This thesis is an interdisciplinary study of medieval and early modern staff weapons, with the goal of creating a new typology and classification system. For the purposes of this thesis surviving material culture and iconography from several museums and collections have been examined and compared. The largest number of objects studied belongs to the Royal Armouries, where I had the privilege of closely examining key examples. In contrast to most previous studies that usually approach the subject of the typology of staff weapons from a perspective of linear evolution, this thesis attempts to revisit and re-examine the relationships of different weapon groups by thoroughly investigating their forms and how they affected their function. A new typological system of categorization is suggested by combining previous scholarship and new ideas for easier identification of different staff-weapon groups and sub-groups whilst at the same time keeping it as simple, descriptive and precise as possible. The design of this new typological system relies on the use and comparison of iconography and surviving weapons. This thesis also makes use of disciplines such as physics and materials science to better understand how certain technical feature affected the use of staff weapons. Disciplines that have not been widely used in this field can produce new data on the construction and function of the examined objects. Non-destructive experimentation and metallurgical analysis are used to analyze technical characteristics of staff weapons that have hardly been considered in previous scholarship. The overall aim of this thesis is to create a typology that can be used as a reference point for future investigation of staff weapons. The alternative disciplines introduced and used will hopefully inspire new perspectives and further research.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:722745 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Tzouriadis, Iason-Eleftherios |
| Contributors | Murray, Alan V. ; Watts, Karen |
| Publisher | University of Leeds |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/18170/ |
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