25 Most Insane Medieval Weapons

Supposedly used by the body guard of Henry VIII, it was basically a wooden shield with a hole for a pistol to stick through.

With teeth on the sides meant for catching opponents swords, one flick of the wrist was enough to split them in half.

Used by fencers in the middle ages, when a button was pressed, two extra blades would flip out.

Sometimes called the holy water sprinkler, this referred to a series of spiked weapons that were often used by peasants…although there were upscale versions as well.

Able to launch things over half a mile, the advent of these super powered catapults made castles slightly less appealing.

On the topic of trebuchets, some of the most popular ammunition included dead animals carcasses. They would be used to spread disease behind castle walls.

With blades coming out of each wheel, it was used to slice through enemy lines cutting their troops in half.

A weapon used by African tribesman, it was often thrown in a manner similar to a boomerang.

With the ability to shoot accurately up to half a kilometer this oversized crossbow was sometimes deemed an unfair weapon.

Basically a medieval spike strip, caltrops were used to slow the advance of enemy cavalry.

Before they were turned into massive cannons they were used by medieval horseman as a sort of rifle.

Although even today no one knows what it was made of, this referred to any incendiary material shot from the side of a ship that continued to burn on the surface of the water.

Given that invaders often tried scaling castle walls, defenders came up with recipes of their own. If oil wasn’t available, water would suffice.

Although they were bad for close range combat, a group of pikeman together could pierce through enemy infantry and cavalry fairly easily.

Sometimes six feet long, these bows required a lot of strength to pull and were often used to launch multiple arrows at once.

Often used by knights and cavalry, broadswords could slice off an enemy’s limbs effortlessly.

With the advent of chain mail and other types of armor, swords gave way to hammers and other blunt force type weapons.

Still used by police today, battering rams were medieval siege weapons that started out as huge logs used by a large group of people to literally ram a door down…oftentimes with boiling oil being poured on their heads.

It’s basically a suicidally explosive fireship.

Typically used to pull people down from horseback it was often used to capture royals for a ransom.

Designed to protect the Carthaginian city of Syracuse, whenever a Roman ship got too close it would lift it up and tip it over.

While Europe was busy stabbing, slicing, and beating itself to death; the Japanese preferred small, silent and extremely lethal forms of inflicting injury.

Although they may not seem that impressive, having a dozen flaming arrows come flying your way does not make for a fun day.

You’re probably wondering, “Why am I looking at a picture of a river and a castle? Where are the dead bodies?” Well, that’s where they put them…into the river. Rather than climbing over the castle walls, enemies would just dump diseases into the water supply.

Basically the swiss army knife of medieval weapons, it had numerous little blades, serrations, and other dangerous outcroppings attached to it.