Ranseur

The ranseur is a European polearm, likely derived from the earlier spetum, formed by a central spear point flanked by two shorter curved side prongs mounted on a shaft typically six feet or more in length, used in fighting service up to the fifteenth century before it survived mainly as a ceremonial guard weapon into the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Its lateral prongs, usually without a cutting edge of their own, let a wielder catch and turn aside an opponent's blade or polearm shaft, or hook and pull a mounted rider off balance, in addition to the direct thrusting attack offered by the weapon's central spearhead, and the raised prongs framing the main point gave the weapon head a distinctive silhouette sometimes compared to a trident. Because it demanded a degree of trained technique to use its parrying and hooking features effectively, the ranseur is generally associated more with trained men-at-arms and guard units than with the simplest levied infantry, and later court and ceremonial guards retained ornate versions long after its practical battlefield use had faded.