the opposite side of the blade.
obuch
Seweryn Obst · Wyroby przemysłu domowego. Wyroby metalowe włościan na Rusi · Public domain
- Field
- war hammer.
- Region
- Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Illustration — The head of an obuch (with a rolled up beak) The obuch, obuszek or obuszysko is a type of melee weapon, very similar to a horseman's pick (nadziak) but differing from it with a curved beak opposite the hammer. In Poland, it was customary to distinguish this type of weapon by the type of tip: if it has a sharp, perpendicular beak, it is a horseman's pick; if the beak is curled downward, it is an obuch; if it has an axe head, it is a pl. Most often there was a hammer on the opposite side of the blade.
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wikipedia incomplete · checked 25 September 2026
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Authority files
gnd · 1308522592 · wikidata · Q66888248 · wikipedia · Obuch
In this article
Overview
Overview
Used from the 16th to the 18th century by the Szlachta (Polish nobility), it often had a shaft length of 80 to and was carried like a staff and was often bound in velvet and gold twine. It was a weapon often used in duels and brawls. It was supposed to be safer than a horseman's pick, from which it was made, but the difference was not great, for which reason it was forbidden to bring this type of weapon to sejmiks and also to some churches. In old Poland, wearing an obuch was so common (for nobles) that it spawned the saying: Bez karabeli ani z pościeli, bez obuszka ani od łóżka ("Don't leave your bedding without a karabela, don't leave your bed without an obuch"). It was a common secondary weapon to a Polish sabre (karabela).
It is associated with Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
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Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
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obuch is associated with Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Country
Primary material
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reference work
- “Obuch”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
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authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q66888248: obuch
Unverified · Wikidata
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Bibliography printed in the source article · 2
- Polish Renaissance Warfare: obuch, hammer, czekan
- Zdzisław Żygulski (junior), 1982: Broń w dawnej Polsce na tle uzbrojenia Europy i Bliskiego Wschodu. Warszawa: PWN.
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Broader subject
1- war hammerTerminology
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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