Editing Pike (weapon) (section)

===Renaissance Europe heyday===
[[File:Bad-war.jpg|thumb|[[Swiss mercenaries|Swiss]] and [[Landsknecht]] pikemen fight at "[[push of pike]]" during the [[Italian Wars]].]]
[[File:Slag om Grolle 2008-1 - Een eenheid piekeniers doet exercities bij de kampementen.jpg|thumb|Pikemen exercising during the [[Battle of Grolle]].]]

The [[Swiss mercenaries|Swiss]] solved the pike's earlier problems and brought a renaissance to pike warfare in the 15th century, establishing strong training regimens to ensure they were masters of handling the ''Spiess'' (the German term for "skewer") on maneuvers and in combat; they also introduced marching to drums for this purpose. This meant that the pike blocks could rise to the attack, making them less passive and more aggressive formations, but sufficiently well trained that they could go on the defensive when attacked by cavalry. German soldiers known as [[Landsknecht]]s later adopted Swiss methods of pike handling.

The [[Scottish people|Scots]] predominantly used shorter spears in their [[schiltron]] formation; their attempt to adopt the longer Continental pike was dropped for general use after its ineffective use led to humiliating defeat at the [[Battle of Flodden]].

Such Swiss and Landsknecht phalanxes also contained men armed with two-handed swords, or ''[[Zweihänder]]'', and [[halberd]]iers for close combat against both infantry and attacking cavalry.

The Swiss were confronted with the German ''Landsknecht'' who used similar tactics as the Swiss, but more pikes in the more difficult ''German thrust'' ({{langx|de|deutscher Stoß}}: holding a pike that had its weight in the lower 1/3 at the end with two hands), which was utilized in a more flexible attacking column.

The high military reputation of the Swiss and the ''Landsknechts'' again led to the employment of mercenary units across Europe in order to train other armies in their tactics. These two, and others who had adopted their tactics, faced off in several wars, leading to a series of developments as a result.<ref name=Schaufelberger/>

These formations had great successes on the battlefield, starting with the astonishing victories of the [[Swiss cantons]] against [[Charles the Bold]] of [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundy]] in the [[Burgundian Wars]], in which the Swiss participated in 1476 and 1477. In the [[Battle of Grandson|Battles of Grandson]], [[Battle of Morat|Morat]], and [[Battle of Nancy|Nancy]], the Swiss not only successfully resisted the attacks of enemy knights, as the relatively passive Scottish and Flemish infantry squares had done in the earlier Middle Ages, but also marched to the attack with great speed and in good formation, their attack columns steamrolling the Burgundian forces, sometimes with great massacre.

The deep pike attack column remained the primary form of effective infantry combat for the next forty years, and the [[Swabian War]] saw the first conflict in which both sides had large formations of well-trained pikemen. After that war, its combatants—the Swiss (thereafter generally serving as [[Swiss mercenaries|mercenaries]]) and their Landsknecht imitators—would often face each other again in the [[Italian Wars]], which would become in many ways the military proving ground of the Renaissance.

The so-called ''[[:de:Schefflineisen|Schefflin]]'' was a polearm, closely related to the pike, which from the late 1400s and throughout the 16th century saw widespread use in the German-speaking world. It served as a multipurpose weapon for both infantry (in the manner of pikes) and light cavalry (in the manner of demi-lances). Characteristically, it featured a large, hollow-made and leaf-shaped head of about {{convert|50|cm|ft|abbr=on}} or more, which was attached to a long and slender shaft. Apart from being used by soldiers in battle, a tassel fixed to the socket of the head together with optional further embellishment made the ''Schefflin'' an appropriate main weapon for princely bodyguards and courtly officials. There seems to be a close relation between the contemporary German term ''Schefflin'' and the West European terms ''javeline'' (French) and ''javelin'' (English), both referring to some type of cavalry spear. Although rarely noticed, many of these weapons have survived to this day. Some pieces, of which many are said to have been used by the personal entourage of Henry VIII, are kept at the Royal Armouries in Leeds.