English Bill Hook

Type Object Region England Time c. 1300–1600

The English bill was a polearm hook-and-cut weapon widely used by British infantry in the 14th century, combining hooking, hacking, and thrusting fun…

Timeline

c. 1320–1370English village smithies and county barracks · EnglandThe bill evolved from combining a farm hook-sickle with a long shaft; smiths added spikes and side hooks to the blade to enhance thrusting and pulling capability. By before 1370, smiths across regions could mass-forge them to standard patterns, at far lower cost than imported continental pikes and halberds.
1371–1376The counties of England · EnglandIn the 1370s, English county levies often required able-bodied men to equip themselves with or be issued bills for service. The weapon was widely used in city defense, patrols, and suppressing local unrest, and was mixed with archers to form infantry formations combining ranged and close combat, compensating for a shortage of cavalry.
1377–1380Calais and the northern French frontier · CalaisIn the French campaigns under Richard II, billmen served as the melee screen in front of the longbow ranks, responsible for hooking down unhorsed knights and plugging gaps in charges. In the armory lists of the Calais garrison and expeditionary detachments from 1377 to 1380, the bill was listed alongside the longbow as a primary infantry weapon.

Sources

European Weapons and Armour: From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution — R. Ewart Oakeshott (1980)
Records of the Medieval Sword and the Medieval Dagger and Knife — Ewart Oakeshott (1991)