A hurlbat (or whirlbat, whorlbat) is a weapon of unclear original definition. Older reference works refer to it largely as a type of club, either held in the hand or thrown. Modern usage appears to refer to a type of throwing-axe.

Historical references

* "Hurlebat", "Hurlebatte" and "Hurlebadde" are documented as a by-name in English patent rolls as early as 1305, and are attested namely in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

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and

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(i.e. the historical Essex and eastern

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) at least until the early

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Middle English Dictionary 022
hurle-bat(te
. Retrieved 2022-09-01. * About 1440-1450, the ''hurlebatte'' was mentioned in ''Jacob's Well: An English Treatise on the Cleansing of Man's Conscience'', in the context of leisurely

swordsmanship Swordsmanship or sword fighting refers to the skills and techniques used in combat and training with any type of sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to an ...

: '' eying at þe two hande swerd, at swerd & bokelere, & at two pyked staf, at þe hurlebatte ..'' * The 1538 ''Dictionary of syr

Thomas Elyot Sir Thomas Elyot (c. 149626 March 1546) was an English diplomat and scholar. He is best known as one of the first proponents of the use of the English language for literary purposes. Early life Thomas was the child of Sir Richard Elyot's fi ...

knyght'' uses "hurlebatte" to translate a Latin word, and describes a throwing/retrieving action: ''Adides, short battes of a cubyte longe and an halfe, hauynge pikes of yron in theym, and were tyed to a lyne, that whanne they were throwen, he that did cast thẽ, mought plucke them agayn vnto him, hurlebattes.'' "Adides" is a misreading or printing error of ''aclides'' (see

aklys The aklys (Latin aclys, Greek agkulis) was a Roman javelin measuring approximately 2 m (79 in, 6.6 ft) in length, thrown with the aid of a leather strap or amentum, similar to a Swiss arrow. Every soldier was issued at least two. The term also a ...

). * Thomas Blount's 1707 English dictionary ''Glossographia Anglicana Nova'' defined "whorlbat" as ''a kind of Gauntlet with Straps and leaden Plummets, uſed by the ancient Heroes in their ſolemn Games and Exerciſes.'' (i.e. a

cestus Cestus (), plural: cesti, in a general sense meant, for ancient Greeks and Romans, any band or tie. However, it was more frequently used to refer to: * The Girdle of Aphrodite * Boxing gloves used by ancient Greeks and Romans, also written '' ...

) * An 1837 edition of the Samuel Johnson dictionary simply defined "hurlbat" (or "whirlbat") as "a weapon", * The 1854 edition of John Craig's dictionary defined "hurlbat"/"whirlbat" as "an old kind of weapon". * The 1856 German-English dictionary of Johann Gottfried Flügel defined "whirlbat" (or "hurlibat") as a club that is swung, such as a mace. * In 1881,

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

s derived from the by-name of 500 years ago were uncommon, and attested mainly throughout

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

to the

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

("Hurlbutt"), in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

("Hurlbert", "Hurlburt" and "Hurlbut"),

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

("Hurlbatt") and

Tynemouth Tynemouth () is a coastal town in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the north side of the mouth of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne, hence its name. It is east-northeast of Newcastle up ...

("Harlbut"). Except for Surrey, whose version is closest to the Medieval original, these regions are to the north of the name's distribution in the 14th-century. * The 1911 ''

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia ''The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia'' is one of the largest encyclopedic dictionaries of the English language. It was compared favorably with the ''Oxford English Dictionary,'' and frequently consulted for more factual information than woul ...

'' notes it to be ''a kind of club or cudgel, so called because whirled around the head. It does not appear that such a weapon was thrown.'' Thus, in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the term referred to an

-type spiked club attached to a string, used for throwing and perhaps as target in swordsmanship training. After 1700, however, this meaning became quickly obscure, and eventually the "hurlbat" was imagined as a bludgeoning weapon that was swung, not thrown.

References

Clubs (weapon) Edged and bladed weapons Throwing axes {{mil-hist-stub

Historical references

See also

References