Amanda Sopchockchai, Class of 2027, College of the Holy Cross

This weapon was made in the late 1400s in Northern Europe, and the design of its cutouts and inlaid ornament, consisting of broad frames and recurring geometric motifs, resemble other designs emblazoned on suits of plate armor, some of which that were fluted, from the early 1500s.

The Northern European kingdoms were still primarily agrarian societies, comprised of farms and sweeping, feudal estates. Subsistence farming was common among the peasantry, yet urban areas had a high demand for grain exports. There were great landlords, and these were The Knights of the Teutonic Order, whose tenants were originally free, but were later bound to the land as serfs. Thus, this pollaxe may have belonged to a Teutonic Knight or similar, noble, man of war.

Then, the Black Death ravaged kingdoms. Survivors still farmed, guilds and apprenticeships persisted, and laborers could request higher rates of pay due to a decimated labor force. The knights themselves were exempt from imperial taxes and had the ability to wage private wars. Thus, they clung to their privileges during their decline that took place after the fall of the Hohenstaufen line, refusing to be reduced to mere subjects under the crown once they had lost their function in society. Many knights became highwaymen or mercenaries in response to their downfall, and others were forced to sell their estates.

Another institution, the Church, was in decline as well as power fell to the laity. Princes levied high taxes on the Church, and the number of clergymen dwindled due to the Black Death. Life was becoming more secular, as the times approached the ideals of humanism and the Renaissance. Northern Europe also saw the emergence of the Reformation, the rise of Protestantism, and the pursuit of a united Christendom, and gained from the Hundred Years' War between France and England, which spurred on trade in certain kingdoms.