Polish Nadziak

Origins

Horsemen across medieval Europe carried hammers and picks for dealing with armored opponents, as described in the general entry on the War Hammer. In Hungary and Poland these weapons developed into distinct forms during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, influenced by the light cavalry of the Balkans and by contact with the Ottoman world. By the later sixteenth century, when the hussars of the Poland-Lithuanian Commonwealth were becoming a heavy shock cavalry, the nadziak had become one of their standard arms. Polish writers of the period distinguished several related weapons: the nadziak with its long spike, the czekan with a small axe or hammer head, and the obuch, a term used broadly for hammers of this kind.

Design & Construction

The head of a nadziak was forged of iron or steel. Its main feature was a long, narrow spike, often square or diamond-shaped in section and usually curved slightly downward like a beak. The back of the head carried a small flat or faceted hammer face. Langets, long iron strips running down from the head, were riveted to the shaft to stop it being cut through and to hold the head firm. Shafts were of wood, sometimes covered with leather or iron, and were fairly short, so that the weapon could be used with one hand from the saddle. Many had a pointed butt and a wrist cord. Plain soldiers' examples were simple, but those made for magnates and wealthy nobles could be decorated with brass, silver, engraving and inlay, and a finely made hammer was a mark of status as well as a weapon.

Combat Use

A hussar's main weapon was the long Winged Hussar Lance, used in the first charge. After the lance broke, he fought on with the Polish Szabla, the long thrusting sword called the koncerz, pistols, and often a hammer or pick carried at the saddle or hung from the belt. Hammers of this kind also appear in some portraits of Polish nobles, worn or held as part of their everyday dress. The nadziak was meant for close fighting against men in armor. A blow with the spike could pierce a helmet, breastplate or mail where a saber cut would glance off, and the hammer face could stun or break bones through armor. It was used in the wars against Muscovy, Sweden, the Cossacks, the Tatars and the Ottomans, including the long struggle with the Ottoman Empire that culminated at the Battle of Vienna in 1683, although sources rarely say how often it was used compared with the lance and saber. Other cavalry of the Commonwealth, including the lighter pancerni, carried similar hammers.

Nobles also carried the nadziak and czekan in everyday life, at assemblies, courts and markets. The weapon was easy to wear and quick to use, and it was often involved in quarrels and fights between nobles. There were repeated attempts to restrict the carrying of such weapons at public gatherings, with limited success.

Legacy

The nadziak went out of military use in the eighteenth century, as armor disappeared and the hussars themselves declined, being disbanded in 1776. It survived longer as part of noble costume and as a ceremonial object. Today many examples survive in Polish collections, including the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków and the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw. The nadziak is closely linked in Polish memory with the Winged Hussars and with the culture of the old nobility.